Quorum Bio

Microbial Solutions for Profitable and Climate-Resilient Farming

Role

Design Intern

Context

Aug 2023 - Dec 2023 Internship

Tools

Adobe Illustrator, Canva, Wix

Team

CEO: Sudharsan Dwaraknath
Intern: Anthony Qiu

During the fall semester of my second year, I interned for Quorum Bio (QB) through the New York New Energy Student Startup Experience.

‍During my time at QB, I learned about the company's mission of helping farmers reduce their fertilizer usage and therefore preventing algal bloom caused by the over consumption of phosphorous. I worked with the CEO to modernize QB's brand to attract more shareholders and establish QB as a leading startup for precision biologics.

Problem

Quorum Bio needed to have a developed brand image to attract shareholders

To accomplish this goal, I collaborated with the team to:

Redesign their logo to improve professionalism and brand awareness
Develop and execute company site UI
Improve investor pitch deck for Climate Week
Rebrand company colors and typography
Advertise open positions and upcoming events using LinkedIn
Refine investor one pager

Solution

Before

Text not visible because of clashing background
Walls of hard to digest text
Lack of cohesive brand appearance

After

All text is clearly legible according to background
Visually interesting screens to captivate audience
Established, professional brand appearance

Discovery

Research

I worked closely with the CEO to identify areas where QB could improve. After researching other startups within the same fellowship, past stakeholder behaviors, and the CEO's vision for the company, we identified a guideline for how QB wanted to present itself.

Quorum Bio should have a modern, earthy, and professional brand.

Design

Brand Guidelines

I developed brand guidelines for QB to have a clear understanding of their identity. I wanted the company to reference this in future materials to have consistent branding across digital and print media.

Logo

The CEO wanted a new logo that encapsulates QB'S mission while also looking professional to shareholders. After many collaborative brainstorming sessions with the team, we identified the best fit for QB's brand.

Delivery

Final Designs

Here are some mockups presented for a better way to visualize some of the products that the CEO decided to print and order using the redesigned logo.

Reflection and the future

Takeaways

Being a confident designer
‍
Before this internship, I had experience with improving a designer's previous branding work, but QB taught me how to create an entire brand without a preexisting foundation.

Throughout the entire process, I learned how to shake off the imposter syndrome that comes with being a junior designer and trusting my own research and insights while also being open to criticism and feedback.

The Future

How can usability tests and user interviews help Quorum Bio understand their target audience?
How can we further design our brand to appeal to potential stakeholders?
What CMS methods would make uploading content easier?
What other brand materials could give QB a more established image (slide deck or Google Doc templates)?