FirstStrike Research
FirstStrike Research is a veteran-owned financial research company covering American markets. The first month was brand — logo, color system, typography, and guidelines built from a rough mood board. The following two months were product — designing a prediction market research platform with real-time dashboards, AI-driven analysis, portfolio tracking, and market trading. The core challenge was making the brand credible enough for finance while building a product that gives everyday investors institutional-grade tools.
Category
Brand Identity & Product Design
Year
2025
Role
Lead Designer (sole designer)
Timeline
~3 months
Tools
Illustrator, Figma
Logo & Wordmark
The FirstStrike wordmark is set in heavy italic type — the forward lean gives it momentum and urgency matching the speed of financial markets. The defining element is the halftone dot-matrix pattern trailing from the “F,” a nod to retro print media that suggests impact radiating outward.
Multiple configurations: horizontal for headers, stacked vertical for tight spaces, and a standalone icon mark for favicons and avatars. Each works across both light and dark backgrounds.
Color System
Electric Blue (#003DFF) anchors the entire brand — bold enough to stand out in financial media, serious enough to convey authority. Paired with Midnight Black for body text and Ice White for secondary surfaces. Three accent colors — Soft Mint, Signal Coral, and Amber Pulse — were designed specifically for data visualization and UI states.
The Signature Look
The brand's most recognizable visual element is the gradient-plus-grain treatment: a deep blue-to-cyan gradient overlaid with subtle noise texture. This gives digital surfaces a tactile, almost printed quality that reinforces the retro personality without feeling dated.
Research Platform
After the brand shipped, the scope expanded into a full product — a prediction market research tool built for retail investors. I designed the entire application: real-time market dashboards with live price feeds, AI-driven analysis summaries, portfolio tracking with P&L visualization, and prediction market trading interfaces. The challenge was density — packing institutional-grade data into layouts that feel approachable rather than overwhelming.
Live Platform
Interactive prototype of the FirstStrike research platform. Explore the dashboards, market data, and trading interfaces.
Open full site →Outcome
What started as a one-month brand project became a three-month engagement spanning identity and product. FirstStrike launched with a cohesive system across every touchpoint — from the brand guidelines to a fully designed research platform — giving everyday investors tools that were previously only available to professionals.