New Shtetl. A social platform for local communities
New Shtetl caters to occasional and household needs of people within their community, and provides a safe space for them to socialize, share information, and solve problems.
About the project
There can be a safe harbour. Even on the internet
The New Shtetl brand was born as a passion project but turned into a nation-wide platform for the people to build their communities from the ground up.
Mission
New Shtetl wanted to help people experience the beauty of community and get in touch with their neighbours. Our goal was to help them build a strong and welcoming brand identity and design the actual digital platform to create communities and share experiences.
Design Philosophy
A warm and welcoming place to help and get help, find work, and spend time in a sincere community without the toxicity of the internet
The New Shtetl brand turned out to be the reflection of its founder’s personality – kind, open, and generous. When we first met Sruli Rapps, we felt like we knew him forever. That’s what had to be found in the brand as well – a place you belong before you even join.
Design features
Light theme
Friendly palette
Retro-future style illustrations
Meaningful graphics
Extensive brand collateral
Interaction-driven UX
Brand identity system
The brand identity had to represent the core concepts of a friendly community, which are support, helpfulness, and care.
Symbolism
The main attributes we wanted to be present in the identity were solidity, communion, and hearth. We then selected the metaphors to support these attributes and created a set of visual shapes in the same style.
Final lockup
The end logo was a combination of the symbol featuring the capital N letter and a shape of a house built by four smaller houses representing a close-knit neighbour community. The wordmark features a sans serif-based custom font in a minimalist style and flexible alignment variations.
Brand collateral
Despite being a digital platform, New Shtetl showcased a good opportunity for brand collateral development to help the product stand out and claim physical utility as well.
Pattern
The logo motif in a simplified version gave us a cool pattern consisting of houses and reminding of a cozy settlement at night with windows glowing with welcoming lights.
Illustration
Even though the New Shtetl vibe is driven by a suburban community, its potential is to help create those communities in large cities. To capture this, we have designed a set of illustrations for several first-launch cities and tried to weave the New Shtetl warm identity into those metal-and-glass behemoths.
Final design
The color and some accents allowed the illustration to truly live and vibrate. Just like the digital communities hidden within those walls and windows.
3D
A real-world application has brought more context to the brand identity proving its usability in both the digital and physical applications.
Platform design
A strong brand identity system gave web designers the entire set of tools to create a beautiful social platform experience. As the result, a minimalist, friendly, and welcoming digital community was born.
Outcome
There was something particularly charming in the way the New Shtetl brand came to be. Our first users became family and soon after, the entire communities within cities nearby became connected by the relationships of trust, helpfulness, and joy. There is a place for human warmth online. You just need to know where to look.
Producer comment
This was one of the team’s favourite projects because people love working on something bigger than profit. With new Shtetl, we had an opportunity to make someone’s life better.Moses KimCreative Producer
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