Project Story

Crypto Explained.
Bit by Bit.

SERVICES

Brand Strategy, Visual Identity Design, Web Design, Content Editing, E-Commerce, Marketing

COLLABORATORS

NERDER Dev——Craig Bedard, Cam Prockiw
CREATORS——Alan Lum, Mark Gervais, Lincoln Agnew, Simon Spichak
UPWORK——Writers, SMEs, Researchers

As a Founding Partner and Creative Director for HelloCrypto.com, I led our brand strategy, visual identity, and site design.

I also managed an international team of 15—20 writers, designers, illustrators, photographers, animators, subject matter experts, researchers. We produced and published close to 300 feature crypto articles and visual explainers, videos and merch.

The Story of HelloCrypto

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HelloCrypto began as a conversation back in the summer of 2019.

Craig and I were talking about the growing number of people who were reaching out to with basic questions about crypto and Bitcoin.

We each kept having to answer the same questions.

FAQ

Where do you buy it?

Is it safe?

Do I need to buy a whole Bitcoin!?

And so on…

These were people who knew and trusted us: family, friends, people we’d worked with back in the CriticalMass days. The number of new callers going up exponentially with the rising price of $BTC.

We envisioned a way to share knowledge and introduce crypto and web3 to as many people as we could find. I wanted to help my Dad understand how revolutionary and powerful this new "digital gold" would turn out to be.

Craig has a background in SEO and I've worked as a creative director and designer since the late 90s. His coding agency Nerder had developers ready to build the site and implement our content marketing strategy. I had a few talented people who could help turn our creative vision into a brand.

We convinced Cam to join and our idea officially came to life. He elevated our game plan, introduced business goals, analytics and accountability.

Working simultaneously from ski hills in Ontario and Alberta, we managed to win the url hellocrypto.com (via GoDaddy auction) and started implementing brand and content strategies.

This is a look at how it all came together.

Part 1

Brand Strategy, Naming, Logo Design

We briefly thought about calling it MOONLAMBO.
It is kind of hilarious. But people definitely won't get that it's a joke. We need to think about the kind of message do we want to send.

First of all, crypto, blockchain technology, DeFi and Web3 is already confusing and intimidating. The risks need to be taken to be seriously and communicated clearly. We care about our audience and genuinely want to help them succeed.

So we chose the name "HelloCrypto".
It's friendly and approachable—it sounds helpful.

Also, Hello Crypto easy to remember and not very hard to spell.

The HelloCrypto logo is based on a block. It looks like scaffolding or something in the process of being built. It's visually unique without being random. It's flexible enough to fit with a wide range editorial imagery and it reads as an obvious visual connection to blockchain technology.

Green is the primary color. It relates to being new, to growth and profitability. Green candles… green lights, etc.

We chose the fonts: Euclid Mono (logotype) and Suisse Int'l from the exceptional Swiss Typefaces library.

I hired Alan Lum to help design the HelloCrypto logo, then had Mark Gervais create this animated version.

Revealing the individual letters is intended to feel a bit like a mystery being solved (or a code being broken).

Bit by bit.

Part 2

Creative Direction, Visual Identity, Web Design

Learn How to Stop Worrying and Love the Blockchain.

hellocrypto.com

Part 3

Content Marketing

Content Marketing, Keyword Research, SEO, YMYL

Creating SEO optimized and keyword ranked content is a challenge.

Technology and crypto are especially competitive topics, content is not evergreen and there are bigger publications to complete with.

We decided to get the word out. We have a unique pov and differentiate ourselves from both the crypto-bro and corporate bank-adjacent aesthetics. We have a good team and a lot of enthusiasm.

Over time our consistent efforts paid off. Sort of. We saw HelloCrypto grow steadily in organic search traffic and keyword rankings for top articles increased over approx. 2½ years to validate our approach.

Image: Ahrefs

Creating SEO optimized and keyword ranked content is a challenge.

Technology and crypto are especially competitive topics, content is not evergreen and there are bigger publications to complete with.

We decided to get the word out. We have a unique pov and differentiate ourselves from both the crypto-bro and corporate bank-adjacent aesthetics. We have a good team and a lot of enthusiasm.

Image: Ahrefs

Summary

The cryptoverse is constantly expanding and evolving. Rapid updates and new innovations make it nearly impossible for a small team to create and manage content that lasts long enough to rank organically.

Also, the crypto audience shrunk considerably after its 2022 peak.

On top of all that, AI tools like Grok (or your favorite chatbot) now handle most basic questions and detailed step-by-step guides more accurately and they're up-to-date.

Handcrafted blog posts and carefully researched and edited articles are time consuming and expensive. And outdated in months or weeks.

These factors—among others—have led us to put HelloCrypto on the backburner.

If you've been a reader or subscriber, or bought anything from our store, thank you sincerely for your support—it's meant the world to us and we hope it's been valuable to you as well.

I continue to read, research, and stay informed about where this space is heading. Occasionally, I'll publish new insights or post an srticle on the site, but it's low on my priorities.

Follow @HelloCryptoCom on X for updates if you want to.

—Mark

TIMELINE /