Capital G

A bold new position, visual identity and tone of voice for Silicon Valley’s best-kept secret. Silicon Valley is filled with origin stories. Less known is what happens after that. Namely, how companies make the transition from early stage rockstars to generational brands. The answer is in the growth stage, and venture capital firms focused on growth like CapitalG. Founded in 2013 by David Lawee, Google’s former VP of corporate development, CapitalG is a world-class growth fund that enables entrepreneurs to benefit from Alphabet’s unparalleled experience and expertise. Like many growth stage funds, CapitalG was a mysterious entity, precious to those who knew it, private and misunderstood to those who didn’t. To reverse that, Phantom partnered with the firm to break category expectations and introduce it to the world. Our partnership began with renaming the firm from Google Capital to CapitalG. We then moved onto its strategic positioning. After immersing ourselves, we saw that the growth stage requires a growth mindset across every decision and behaviour. With its vast experience with Google’s remarkable growth story and its own portfolio, CapitalG is able to help entrepreneurs develop this growth state of mind. And this is their key strength. A growth state of mind became a guiding principle for our visual identity for CapitalG. Taking our strategic learnings, we developed a set of visual principles which guided us to a confident and clean visual identity. To express the firm’s authority, we devised a distinct wordmark and typographic approach inspired by Swiss design. To embody their future focus, we created an ownable chevron which forms a positive, forward-moving animated pattern. To reflect the brand’s distinct point of view, we took cues from editorial layouts, creating the space to unpack an expert vision. And, to create a seismic shift in the sector, we introduced a bright blue primary colour that cuts through the competition. Alongside our visual identity, we created a refreshed tone of voice for CapitalG based on firm’s beliefs and behaviours. The tone has been applied across a set of seven growth principles, a guide for entrepreneurs which unpacks CapitalG’s learnings from Google and beyond. All the elements of our work come together in a new website, designed, written and built at Phantom. The website marks a new, public, chapter for CapitalG, creating a bold, unique stake in the ground for bold, unique brand.