Upsun: a self-service PaaS 

Earlier this year Platform.sh launched a new product: Upsun. I got to work alongside a group of talented people as we created a new brand from the ground up.

Illustration

tech

a touch of cool

creativity

freedom

stability

tech ✺ a touch of cool ✺ creativity ✺ freedom ✺ stability ✺

I was tasked with the job of deciding the illustration style for Upsun. After a lot of brainstorming and helpful user research from Platform.sh’s brand, we decided on a direction. We needed to look tech without looking like every other tech company out there (goodbye dark blue). A “cool factor” was important to us, as we wanted to look fresh and new. I really wanted to hint at the snarky humor that developers have, and try to show that in our brand wherever we could. This lead to some easter eggs like “hello, world” and the old Windows screen saver. Color was also important, as we knew it would help us stand out during events and conferences in a sea of the standard tech look.

A closer look at illustrations in the product:

Animation

Motion ads

We soon learned that animation was working best for our ads. We launched a large series (around 100 videos) of different animations tailored to the developer audience. These needed to show off even more of the product, but remain quick and dynamic.

Technical diagrams

As with any complicated product, it needs to be explained as simply as possible. I find that animation always does this best. How can I explain all that Upsun does in less than 15 seconds? Let me show you.

Features

Through animation I was able to show how Upsun sets itself apart. We focused on sharing pieces of the product in order to tell our audience about the features that would win them over. Still tech and product focused, with a bit of added excitement and fun.

The blog

control

freedom

stability

control ✺ freedom ✺ stability ✺

I set up templates for the design team to use as blog headers so we could ship them quickly and smoothly. I wanted these to be colorful and interesting and make the blog page beautiful. We came up with the idea to center them around the three pillars of Upsun: stability, freedom, and control. I established a few abstract designs that portrayed each pillar in its own way. Check out how they all look together at Upsun’s blog here.