Output answers Octopus Money brief to help inspire financial planning

Whatever the state of the financial landscape, people still have dreams – like a wedding or a holiday – and working to realise them requires planning.

Octopus Money is a one-to-one financial coaching service that aims to make its customers look up from the day-to-day expenses and start creating plans for the future.

Any consumer-focused launch in the crowded financial services sector can be difficult, so Octopus approached London-based Output – an independent, female-led studio – with the intention of creating a brand identity which tapped into the emotional gravity of 'life's big moments'.

These included milestones such as looking forward to an active retirement and how Octopus helps people bring those plans to fruition through friendly advice, practical coaching and a realistic course of action.

Output managing director Gemma Ballinger explains: "To bring emotion and meaning to the storytelling, we introduced a loose illustration style to the collage system. The idea was to evoke someone doodling while daydreaming about the future.

This was achieved by bringing in Edinburgh illustrator Charlotte Trounce, whose work is right across the suite of assets the agency created, including the Octopus Money website and app.

Gemma adds: "To help Octopus Money stand out and show the human aspect of the brand, we created a design language that feels distinctly made by hand. Moodboards reference the idea of visualising your dream, with scrapbooks recording evidence of the journey becoming a reality. The result is a raw, tactile experience that expresses the emotion such a personalised service can unlock.

"Developing the creative idea, the design system uses a multi-levelled sense of collage. From expressive visualisations of customers' dreams, right down to functional components like pictograms, every aspect has a physical quality. Bringing life into the system, however big or small the moment."

Consumers are asked to interact with the Octopus site and app to share and visualise their dreams. They also get personalised pages for their assigned one-to-one coach – a segment which urges potential customers to 'Forget the Robots' and engage with a real person.

Ruth Handcock, CEO of Octopus Money, adds: "Output ran a great process. The quality of thinking was excellent, and we felt they completely understood and acted on our needs."

Octopus Money is a sister company to the green energy business Octopus Energy.