It’s not about the money: Send App’s colour-drenched identity by Verve celebrates its customers

Sending money to your friends and family has never felt so fun. With a bold, zesty identity designed by The Netherlands-based creative agency Verve, Send App – which connects 180 different currencies, and focuses on the African subcontinent – promises to make money transactions ‘more magical, rather than just functional.’ The app enables its customers to send money to some of the remotest places on the planet, providing broad and inexpensive access to financial services for 1.7 billion people without traditional bank accounts. It was while sifting through these facts that the focal idea for the project emerged – that of putting these very people who use the app at the heart of its identity. Injected with clever bits of motion that show hands exchanging fruity-looking coins, the visual system pulls focus to the human side of financial transactions. “Because we see that in the end, each dollar goes from heart to heart,” notes Verve.

The warm, playful spirit of the identity is underscored by airbrushed illustrations by Andrea Manzati. “After we landed upon the brand concept of telling human stories behind financial transactions, we realised that Manzati’s style is best suited to bringing Send App to life,” explains Rayhaan Imam, Copywriter. “His excellent shading and texturing work adds a great deal of depth, plus, the way he develops his patterns really fits the narrative and the will to showcase, subtly, the diversity in the clothing of African customers.” The bright palette of colours also reflects a clear intention to step away from the grey world of fintech institutions, and instead craft a look that’s instantly recognisable across touchpoints.

The different aspects of the identity were developed in lockstep. The brand mark, for example, was designed and fine-tuned to match the weight of the coins that are intrinsic to the visual system. “The modularity of the logo allows enough flexibility to interact with the coins and carry the dynamism that the brand and product itself have,” says Imam. The chunky custom type – designed in-house, in collaboration with a typographer – is supported by Sharp Type’s Garnett. “Garnett is a sturdy, contemporary grotesk that glows with the affable quirkiness of 19th-century metal type. Its friendly features convey a warm personality, and pack a lot of character, but it’s also quite condensed, which made it the perfect pairing for the extremely vibrant visual language of Send App,” Imam tells us.

Ultimately, Verve’s intention to celebrate the people who use the app seeps through every aspect of the identity. “We reject the notion that remittance is only a transaction – in fact, it creates moments of value and connection between people,” notes Imam. This idea of an exchange of hopes and sentiments – and not just money – is ever-present. When in motion, the coins change shape as they’re being handed over, highlighting the playful and unique energy that flows between sender and receiver, reminding us that no matter how far away we might be from home, supporting our loved ones has just gotten that much easier.

Verve