“Where they’re understood”: Georgia Platt on branding personal financial planning
Posted 48 minutes ago in brand identity, design chat, web design
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Refining a website before a major announcement: how Clipway readied its site for a $6.4bn close
Posted 1 week ago in design chat, web design
When Clipway closed the largest-ever debut secondaries fund, their website needed to tell the story as well as set out their achievements since the firm launched three years ago. Here’s how we went about refining a website before a major announcement with a design refresh that met both their brief and the scale of that moment.
There are landmarks in the life of a firm, then there’s a $6.4bn landmark. Two weeks ago, our longtime client Clipway were about to launch the largest-ever debut secondaries platform, establishing them as the world’s largest independent, dedicated, tech-enabled secondaries firm.
It was ahead of the announcement on the 21st July that the partnership approached us to give their website a refresh worthy of this extraordinary achievement.
Clipway’s big news made waves, being picked up by Bloomberg, Law360 and BusinessWire among others, which provides a little context for this new project to reframe their achievement over the last three years.
Project background: from 2023 to today
We had created the launch website for Clipway back in 2023 as the company launched from London with a New York office. I remember going into their offices on Great Portland Street to meet the partners, having been referred to our work by another client, and spending time running through the branding scheme they’d just completed.
That brief asked us to bring a set of different concepts to life within a series of unique motion graphics based on particles and energy. At the time, we’d never created anything quite like it, but working with our animation team we iterated many times to find the right technique and look for the pages. With the 2026 fund launch, we’ve given the homepage a new version of the animation that comes to life almost instantly, giving the site an immediacy and energy worthy of the moment.
Three years later, things within the firm had changed substantially and Clipway’s ambition for their website has matured, particularly with the idea of setting out the firm’s achievements front and centre. With just a few weeks to go before the fund launch, we discussed how revised layouts of key pages would do this, giving anyone visiting the site a sense of the firm’s scale of growth.
Refining a website before a major announcement with a series of incremental design improvements to the Clipway homepage
A record-breaking launch
The website update is subtle, focusing on Clipway’s progress and in many ways this iteration of the site is a case study in making a statement discreetly but clearly, setting the stage for the future.
- First, at the team’s request we placed a new section focused on core statistics which sits centrally on the page, acting as an anchor for everything else. Ultimately when our financial services clients have measurable achievements they are presented in this format but we were keen to present a design that felt crisp while making the most of the branding we’ve honed for them.
- Second, we pulled content from within the site, to the homepage. Every website grows over time, usually with a news and insights section expanding to cover achievements, growth and the arrival of significant new team members. Clipway’s site had substantially more content today than at launch and the team were keen to make the most of that by placing their press releases on the homepage.
- Third, with over sixty team members spread across six offices, we were keen to ensure the Team page was clearer and easier to navigate, so have added a discreet set of filters to the page. It’s a small touch but both improves usability and reinforces Clipway’s global standing.
“Richard and the team did a fantastic job, as always, helping us bring our vision for the website to life following our final close. He provided thoughtful advice throughout the design process and executed the updates quickly and to a very high standard. We’re delighted with the end result!”
Joshua Manasseh
Partner
Refining a website before a major announcement with the addition of key features like filtering for team members between offices
Our reflections
In isolation, each of the design updates we’ve completed could be seen as minor, yet for us the result is deeply satisfying: combined, the work amplifies what Clipway are doing, wrapped in a unique financial services brand design scheme. Refining their website before this major announcement with substance and clarity. The cumulative impact of this project is that key data and information about the firm and their landmark platform launch is presented within a crisp, consolidated layout that reinforces not only who Clipway are, but the way they do business.
When your firm requires refining a website before a major announcement
At Richard Chapman Studio, our work runs the gamut from full rebrands to this kind of precisely scoped work which moves a business forward at their pace. If you’re interested in working with us, get in touch either by calling +44 20 7351 4083 or emailing us direct.
