Most venture firms brand like institutions. Asylum positioned around the creative act of building. Under After expanded the artistic identity to match the philosophy.
Most venture capital firms brand like institutions. Logo, blue palette, corporate website. This aesthetic signals financial stability but obscures the actual work: supporting founders through the unpredictable process of building companies from scratch.
Asylum, founded by Nick Chirls, positioned around a different philosophy: venture capital as creative partnership. The firm's original identity established this artistic direction. After nearly a year in market, the brand needed expansion. More visual tools, broader color palette, illustration system that could scale across portfolio companies and firm communications.
Under After worked with the Asylum team to evolve the identity while maintaining the original spirit. The expanded brand system included a new wordmark, extended color palette, typography hierarchy, custom illustration set, and refreshed website. The visual language maintained Asylum's optimistic and deeply personal aesthetic while giving the firm more flexibility to express their "artists not assets" philosophy across different contexts.
“I've had the pleasure of knowing Mark for more than a decade, and I've always admired his work and recommended him to portfolio company founders (who also love him). So when we finally got the chance to work with him directly on Asylum, we jumped at the chance.
Mark took the existing v0 of the Asylum brand and pushed it forward in ways that feel both true to our original spirit and fresh for what's ahead. The new wordmark and identity are sharper, clearer, and more memorable; And the entire brand serves as important foundation for all the other iterations and experiments we plan to do together in the future.
Finally, Mark is a true professional, highly communicative, opinionated when it matters, responsive and timely, and just a real pleasure to work with and learn from.”
The previous version of the Asylum site and visual identity was designed by Ben Pieratt with the Relative Mono typeface. As part of this brand expansion project, the original layout of the founding letter was retained within the new site.
