Entrepreneur First
2022 / 2023
Direction & design: Michael O’ Riordan
Design Support: Nick Williams
Entrepreneur First is a talent investment organisation that has nurtured the founders of companies such as Sonantic, Tractable, Ochre Bio, La Vie, Merkle Science and Omnipresent to name a few of the standouts. They seek out people with skill, drive, and talent and sponsor them to join a cohort full of similar people. Within EF’s unique program, these potential founders find another co-founder in the cohort that they can work with, identify a problem that their combined skillset can solve, and build a business together. If EF think they have a unique right to win in their chosen field, good traction with customers and the conviction to achieve these things, EF will invest in and support the fledgling co-founders.
A contact of mine reached out and asked if I could shake things up in a brand system that was convoluted and misaligned with the business’s positioning. I started by visually capturing the feverish energy that mirrored the co-founder “speed dating” experience; circling good ideas, underlining statements that resonated with people. I tried to get position EF as the most exciting place to start a company with global impact.
A four month project turned into supporting the global marketing effort for a year, until two more major VC companies entered our visual design space and we had to pivot. Now EF is on the verge of a much deeper brand refresh with MultiAdaptor.
Branding
Design Research
Design Research