Pearl
Brand Identity Design
Pearl is both a platform for building and sharing job-seeker portfolio’s and a knowledge sharing hub.
ROLE
Design Director & Designer – Led project management and execution of Pearl brand identity, including stakeholder alignment, concept development, iteration, and delivery.
TEAM
04 – User Experience Designers
01 – User Researchers
01 – Content Designers
Design Director & Designer – Led project management and execution of Pearl brand identity, including stakeholder alignment, concept development, iteration, and delivery.
TEAM
04 – User Experience Designers
01 – User Researchers
01 – Content Designers
Responding to a distinct lack of representation and opportunities for Black and brown candidates, Pearl was created to be a catalyst for representing said candidates well, sharing their expertise with peers and employers, and opening more doors for them.
Evolution
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Having began its life as Tech Can [DO] Better, Pearl marked a distinct point of evolution going from non-profit to for-profit. As such a completely new brand identity was warranted to represent the new endeavor.
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Having began its life as Tech Can [DO] Better, Pearl marked a distinct point of evolution going from non-profit to for-profit. As such a completely new brand identity was warranted to represent the new endeavor.
Transition
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With its predecessor’s roots planted in 2020, the murder of George Floyd and inspired by the unrest that soon followed, Pearl is distinctly different. As such, Pearl’s brand identity was thoughtfully considered and designed independent of its roots while carrying the same spirit.
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With its predecessor’s roots planted in 2020, the murder of George Floyd and inspired by the unrest that soon followed, Pearl is distinctly different. As such, Pearl’s brand identity was thoughtfully considered and designed independent of its roots while carrying the same spirit.
Inspiration
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Drawing from rich cultural traditions that many people of color share, oral history and the “pearls of wisdom” often passed down through generations were the primary inspiration for Pearl.
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Drawing from rich cultural traditions that many people of color share, oral history and the “pearls of wisdom” often passed down through generations were the primary inspiration for Pearl.
From the beginning of the design process I was aligned with founder and CEO Lawrence Humphrey, drawing inspiration from the energy, vibrant color and expression of afro-futurism. I began with simple miro exercises to present imagery to get a feel for what’s resonating mood-wise.
After narrowing down a few choices I color-sampled the selections to surface unique color combinations that could be distilled into unique palettes.
With a broad range of colors in-hand I presented each color in a range of saturation as well as combinations of color that would eventually become part of the brand’s foundation.
Initial iterations focused on two representations of “pearl”. One being the pearl itself, the other being the shell it comes from. Exploring the cross-section of pattern and texture found in afro-futurism and the natural dimensionality a pearl’s surface, I began visualizing that depth, range of color and tranisition of light in different ways.
