01 · Vault door, closed.
Photograph of a closed steel vault door, raking side light, deep shadow, no people, no logos, monochrome with a single warm gold reflection.
FT
Fintech for HNW Individuals
@veldt
Brief4 attached files
A wealth platform for first-generation founders post-exit. Needed to look like a private bank, behave like software.
Creative Director Note
First-generation wealth doesn't know who to trust yet, and they will not be persuaded by a fintech that looks like a fintech. Mint greens and rounded sans-serifs were never going to clear the bar. So I built something that behaves older than the company is: vault tones, a serious serif, gold used the way a private bank uses it — sparingly and only on the things that matter. The brand has to do the trust-work before any feature does. Three centuries of banking visual language exist for a reason. Borrow it deliberately, never decoratively.
— Creative Director
Gallery · 30click any image for the note
Palette
Bone
#F2EFE9
Vault
#0A0A0A
Midnight
#0F1B2D
Gold
#B8924A
Type
Aa
Heading · Söhne Breit
Body · Söhne
Branding · Voice
- — Banker on a Sunday. Calm.
- — No exclamations. No emojis. Ever.
- — Says 'capital', not 'money'.
AI Prompts · 10copy → paste
02 · Black card on white linen.
Single matte black metal card resting on white linen, overhead, sharp shadow, no embossed text, no chip visible.
03 · Single skyscraper window.
Single illuminated skyscraper window seen from across a dark city at 3am, ultra-telephoto, all other windows dark, no traffic.
04 · Pen on cream paper.
Heavy fountain pen resting across a folded cream document, top-down, north-window light, no signature visible, no other props.
05 · Phone face-down on marble.
Smartphone placed face-down on a polished black marble surface, single warm spotlight, no notifications, no charger cable.
06 · Closed boardroom door.
Closed dark walnut boardroom door from the corridor side, brass handle, faint light underneath, no nameplate, late evening.
07 · Hand on a leather portfolio.
Hand in a charcoal suit cuff resting on a worn leather portfolio, no watch, no rings, soft side light, no laptop.
08 · Empty conference table.
Empty long boardroom table photographed end-on, twelve identical leather chairs, no papers, no glasses, slight reflection.
09 · Single number on a slide.
Single large white number projected on a dark wall, no surrounding text or logo, photographed as a real slide in a private room.
10 · Skyline at last light.
City skyline at last light from a high private terrace, no people, no champagne, no styling, calm, slightly desaturated.
Risk · who steals this client
- 01
Coutts
Three centuries of letterhead. The default founders inherit.
- 02
Brown Advisory
Quiet, American, exit-savvy. Wins the second wire transfer.
- 03
Compound
Founder-built, software-fluent. Speaks the language without translation.
- 04
Arta Finance
Multi-family-office in an app. Steals the productised pitch.
What not to doAnti-inspiration · 5 refs
Harder to articulate than what you want. Pin these so the team — and any AI in the loop — has something explicit to say no to.
Not this
Mint green and rounded sans-serif. Reads as challenger app, not private bank.
Not this
Confetti animation on transfer success. Founders close the tab.
Not this
Stock photo of a handshake. Trust performed, not earned.
Not this
Push notifications on Sunday. The whole point was the silence.
Not this
Emojis in the product copy. 💸 is not how capital moves.
Handover
This page is the deliverable. No PDF, no deck. Send the URL to your designer, your retoucher, your AI tools, your investors — one source of truth.