Ayo
Selected work

ProdVent · 2025

Design. Build. Scale.

A brand I named, designed and directed, from the first sketch to the first client.

Role
Founder, creative director and designer
Scope
Naming, logo, colour and type, content system, motion, website
Status
Live
Team
Solo, with a graphic designer for the final logo

The idea

ProdVent started with a name. Prod plus vent. Product design and venture, in one word.

product design + venture

I wanted a home for the space where design, technology and venture capital meet, and I could not find one. So I built it. ProdVent educates and empowers startups to create impactful products, scale effectively and navigate the investment landscape.

It speaks to startup founders, aspiring venture capitalists, product designers and managers who want their work tied to business goals, and tech enthusiasts who get excited when strategy and craft sit at the same table.

  • Startup founders
  • Aspiring venture capitalists
  • Product designers and managers
  • Tech enthusiasts

The slogan came from the path every product walks.

  1. 01Design.
  2. 02Build.
  3. 03Scale.
Three steps from zero to one, and then beyond.

The logo

I did not start on a screen. I started with references and a pencil.

My mood board pulled from tech startups and investment firms, brands that lean on modern, minimal marks that stay versatile and scalable. Clean, geometric elements that say innovation and growth, and still look right years from now.

Drag to explore. Tap a tile to see it larger.Swipe to explore. Tap a tile to see it larger.

Then I sketched. The brief I gave myself was simple: minimal but symbolic, and it had to capture motion. Growth, scaling, progress.

  1. Sketch 1
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40 sketches. Dots are votes from people I showed them to.

Forty sketches later I narrowed to four, and I chose number six.

The drawing was mine. I brought in a graphic designer to bring it to life, because knowing when to direct and when to hand off is part of the job.

My pencil sketch of number six
My sketch, finished by a graphic designer.

Colour and type

The brand needed to feel professional, innovative and energetic. Those three words guided my palette search, and I tested real references before committing.

The result runs from deep navy to electric cyan and violet.

Navy brings the seriousness investors expect.Cyan and violet bring the energy founders live on.Tap a colour to copy its code.

For type, I tested eight pairings against one brief: bold and modern for the name, clean and approachable for everything that supports it. Lexend carries the headlines. Mulish carries the rest.

Lexend + Mulish · chosen
Design. Build. Scale.
ProdVent educates and empowers startups to create impactful products, scale effectively and navigate the investment landscape.
Headlines Bold and modernEverything else Clean and approachable

The content system

A brand is only real when it shows up consistently. So I designed five content pillars.

  1. 01Educational
  2. 02Startup tips
  3. 03Industry trends and news
  4. 04Inspirational posts
  5. 05Memes and relatable content

Then I built a system to keep it running. Using n8n, Airtable and Claude, I set up an automation that runs every day at 8am. It takes a content pillar and sends me 10 post topic ideas written in the brand’s voice. They land in Airtable, where I go through them and approve the ones worth building.

  1. ScheduleEvery day, 8am
  2. n8nPicks a pillar
  3. Claude10 ideas, brand voice
  4. AirtableIdeas land for review
  5. Me
  6. BacklogI design every post
Runs every morning at 8am

Nothing moves forward without my yes, so the automation speeds up the thinking while the taste stays mine.

The Airtable content calendar, where post ideas wait for approval with their pillar, format, platform, caption and hashtags

Approved ideas become the backlog I design from. Every post is built by me, from concept to design. I also made three pieces of motion: a launch visual for the website, a text only piece that sets how the brand moves, and a globe for the About section.

Launch visual for the website
Text only motion, setting how the brand moves
Globe for the About section

What it did

Content under the brand has reached over 20K views. These pieces led the way.

20K+ views across ProdVent content

I also packaged my thinking into a free ebook, How Designers Build & Ship AI Products in 2026.

Cover of the ebook How Designers Build and Ship AI Products in 2026
Free ebook
How Designers Build & Ship AI Products in 2026
Get it at prodvent.ca/resources

Where it stands

ProdVent has its first client engagement underway. The work is in progress, and I am treating it the way I treat everything else: with a clear point of view and a deadline.

I am also a member of Angel Investors Ontario, a nonprofit community for angel investing. It keeps me close to how investors read early products, which shapes how I design them.

Proof of range

The same instincts shaped my first product built under the brand.

02Rootine CultureThe first product built under ProdVent.Read the case study

The takeaway

I treat design the way a founder treats a company: with conviction, a plan and a ship date. ProdVent is the proof.

I named it, designed it, directed it and shipped it.

Visit ProdVent

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