Finding a rhythm in chaos: Verve’s brand for YoungCapital NEXT speaks to early-career professionals

“Junior role, 3-5 years experience required.” Contradictory descriptions like this in job postings are by no means new, but they’re getting concerningly more prevalent. With the goal of making “starters start and employers value their part,” Dutch initiative YoungCapital NEXT and their sister company YoungCapital support the journeys of early-career professionals who are looking to make an impact in the finance, IT, or public sectors.

To aid them in achieving their goal of shaping the next generation, Netherlands-based design agency Verve crafted an identity system built on the core principle of strength of character. An identity that, through juxtaposition of the different energies and styles, is all about embracing your individuality and challenging the norm. “All the elements fight, yet play together,” Design Lead Nuria Cabrera tells us. “This same friction is exactly what drives growth and development, and ultimately is what makes trainees successful.”

At the centre of this is the brand’s custom-built typeface True Grit Irregular, with three different “volume” levels that allow YoungCapital’s in-house team to customise the extremity of the glyph’s bezier curves. “Our main goal was to infuse the letter shapes with what we call strength of character, or grit,” explains Designer Ymar de Jong. “Meaning that all the letters are exaggerated and unique forms of themselves.” In twisting and expanding the forms, the expression and legibility are (very literally) stretched to their limits. “The exaggerated or extended contours are the most expressive form a letter can take; conceptually, these really show the will and urge to create your own path,” he adds.

In search of a geometric sans to complement and provide contrast to True Grit Irregular, the team opted for Stratos. The brand’s wordmark itself is set in a slightly customised version of the font. Explaining this further, de Jong notes, “we extended its width and altered its x-height to become a container for the YoungCapital Logo. It was important to us that the wordmark became a strong symbol that could ground the rest of the identity when necessary, and had the potential to be used as a ‘stamp of approval,’ while setting the perfect hierarchy switch in which ‘Next’ comes forward.”

Understanding that the learning path of an entry-level employee is never quite ‘straight forward,’ the team developed an appropriate brand mark, which almost resembles a brushstroke. “It’s never linear,” says Cabrera, “but rather dynamic, chaotic, and shows strength of character. Just like the type, it’s free-formed and infused with energy and personality.” Likewise, she adds, the colour palette is unapologetically vibrant and playful. “It’s a palette that’s infused with energetic, bold and optimistic colours, but has the capabilities to be more reserved and mature when necessary,” Cabrera concludes.

Verve

YoungCapital NEXT