timothy ali
Denver, CO--:--:--

firststrike research

FirstStrike Research is a veteran-owned financial research blog covering American markets. I designed its logo, color palette, typography, and guidelines.

Role
Sole brand designer
Tools
Illustrator, Figma
The FirstStrike Research wordmark in white italic type on the brand’s blue gradient-and-grain field
01 / 05

The brief

The client brought a rough mood board of retro print references and wanted the brand to feel direct and credible. I developed a heavy wordmark, halftone details, and a blue palette from that starting point.

02 / 05

Logo & wordmark

The wordmark uses heavy italic type with a halftone pattern trailing off the F. The forward lean suits the name, and the dots bring in the newsprint reference from the brief.

I made horizontal and stacked lockups, plus an icon for favicons and avatars. Each has versions for light and dark backgrounds.

The primary FirstStrike lockup: the horizontal wordmark in blue on ice white
The secondary FirstStrike lockup: the wordmark stacked over two lines
The wordmark on its construction grid, white on electric blue
03 / 05

Color & type

Electric Blue (#003DFF) is the main brand color, paired with Midnight Black and Ice White. Soft Mint, Signal Coral, and Amber Pulse give charts and graphics a wider palette. Helvetica Heavy handles headlines; Helvetica Medium handles body copy.

The color system as swatches: Soft Mint, Signal Coral, Amber Pulse, Electric Blue, Ice White, and Midnight Black with their hex values
The type system: the Helvetica Heavy and Helvetica Medium alphabets and numerals in blue
04 / 05

Print texture

I added grain to a blue-to-cyan gradient for a printed texture, then used it across social cards, editorial layouts, and billboard mockups.

The brand pillars, Retro. Strong. Versatile., in white capitals on the blue gradient-and-grain field
A billboard mockup reading Real News. Real Research. Real Insights. in blue and white above a city street
Two blue business cards on concrete, the wordmark on one and the contact details on the other
05 / 05

Outcome

I delivered the logo files and guidelines for color, typography, and backgrounds, with examples showing how to use them on business cards, social graphics, and billboards.

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(C) 2026 Timothy Ali