Adversent

The brief

Adversent was a brand new e-learning platform built to help beginners and experienced marketers improve their skills in Facebook, Google and YouTube advertising. The market was crowded with generic course platforms — dry, generic and uninspiring. The brief was to build something that felt completely different.

I led everything: brand identity, website, platform UX, dashboard design, eBook production, and the video content itself — directing shoots with actors in a production studio and overseeing the editing, graphics and sound.

The brand

Most e-learning brands look the same — corporate blues, stock photography, badges and progress bars. Adversent needed to look like it was built by people who actually understood advertising, and who respected the intelligence of their audience.

The visual identity was built around a dark navy and coral palette — a deliberate break from the lighter, more academic look of competing platforms. Navy gave it authority and credibility. Coral gave it energy and warmth. The logo treatment — "ad" bold, "versent" lighter — called out the advertising focus immediately while the full stop gave it confidence and finality.

The brief was to build something that felt more like Netflix than an online course — content you'd want to watch, not content you felt obliged to complete.

Visual identity

Dark navy and coral — authoritative and energetic, deliberately different from the pale, academic look of competing platforms. The speech bubble campaign device made the brand immediately approachable and human without sacrificing professional credibility.

Platform experience

Netflix was the reference point throughout. Dark interface, content-first layout, binge-able structure. The platform was designed around the idea that learning should feel like something you choose to do, not something you're required to finish.

Supporting content

Designed a series of eBooks to support each course — downloadable reference material that extended the learning beyond the video. Consistent visual system across platform, video and print so the brand held together across every touchpoint.

Video production

The course content wasn't bought in or outsourced — we built a production studio and I directed the shoots myself. Actors came in, I directed the performances and the on-camera delivery, and then worked through the editing process adding motion graphics, lower thirds and sound design aligned with the brand identity.

The video direction had a specific brief: the content needed to feel engaging and watchable, not like a recorded lecture. That meant proper camera work, considered lighting, dynamic editing and on-screen graphics that reinforced the learning points rather than just restating them.

Full production direction — casting, studio setup, on-camera direction and performance coaching.
Post-production oversight — editing, motion graphics, lower thirds and sound design all aligned to the brand system.
On-screen graphic templates built within the brand identity so new course content could be produced consistently without starting from scratch each time.
eBook design developed alongside each course — downloadable reference material in the same visual language as the platform and video.

The outcome

Adversent launched with a distinctive brand, a fully integrated learning platform and a content ecosystem designed to make digital marketing education more engaging and accessible. Rather than following the conventions of traditional e-learning platforms, the experience was built around the idea that learning should feel enjoyable, immersive and easy to return to.

The platform achieved a 35% course completion rate — significantly higher than many online learning products — demonstrating the impact that thoughtful brand, content and user experience design can have on engagement. By drawing inspiration from entertainment platforms rather than educational competitors, Adversent created a learning experience that felt genuinely different within a crowded market.

More broadly, the project demonstrated the value of designing around user motivation rather than industry convention. Every part of the experience — from the visual identity and platform design to the video production and supporting content — was created to encourage continued engagement and reduce the friction that often prevents learners from completing online courses.

Although the platform's long-term development was ultimately affected by funding constraints, the project remains a strong example of how brand, product design and content strategy can work together to create a more compelling digital learning experience.