Client
Column Tax is a company that provides secure, all-in-one income tax products that help you get your tax refund faster. They offer secure APIs that help developers create and customize personalized experience for their users by providing financial help throughout the year. They are aiming to be the easily accessible accountant in our pocket.
Problem
In order to integrate into other financial apps and projects, Column Tax required a sleek and simple user-friendly interface. This simple experience was required for their API-centric app to push their goal that every American should have access to reliable tax and financial advice. They also needed a brand that was easy to understand and simple enough to be integrated into any other app they partnered with.
Solution
We transformed Column Tax’s brand by integrating a unique color pallet into new and improved versions of their website as well as the launch of their brand new app. We created various high-end designs for their webpage that are not only satisfying to look at, but informative to users. This use of information in visual form, rather than big blocks of text, allowed us here at Caviar to accentuate the sleek and simple user friendly experience that Column Tax required.
Building a Beautiful Color Palette and a User Friendly Component Library
The color palette we created for Column Tax integrates a visual language that advertises contrast. While mostly using stunning blue hues, the hints of green or light yellow really make certain items pop from a page. This use of contrasting colors allows Column Tax to highlight important material they want their users to give attention to.
When creating the component library, our designers wanted to keep simplicity as the highest priority. With that goal in mind, we delivered Column Tax a component library that is clear, concise, and most importantly, user friendly.
Informative Imagery and High-End Designs
Getting the information across to users was one of the biggest goals at Column Tax, and in order to achieve that, we had to think of a way to keep the blocky text to a minimum. To supplement this issue we created high-end, informative imagery that removes the need for so much grim and daunting text. Our stunning designs grab the attention of users, and convey the important information needed to push them in the right direction.
Tax app that Delivers
For Column Tax, being able to easily integrate into financial apps was a must. Due to the rapid increase in mobile app use among Americans, having mobile support for their business was a no-brainer. We designed and created flawless user experience flows that direct users through the entire setup process and tax filing process in less than 5 minutes.
Visual Language
It was important to build out a design system that supports Column Tax’s simple, modern, and trustworthy brand attributes. The minimal color palette yields a powerful blue that makes a statement. We created new brand guidelines to help maintain structure and visual impact across various device sizes and marketing materials.
Brand Strategy and Architecture
A brand architecture defines the different levels within a brand and provides a hierarchy that explains the relationships between the different products, services, and components that make up a company’s offerings. It is important for companies to develop a clear brand architecture in order to establish an effective marketing strategy and communication plan for their brands.
It was crucial to examine and define the relationship between Column Tax’s Embedded Tax Experiences in order to move onto Visual Design.
As a new company just starting out, Column Tax had no visual language or branding.
"We had an incredibly positive experience working with Caviar for our launch and branding of Column Tax. Their approach was thoughtful and sophisticated from start to finish and they were clearly passionate about design"
Press
“Column Tax’s software differs from that of incumbents like TurboTax and H&R Block in that it is mobile-only and will be embedded into a customer’s existing bank account, allowing for year-round integration that the company says will cut down users’ time spent on tax prep.”
“By partnering with apps that already know something about your financial life, Column Tax can adjust that data and give people a jump on their tax filing and get the most accurate and efficient tax filings experience.”
Project Services
The Results
$21.7M
Series A Funding
$350B
tax refunds access to users
75%
of Americans receive a tax refund
