The Mina Foundation is the non-profit organization serving the social and technical ecosystem surrounding Mina, the world’s lightest open-source layer one blockchain protocol. After branding Mina protocol and supporting its Mainnet launch, the team reached back out to UME to help them establish the foundation—marking a major milestone in the project’s journey. Together, we defined the Foundation’s purpose, function and role within the broader Mina ecosystem and developed a brand strategy for the new organization. Building on that solid ground, UME then created the visual identity for the Mina Foundation as well as guidelines to support and center a growing global community of participants.
With a blockchain that you can carry around in your pocket, Mina brings extraordinary potential to ordinary people. The protocol is committed to decentralized technology, powered by participants. As the steward of the protocol, the Mina Foundation needed to reflect that same ethos while creating its own identity. Unlike traditional organizations, this blockchain foundation empowers an expanding ecosystem of community members, partners, investors and thought leaders and as they co-create the future. That means allocating resources strategically and equitably, ensuring network health and security, supporting participants and promoting Mina in the wider world.
With its simple and approachable fonts and forms, the visual identity for Mina Foundation embodies inclusivity. It finds its own path to lightness, referencing the protocol identity while establishing its distinct style. UME brought this concept to life through a word mark that features an editorially inspired serif, with slight adjustments in the ligatures to convey connectivity and community. The i’s feature custom superscript dots, half moons that face and complete one another alluding to people from around the world coming together in community. The color palette is adapted from the protocol brand by bringing those intense values into a more naturally occurring, organic, human range. Highly graphic and simple illustration style adds optimism, a sense of community and interaction, collectively building the Mina ecosystem.
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