Gradwyn

Gradwyn

Services

Brand Strategy

Brand Design

Web Design
UX Strategy
UI Design
Design System
Pitch Decks
Illustrations

Helped Gradwyn secure $500K in startup perks, enter funding discussions of up to $250K, and gain acceptance into Founders Inc., NVIDIA Inception, and Framer’s Startup Program.

Industry

EdTech

Year

2026

Rexeed Projects GIF

About

Gradwyn is an AI-powered student guidance startup helping students discover universities, find scholarships, connect with mentors, and manage applications in one place. I joined at the earliest stage, when the team had the idea but no finished brand, no MVP interface, no user flows, no design system, and no developer-ready product structure.

Informing decision-making: Research provides data and evidence to support design decisions. It helps designers make informed choices about layout, color schemes, typography, and other design elements, leading to more effective and user-friendly websites

About

Gradwyn is an AI-powered student guidance startup helping students discover universities, find scholarships, connect with mentors, and manage applications in one place. I joined at the earliest stage, when the team had the idea but no finished brand, no MVP interface, no user flows, no design system, and no developer-ready product structure.

Rexeed Projects GIF

The Problem

Gradwyn needed to move from concept to credible product fast. The team had spoken through the idea, but the experience had not been mapped or designed. There was no clear onboarding flow, no product architecture, no visual identity, no reusable UI system, and no pitch-ready product story. My challenge was to turn a raw startup idea into something users could understand, developers could build, and investors could believe in.

Informing decision-making: Research provides data and evidence to support design decisions. It helps designers make informed choices about layout, color schemes, typography, and other design elements, leading to more effective and user-friendly websites

The Problem

Gradwyn needed to move from concept to credible product fast. The team had spoken through the idea, but the experience had not been mapped or designed. There was no clear onboarding flow, no product architecture, no visual identity, no reusable UI system, and no pitch-ready product story. My challenge was to turn a raw startup idea into something users could understand, developers could build, and investors could believe in.

Our Role

We led the full design process across brand, product, and pitch. This included brand identity, market research, competitor analysis, moodboarding, user flows, wireframes, high-fidelity UI design, design system, landing page, pitch deck, and developer handoff. In total, I designed 40+ screens for the first version of the platform and built the visual foundation used across the app, website, and investor materials.

Informing decision-making: Research provides data and evidence to support design decisions. It helps designers make informed choices about layout, color schemes, typography, and other design elements, leading to more effective and user-friendly websites

Our Role

We led the full design process across brand, product, and pitch. This included brand identity, market research, competitor analysis, moodboarding, user flows, wireframes, high-fidelity UI design, design system, landing page, pitch deck, and developer handoff. In total, I designed 40+ screens for the first version of the platform and built the visual foundation used across the app, website, and investor materials.

Rexeed Projects GIF

Research

We started by studying the university application journey through feedback from 56 students, then reviewed competitor and reference products including Common App, College Board, UniBuddy, Wise, Phantom Wallet, and Mobbin. The research showed that students were dealing with scattered tools, unclear next steps, stressful deadlines, and too much information at once. That shaped the product direction: Gradwyn needed to feel guided, calm, structured, and easy to continue using.

Informing decision-making: Research provides data and evidence to support design decisions. It helps designers make informed choices about layout, color schemes, typography, and other design elements, leading to more effective and user-friendly websites

Research

We started by studying the university application journey through feedback from 56 students, then reviewed competitor and reference products including Common App, College Board, UniBuddy, Wise, Phantom Wallet, and Mobbin. The research showed that students were dealing with scattered tools, unclear next steps, stressful deadlines, and too much information at once. That shaped the product direction: Gradwyn needed to feel guided, calm, structured, and easy to continue using.

Rexeed Projects GIF

Design Direction

The brand direction came from one idea: the shortest line to university. Gradwyn became the line guiding students from confusion to clarity.

We translated that into a softer visual system with rounded corners, generous white space, vibrant accents, and sans-serif typography to avoid the heavy, institutional feeling of traditional education platforms. The logo used forward motion in the “G” and arrow-like movement in the “A,” reinforcing progress throughout the identity.

Informing decision-making: Research provides data and evidence to support design decisions. It helps designers make informed choices about layout, color schemes, typography, and other design elements, leading to more effective and user-friendly websites

Design Direction

The brand direction came from one idea: the shortest line to university. Gradwyn became the line guiding students from confusion to clarity.

We translated that into a softer visual system with rounded corners, generous white space, vibrant accents, and sans-serif typography to avoid the heavy, institutional feeling of traditional education platforms. The logo used forward motion in the “G” and arrow-like movement in the “A,” reinforcing progress throughout the identity.

Rexeed Projects GIF
Rexeed Projects GIF
Rexeed Projects GIF

UX & UI Design

Before designing screens, I mapped the core product architecture across onboarding, student profile setup, university discovery, scholarship matching, mentorship, saved options, dashboards, and application tracking. I then moved from wireframes to high-fidelity UI, building 40+ screens with a focus on hierarchy, spacing, card-based layouts, filters, status labels, progress cues, and clear calls to action. The interface was designed to reduce decision anxiety and make each next step obvious.

Informing decision-making: Research provides data and evidence to support design decisions. It helps designers make informed choices about layout, color schemes, typography, and other design elements, leading to more effective and user-friendly websites

UX & UI Design

Before designing screens, I mapped the core product architecture across onboarding, student profile setup, university discovery, scholarship matching, mentorship, saved options, dashboards, and application tracking. I then moved from wireframes to high-fidelity UI, building 40+ screens with a focus on hierarchy, spacing, card-based layouts, filters, status labels, progress cues, and clear calls to action. The interface was designed to reduce decision anxiety and make each next step obvious.

Rexeed Projects GIF
Rexeed Projects GIF

Handoff & Testing

We built a reusable design system covering typography, color styles, buttons, cards, forms, tags, navigation, status labels, and layout patterns. The Figma handoff included organized screens, reusable components, interaction notes, product flows, and design logic for developers.

After the beta build, I reviewed the product against the designs, checked spacing, flow clarity, component behavior, and visual consistency, then supported refinements before the platform was shared with early waitlist users.

Informing decision-making: Research provides data and evidence to support design decisions. It helps designers make informed choices about layout, color schemes, typography, and other design elements, leading to more effective and user-friendly websites

Handoff & Testing

We built a reusable design system covering typography, color styles, buttons, cards, forms, tags, navigation, status labels, and layout patterns. The Figma handoff included organized screens, reusable components, interaction notes, product flows, and design logic for developers.

After the beta build, I reviewed the product against the designs, checked spacing, flow clarity, component behavior, and visual consistency, then supported refinements before the platform was shared with early waitlist users.

Outcome

Helped Gradwyn secure $500K in startup perks, enter funding discussions of up to $250K, and gain acceptance into Founders Inc., NVIDIA Inception, and Framer’s Startup Program. The design work also supported 1st Prize at the Middlesex University Business Pitch Competition, 1st Runner-Up at a hackathon, and incubator interest through Turbine. More importantly, Gradwyn moved from an idea into a complete startup design system with brand identity, UX structure, UI screens, landing page, pitch materials, and developer-ready MVP foundations.

Informing decision-making: Research provides data and evidence to support design decisions. It helps designers make informed choices about layout, color schemes, typography, and other design elements, leading to more effective and user-friendly websites

Outcome

Helped Gradwyn secure $500K in startup perks, enter funding discussions of up to $250K, and gain acceptance into Founders Inc., NVIDIA Inception, and Framer’s Startup Program. The design work also supported 1st Prize at the Middlesex University Business Pitch Competition, 1st Runner-Up at a hackathon, and incubator interest through Turbine. More importantly, Gradwyn moved from an idea into a complete startup design system with brand identity, UX structure, UI screens, landing page, pitch materials, and developer-ready MVP foundations.

Designing the next generation

of African startups

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Designing the next generation

of African startups

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