Creating A Symbol Of Open Innovation In The Fintech Ecosystem

Brand Strategy – Graphic Design

OCBC —
The Open Vault

53/55 New Bridge Road

Part of the launch of The Open Vault, a Fintech accelerator by OCBC, OuterEdit was commissioned to conceptualize & create a collaborative mural featuring local illustrators, Natalie & Junyao.

Located at 53/55 New Bridge Road, the space was formerly an actual OCBC bank branch and if you had any doubt at all, this can easily be determined by stepping into the original bank vault found in the corner of the room.

A Symbol of Openness

The notion of the open vault is a celebratory sense of boldness, discovery and thrill in the unlocking a door that has, till now, been closed. Opening minds, resources and opportunities, each vault presents OCBC’s core values for ‘The Open Vault’ - Innovation, Collaboration, Growth, Exploration - in familiar yet new, unexpected ways.

Our explorations led us down the path of ensuring the final visual represented the very essence of 'openness' and 'multifold' in the accelerator's efforts to 'open vaults' across the fintech sector which are traditionally perceived as a complex and agonizing adventure.

Above: Preliminary Sketches by Natalie.

A Symbolic Meeting Of Minds

The collaboration of 2 illustrators with distinct styles is symbolic of ‘The Open Vault’ connecting new ideas, people and possibilities in the FinTech realm. Beyond this, while each vault can be appreciated individually, they are in-fact intertwined on paths that connect them through time and space.

We desired to co-create something bigger than the sum of its parts. This was the birth of more than just another beautiful work of art - but an opportunity to create an iconic centrepiece that in itself resonated with the collaborative nature of the Open Vault identity.

Seeing With New Eyes

Be it the discovery of new worlds, currencies or interactive technologies, the mural comprises an interplay of scales, perspectives and easter eggs to create interesting moments in 3-dimensional depth.

Viewers are invited to explore the mural with new eyes each time and uncover different possibilities and motifs– a filament or a tree? Jewels or a mountain cliff?

As Marcel Proust once said, “The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes".