Redpin – formerly Currencies Direct Group Holding Co. – is a group of foreign exchange businesses operating globally, including Currencies Direct and TorFX.
Following an earlier £140m investment from Blackstone, the group is relaunching as a property technology platform business, providing software and services relating to international property investment.
A majority of the group’s existing customers are high net worth individuals moving money across borders to invest in property.
Redpin helps these global citizens and businesses by simplifying life’s most important payments – bringing together the brightest minds in tech to make buying, selling, owning and managing property abroad faster, simpler and safer.
The residential property sector is home to life’s most important payments but also the most frighteningly complex and fragmented ecosystem in the world. Change is long overdue and Redpin plans to connect the dots for consumers and businesses across the ecosystem.
The group’s goal is to flip the property market on its head by simplifying a complex and siloed sector – something that hasn’t been done in the PropTech space until now. This insight informed the red pin symbol, helping connect each point in the process.
The opportunity to create a new sector category has been made possible with the investment from Blackstone as well as the global reach of the group’s network, with 15,000+ partners and a processing volume of $12.6 Billion. The aim, to be the first unified platform for International property.
The group’s new name needed to be short, punchy, memorable, ‘unflashy’ and relatable to the space. Redpin stood out from the longlist and neatly connected with the core strategic idea – ‘connecting the dots’ – a phrase used by many stakeholders during interviews and one that describes the reach, connectivity and simplicity for the customers as the processes behind international property can be complex and require local expertise as well as global reach.
The typeface Berlingske Serif by Playtype, with its timeless details, perfectly suited the task and combined with the addition of the pin in place of the dot on the ‘i’ (the tittle), creates a distinctive wordmark.
Redpin needed a way to communicate their vision of simplifying life’s most important payments by filtering out the complexity and showcasing the power of connectivity — the solution, a brand film. The brand film showcases the problem of complexity in the global property market as it is seen today and highlight Redpin’s international reach by simplifying the process through the group’s growing number of SaaS products.
We needed to create a new brand for our holding company that captured the strong foundation of our existing core business while simultaneously pointing to a digital, tech-enabled, software-first future where we could plant a flag as category creators.
The team at SomeOne were the perfect partners to help us deliver on this vision – they moved quickly, thoughtfully and collaboratively, enabling us to create a brand that we believe will allow us to become the leader in payments and embedded software for the international property market.
Redpin’s aim is to ultimately create a simpler and connected experience for its customers, every detail of the new identity has been created with this in mind, allowing the group to scale and flex its communications as it builds on its already impressive offering.
The process that Redpin is connecting from point to point, is complex. To help communicate the diversity of content which at times can appear abstract, an exhaustive set of illustrative icons were created to help visualise all of these moments across the customer journey.
The use of isometric 3D iconography has proven highly effective in simplifying Redpin’s intricate processes into easily understandable visual representations. This approach not only aligns well with the technology sector but also adds an extra layer of branded personality to the identity system.
Redpin’s new mission requires scaling up and growing fast and the expertise within the group is making that transformation possible. With a need to hire top global talent it was important to hero the individuals, highlighting how important they are in orchestrating Redpin’s ambition.
SomeTeam:
David Law — Founder
Gary Holt — Founder
Shaun Turnbull — Creative Director
Luca Portik — Lead Designer
James Bell — Designer
Ellie Knight — Senior Account Manager
Georgia Walters — Senior Account Manager
Joe Fellows at Magic Productions — Animation
WeAreMud — Website