Jim Sinai

Apr 03, 2023

4 min

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Introducing a brand new look for Vanilla

Today, we’re excited to introduce a new look and feel to Vanilla. Vanilla was started with the point of view that thoughtful design can help make the daunting process of estate planning more accessible. Our straightforward design approach reinforces a core concept of our brand – we are making estate planning simple. After rapidly scaling the company over the last few years, we realized it was time to take a step back, redefine our voice, and reintroduce the brand to the world.

A modern new look for Vanilla

Vanilla’s goal is to make estate planning easy and to standardize it through technology, design, and industry-leading strategy. Our new brand reflects our desire to modernize estate planning in a way that allows everyone to leave a meaningful legacy for themselves and their loved ones. We hope that our new brand identity can serve as a reassuring and welcoming entryway into that often complicated and emotional process.

Our new website, developed by b2b growth specialists, Productive Shop, expands our content to include solutions for both advisors and estate planners. We have also expanded our resources section with a new client-facing materials section and we’re excited to preview the launch of Vanilla Academy, our education center for advisors looking to up their estate planning game.

The site introduces a new visual identity that represents the intersection of humanity, technology, and design that is at the core of Vanilla’s approach to estate planning. The new brand identity leverages a bold, contemporary color palette highlighted by classic blues and fresh greens that portrays Vanilla as both trustworthy and inventive. Our new typographic palette features three classically-styled fonts from Czech type foundry, Displaay (who have done work for Apple, Google, *The New York Times*, and Nike, to name a few). The new fonts are timeless but crafted with a contemporary edge, a look that further emphasizes Vanilla’s ability to protect your legacy today AND tomorrow.

The new look and feel is rounded out by art and illustration crafted by our NYC-based brand studio, Studio Rubric (Rubric’s clients include Squarespace, Adviceperiod, and *NY Magazine*). These elements are bespoke and unique to us: a dotted line motif that represents the idea of connections both generational and technological, a warm photo treatment that feels familiar, humanist, and of its time; an evolution of our bespoke illustration style that reflects our intuitive, at-a-glance product experience, in an accessible and artful way, and much more.

Together, these carefully crafted and curated design elements equate to more than even the sum of their parts.

Our commitment to modernizing estate planning

At Vanilla, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to control the legacy they leave behind. In the next 25 years, over $84 trillion is expected to be transferred to the next generation. Unfortunately, most families either have estate plans that are locked away in dense legal documents, or they have no plans at all. This lack of planning leads to a situation where few truly understand the impact of their plan, and their heirs are left to pick up the pieces.

Vanilla was created with wealth advisors in mind and we are committed to working tirelessly to modernize the estate planning experience for advisors and their clients. Our platform is constantly evolving to keep up with changes in the industry and to provide the best possible service to our customers. We believe that technology and design can help make estate planning accessible and understandable to everyone. Our new brand reflects our commitment to modernizing estate planning.

At Vanilla, we are not just rebuilding estate planning—we are redefining it to empower everyone to maximize the impact of their life’s work