01 · case study
Arch
The most flexible way to turn all your data into success.
scope
Illustration system, marketing site, blog, UI/UX, pitch deck, applications.
role
Lead designer at BABCO. Identity through launch.
client
Arch Data. A data integration platform built on the open-source Meltano stack.
customers
Booking.com, MLB, Lufthansa, Red Hat, 1Password.
Arch helps mid-market companies turn fragmented data into clarity. The brand had to feel approachable to a CFO who isn't technical, and credible to a data engineer who is.
The answer was a brand world. Not a brand system. Custom characters, isometric scenes, and a visual language that turns engineering complexity into something a non-engineer can actually look at.
02 · THE VISUAL WORLD
A brand built
around birds.
Data brands have a sameness problem. Blue gradients, grid backgrounds, abstract geometry. Arch needed to stand out in a category that all looks the same.
The answer was a cast of characters. Birds, designed to guide users through data the way a host guides a tour. Different variants for different audiences. The same brand voice, embodied differently. Engineers got a focused, technical bird with glasses. Marketing got a warmer, more curious bird. New users got a small, friendly bird at the start of every onboarding.
Isometric scenes. Five character variants. One world.
03 · IDENTITY
An arch, a bird,
a journey.
The logo is two marks at once. An A for arch. A small bird perched at the top. The arch shape repeats throughout the brand world. As a structure birds fly under. As a gateway your data passes through. As the metaphor in the name.
Purple as the primary color was a deliberate choice in a category dominated by blue. Soft purple gradients, peach accents, and lots of whitespace. The system is warm, on purpose. The product is technical. The brand doesn't have to be.
04 · WEBSITE
A marketing site that doesn't feel like one.
Most data platform sites read like spec sheets. Arch's reads like a journey. The hero illustration is a literal journey: a bird walking under an arch, the data path stretching off into the distance, more arches ahead.
Each section earns its own illustration. The bar chart birds for analytics. The mountain birds for scale. The arch birds for the platform itself. The site argues for clarity by being clear, and for warmth by being warm.
05 · BLOG
Every article gets
its own scene.
The blog uses the illustration system as content. Each article has a custom illustration that previews its subject. Reverse ETL articles get a bird hopping across data warehouses. Analytics articles get a bird in a chart. Technical deep-dives get a bird under a database.
06 · PITCH DECK
A deck that tells a story called Bob.
Most investor decks open with a market size slide. Arch's opens with a character. Bob spends 3+ hours weekly pulling data into Excel for analysis. Bob represents the mid-market CFO who is the company's actual customer.
07 · APPLICATIONS
From billboard to t-shirt.
The brand world extends in every direction. A billboard on a desert highway. A t-shirt with a bird character. A product UI for engineering teams. The illustration system carries the brand everywhere it goes.
08 · IN MARKET
Trusted by leading
data teams.
5K+
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
600+
INTEGRATIONS
150+
CONTRIBUTORS
“Arch is transforming the way businesses manage data across multiple clients. By leveraging the robust foundations of Meltano, Arch provides a seamless and powerful data management solution that drives efficiency and insight.”
— SID SIJBRANDIJ · FOUNDER & CEO, GITLAB
09 · REFLECTION
Illustration as system.
Most brand systems are typographic, with illustration as decoration. Arch is the opposite. The illustration system is the brand. Every new piece of content asks not what the brand looks like, but what the bird does.
All your data into success.
