Intellectual progress is everywhere, but opportunity remains elusive for many.
The Southwest has been historically ignored by venture capital, despite incredible innovations in life sciences and software. Battling a negative perception (or a nonexistent one) by outside investors is makes raising capital a challenge.
Beto Pallares knows why investors should consider another look at the Southwest. Growing up in El Paso, Pallares is deeply connected and committed to helping others see what he sees - multiple returns on innovations that can change the world. Through his role as GP at Audaz Ventures, he came to Five Four to help express that position through a powerful brand and message that truly represents community he serves.
Audaz’s existing brand include a lion, meant to represent the power and audacity behind the bold founders the firm backed. We swapped the lion for a mountain lion — more respective of the region — and perched the mountain lion up high, representing a climb already made and a future climb to come.
The existing color palette was muted and lacked intent. We harkened to the architecture and natural elements of the Southwest with warm reds and yellows, bold enough to evoke importance but not so saturated that the brand came across too aggressive, pushing away interest instead of pulling it in.
The new font is a strong and robust serif with a geometric flare that references the architecture seen in El Paso and the surrounding region. The font brings attention without coming across as overly aggressive, but instead feels smart and demands attention as a bold header. The body font was chosen for its ease in legibility for the many instances of long bodies of copy. The simplicity allows the header font to stand out.
It’s rare we get to design a log that works so well with and without the wordmark. The “Audaz” text fits neatly under the mountains that founders have to climb.
