Play’s identity for Refactor Capital reflects the radical investment firm’s compassionate calling

Looking to invest as early as possible, Californian sustainability-driven investment firm Refactor Capital works alongside seed-stage companies that focus on technology seeking to benefit our planet and its people. In doing so, contributing to the radical reformation of traditional capital investment.

Turning to San Francisco-based branding studio Play to develop a sharp visual identity to mirror their subversion of tradition, the resulting brand is slick, approachable and positively intentioned. Crafted to encapsulate simplicity and accessibility in line with the company’s goal to create a more environmentally and psychologically prosperous world.

Play opted for a pragmatic pair of both sans and serif to embolden and ground the identity’s rigorous structure – utilising a customised version of Displaay’s Fellix as the leading typeface alongside Bretagne’s Self Modern. “It’s a sophisticated, warm serif that feels trusted and human,” Founder and ECD Casey Martin tells us, “and acts as a counterbalance to the sans;” the geometric construction of which is equally mirrored in the circular make-up of the brand’s logomark.

“We wanted to distil the letterform to a fundamental essence as a show of strength, simplicity and clarity,” Martin explains, highlighting the shapes' associations with themes of infinity and regeneration, as well as the notion of something as ‘whole.’ “Using circles and having them shuffle and re-shuffle into their foundational form,” he remarks, “is a reflection of the company’s mission to upend traditional industries,” Martin adds, “in a quest to positively change the world.”

Bringing the identity together is its namesake ‘Refactor Red’ colour palette, the only prerequisite, Martin tells us, that was made by the client. “With a vision to heal the planet and solve fundamental problems,” he explains, “the tones we wound up with are quite earthy without being pedestrian,” Martin concludes, resulting in an approachable and apt system of rich red, deep grey-blue and off-white khaki hues.

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Refactor Capital