Crux

Creating a start-up with pedigree

Crux Underwriting is a specialty Managing General Agent (MGA) that fuses underwriting with technology. Its vision is to be an underwriter of the future, where trust and credibility define its underwriting philosophy and technology transforms the user experience of all stakeholders in the insurance value chain.

This duality of old and new, underwriting and technology is a central tenet of their brand. They are a future-facing company with user experience at its core. Yet, trust and credibility are hard-earned by an audience sceptical of start-ups with yet another technology promise.

  • Visual identity
  • Positioning
Crux’s website on a phone: the dark slate mobile homepage with an orange Products button, on a peach gradient.
Crux brand guidelines overview: logo, colour palette, gradients, motion, typography, a lanyard badge and app screens.
Crux’s mobile dashboard on a phone: quote volume line chart, policy cancellation and opex tabs, and a New quote button.
Crux conference name badge on a branded lanyard, with the CEO’s portrait on a lilac-to-peach gradient.

Designed for scale

Crux believes there is a better way to do business. To succeed, the brand needed to scale and be recognised for its founding principles of people and technology combining to create a stellar user experience.

Crux expresses trust through a black-and-white colour palette, beautifully simple layouts, serif typeface and language that doesn’t lean on hyperbole or unsubstantiated claims. Crux’s colourful gradients are bold, like their vision. Crux’s brand architecture contains motion. And the use of typographic symbols is born out of code — the engine of their business.

  • Visual design
  • Brand and messaging application
Crux brand gradient spec: a tall panel blending orange, lilac, pale blue and off-white, with each corner colour labelled.
Crux product icons for marine cargo, marine hull and cyber: white line symbols on dark slate.
Crux Broker Hub dashboard cards: quote volume, opex ratio, loss ratio and policy cancellation charts on dark slate.
Crux brand imagery: a row of serif punctuation marks on a pink-to-pale-blue gradient.
Crux branded linen tote bag hanging from a rail, printed with a tagline, web address and logo.

A sprint to the start-line

Crux thinks and behaves like a technology company, so speed to market was a critical factor in launching its brand. Working with the founders, Graham Elliott and Mike O’Connor, we split the project into four design sprints to create a scalable brand and launch a website. We started each sprint with a dedicated workshop to define their north star and sense-check the work needed to turn their vision into reality.

  • UI & UX
Crux’s website homepage on a laptop: dark slate hero with a serif headline, navigation and an orange Products button.
Crux’s website on a phone: a dark slate section with a serif headline and a large “1+1≠2” over overlapping circles.
Crux’s website on a phone: a dark slate section on transparency and risk, with a hatched circle of arrows.
Launching with a brand like Crux behind us immediately gave us credibility. Clients and brokers feel like they are dealing with a serious organisation.
Mike O’Connor
Co-founder

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