Gildable
Strategy
Product
The main directive was to make it as easy as possible to go from having an Instagram to selling cards on the marketplace. The user would be able to connect their Instagram and easily turn their photos into collectibles.
Of course, it’s never that simple. The blockchain added tons of complications, and there was a complex bid/ask system for buying cards on the marketplace. My goal was to get the user up to speed as quickly as possible, so they could get to the fun part: buying and selling collectibles.
Brand
As a brand, Gildable was put in the tricky position of all marketplaces: it needed to be a platform for other brands. Additionally, as a crypto product, people would naturally be wary of scams – so it needed to be official and memorable without overpowering the creators on the site.
I decided early on not to have a symbol, which would be too overwhelming. I used the classic typeface Eurostile for the logotype, which conveys speed, authority, and style. The distinctive “G” is also convenient as a visual abbreviation.
Copy
With Gildable, we sought to mimic the tried-and-true rarity systems of collectible card games like Magic the Gathering and Pokemon. This required a lot of explanation, which we selectively placed throughout the site and compiled in the FAQ.
In retrospect, this should have been cause for alarm, a sign of a faulty premise. This was a valuable lesson for me: sometimes what seems to be a tricky design problem is really a core flaw with the idea. As a product designer, your goal is always to think more fundamentally about the problem at hand.
Process and Learnings
This was the first time I was given the opportunity to design a dynamic interface, as opposed to a static website. Thanks to Brody West for taking a chance on me.
