In 2020, as the pandemic accelerated financial insecurity for millions of employees, Salary Finance faced a critical moment. Their mission, to improve financial wellbeing by working with employers to offer fairer, more accessible financial products, had never mattered more. The brand was already established, but it needed new tools, new emotion and a more human visual language to deepen connection and communicate support during a period of intense uncertainty. The challenge was to extend and evolve the existing brand without losing the equity it had already earned.
We extended the Salary Finance brand with a fresh layer of expression rooted in optimism, clarity and human understanding. Building on the existing identity, we developed a richer visual world and a distinctive illustration style to help communicate financial wellbeing in a warm, relatable way. Central to this extension was a library of ten bespoke characters, each inspired by real user personas; from early-career workers and young families to those rebuilding their financial resilience. These characters became an ownable storytelling device across campaigns, onboarding and educational content. Alongside the illustration system, we refined the graphic language, modernised the iconography and strengthened the motion system, giving Salary Finance a more flexible and emotionally resonant toolkit across digital, partner, product and internal communications.
Since the brand work launched, Salary Finance has continued to scale impressively. The company has raised a total of US$293 million in funding over seven rounds and is classified as a Series D business. Their products address a critical workforce challenge, financial stress, and statistics underpin the value. The refreshed brand helped reinforce Salary Finance’s positioning and purpose, supporting conversations with employer partners and stakeholders during a moment when financial wellbeing became front-of-mind. The character library and brand personality give the company a distinctive edge in a crowded space, making them instantly recognisable. Through purpose-driven design and human-centred assets, Salary Finance now shows up as a partner for real people, not just numbers.
Visual identity / Brand systems / Art direction / Illustration / Digital design / Motion / 3D / Social + content systems / Guidelines + toolkits
Lee Fairbrother
Emily Bridge
Sorby Brown
Mihai Halmi-Nistor
Ale Mariotti
Visual identity / Brand systems / Art direction / Illustration / Digital design / Motion / 3D / Social + content systems / Guidelines + toolkits
Lee Fairbrother
Emily Bridge
Sorby Brown
Mihai Halmi-Nistor
Ale Mariotti
In 2020, as the pandemic accelerated financial insecurity for millions of employees, Salary Finance faced a critical moment. Their mission, to improve financial wellbeing by working with employers to offer fairer, more accessible financial products, had never mattered more. The brand was already established, but it needed new tools, new emotion and a more human visual language to deepen connection and communicate support during a period of intense uncertainty. The challenge was to extend and evolve the existing brand without losing the equity it had already earned.
We extended the Salary Finance brand with a fresh layer of expression rooted in optimism, clarity and human understanding. Building on the existing identity, we developed a richer visual world and a distinctive illustration style to help communicate financial wellbeing in a warm, relatable way. Central to this extension was a library of ten bespoke characters, each inspired by real user personas; from early-career workers and young families to those rebuilding their financial resilience. These characters became an ownable storytelling device across campaigns, onboarding and educational content. Alongside the illustration system, we refined the graphic language, modernised the iconography and strengthened the motion system, giving Salary Finance a more flexible and emotionally resonant toolkit across digital, partner, product and internal communications.
Since the brand work launched, Salary Finance has continued to scale impressively. The company has raised a total of US$293 million in funding over seven rounds and is classified as a Series D business. Their products address a critical workforce challenge, financial stress, and statistics underpin the value. The refreshed brand helped reinforce Salary Finance’s positioning and purpose, supporting conversations with employer partners and stakeholders during a moment when financial wellbeing became front-of-mind. The character library and brand personality give the company a distinctive edge in a crowded space, making them instantly recognisable. Through purpose-driven design and human-centred assets, Salary Finance now shows up as a partner for real people, not just numbers.
