first ledger
I spent about a year designing the identity for First Ledger, a token trading platform from the team behind xrp.cafe. The work covered the logo, typography, brand guidelines, and layouts for use alongside xrp.cafe and partner logos.
Pencil + paper = ledger
First Ledger gives people access to the XRP Ledger’s decentralized exchange through a Telegram bot and a web app. The mark combines a diagonal pencil with a rounded square of paper. Together they suggest a ledger: a place to record transactions.
It had to read in a Telegram chat, a browser tab, and a small mobile header. I kept the shape simple enough to recognize at those sizes, then used it across the rest of the identity.
Lockups & typography
The primary lockup pairs the icon with “FIRST LEDGER” in heavy, extended type. A shorter “FL” version fits smaller spaces. Both have clear-space rules measured from the icon.
I used Helvetica Neue Extended throughout: Heavy for headlines, Medium for subheads, and Roman for body copy.
Brand pillars
Fun: “a lil meme never hurt anyone.” Reliable: “passion and years of experience.” Fast: “we’re first for a reason.”
The brand needed room for jokes and memes as well as product announcements and partnership decks. Those three traits helped me keep the tone consistent across both.
Co-branding guidelines
First Ledger and xrp.cafe often appear together. I documented the logo sizes and spacing for those layouts so the team could reuse them.
The guidelines also cover partner logos, giving the team a reference for listings, reports, and joint campaigns.
Outcome
I delivered the logo, lockups, type system, and guidelines, including the co-branding layouts. By mid-2026, First Ledger had passed $1.2B in transaction volume, 165K peak users, and more than 2M wallets created.