YGrene

YGrene is a leading Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) company that offers an alternative way to finance energy-efficient and renewable energy upgrades for residential and commercial properties in California, Missouri, and Florida. The company has multiple advantages, including low, fixed rates, no upfront costs, and no repayment penalties, which makes it a reliable service provider.

The main goal of the project was to develop a highly personalized visual language and a comprehensive visual representation of the client's mission so as to improve the company's brand identity. It was also critical to add elements that help increase the conversion rate, balancing the website's usability and profitability. To achieve that, the team worked closely with the client's tech, marketing, and business teams, constantly receiving valuable feedback.

At the beginning of the project, the client only had a basic visual representation: the color scheme they wanted to work with and a general idea of the result. Coherent brand identity and practical tools — such as a Prequalification App that checks the property's eligibility for financing — were at their nascent stages of development. Advancing these two aspects became the first significant step toward creating a cohesive identity system.

Inspired by the simplicity of nature and using a variety of visual storytelling tools, custom illustrations were created serving a wide range of purposes — from small icons used in mailouts and blog posts to full illustrations used across communication channels, providing a more enjoyable user experience while making the client appear as a mature and established organisation.

A set of principles was developed regarding the usage of photos versus illustrations, broken down by communicative purpose. Designing a coherent visual identity required selecting primary and secondary colours and creating easy-to-follow typography guides that prioritise readability. These efforts grew into a fully-developed brand book. Cultural differences between audiences were also taken into account, with illustrations custom-made to fit particular target audiences.

After establishing a clear and effective brand identity, work began on optimising the client's existing Prequalification App — a tool that checked the property's eligibility for home improvement financing and determined a prequalified financing amount. Since the product was already operating, it was developed further by adding a stepper showing the number of accomplished tasks, making the UI more user-friendly, and incorporating customised illustrations and the newly developed visual style.

Statistics showed that the simplified version of the app increased the success rate and the number of clients who followed through with application tasks — a clear indicator of the project's success.

To ensure a wider reach, a Homeowner Portal was created — a web app that helps homeowners manage their home improvement financing. Users can create profiles, check the status of their financing, calculate the prequalified amount, and navigate through applications, projects, and payments.

The Contractor Portal became a logical extension, facilitating the creation and management of financing projects for registered contractors. It includes a Proposal Tool used to introduce financing options to homeowners, assess potential savings, and check the amortisation schedule. Complex loan and cost information is presented engagingly through diagrams and flow charts for clear visualisation.

Alongside the two web apps, custom-built mobile versions of both portals were created and thoroughly tested. Users can choose the media they prefer to engage with the service, making the whole process more inclusive and accessible across platforms.

The updated brand identity echoes the client's main purpose — supporting home improvement financing using clean and renewable energy resources. It primarily features two colours — green and white — applied consistently across the website and mobile apps. The challenge of making everyone feel included was overcome through simplification of faces in marketing and product illustrations, humanising the user experience. The result is a visual language that is distinctive and recognisable yet simple and monochromatic, reflecting the client's commitment to promoting clean energy and environmental awareness.