Halocoin
Halocoin
CARVANA HACKATHON
WINNER 2022
CARVANA HACKATHON
WINNER 2022
CARVANA HACKATHON
WINNER 2022
Overview
For our annual hackathon, employees are encouraged to form cross-functional teams and work with people they haven’t collaborated with before. I joined a group of 10, mostly engineers, and partnered with another UX designer to lead the design side of our project. In just three days, we created Halocoin, an internal cryptocurrency designed to unify employee recognition across the company. Carvanians could send each other Halocoins as a simple, meaningful way to say thank you for a job well done.
Client:
Carvana
Year:
2022
Role:
Visual/UI Designer
Project Type:
BRANDING
ILLUSTRATION
Overview
For our annual hackathon, employees are encouraged to form cross-functional teams and work with people they haven’t collaborated with before. I joined a group of 10, mostly engineers, and partnered with another UX designer to lead the design side of our project. In just three days, we created Halocoin, an internal cryptocurrency designed to unify employee recognition across the company. Carvanians could send each other Halocoins as a simple, meaningful way to say thank you for a job well done.
Client:
Carvana
Year:
2022
Role:
Visual/UI Designer
Type:
BRANDING
ILLUSTRATION
Overview
For our annual hackathon, employees are encouraged to form cross-functional teams and work with people they haven’t collaborated with before. I joined a group of 10, mostly engineers, and partnered with another UX designer to lead the design side of our project. In just three days, we created Halocoin, an internal cryptocurrency designed to unify employee recognition across the company. Carvanians could send each other Halocoins as a simple, meaningful way to say thank you for a job well done.
Client:
Carvana
Year:
2022
Role:
Visual/UI Designer
Project Type:
BRANDING
ILLUSTRATION
Process
During COVID, our team wanted to tap into the excitement around crypto by building a project inspired by the trend. Instead of launching a public cryptocurrency, which would have been hard to manage, we created an internal crypto system for employee recognition. At the time, each team had its own way of rewarding people, and this gave us a chance to unify the process across the company. With just three days to pull it off, we split into two groups. The engineers focused on the backend and blockchain functionality, while the design team led branding, UI, and the overall product experience. I worked closely with a UX designer and project manager to bring the designs to life.
During COVID, our team wanted to tap into the excitement around crypto by building a project inspired by the trend. Instead of launching a public cryptocurrency, which would have been hard to manage, we created an internal crypto system for employee recognition. At the time, each team had its own way of rewarding people, and this gave us a chance to unify the process across the company. With just three days to pull it off, we split into two groups. The engineers focused on the backend and blockchain functionality, while the design team led branding, UI, and the overall product experience. I worked closely with a UX designer and project manager to bring the designs to life.
Concept
The key visuals focused on the coin itself, which we named Halocoin to keep a strong connection to the Carvana brand. I designed a character for the coin to make the story more engaging during our presentation and to ensure the brand was both memorable and flexible, including a simplified version for UI use. Our second major visual was a whale character, playfully modeled after our CEO, Ernie Garcia. In crypto lingo, a "whale" is someone who holds a large amount of currency, so the reference was both fitting and a fun inside joke that really landed with the team.
The key visuals focused on the coin itself, which we named Halocoin to keep a strong connection to the Carvana brand. I designed a character for the coin to make the story more engaging during our presentation and to ensure the brand was both memorable and flexible, including a simplified version for UI use. Our second major visual was a whale character, playfully modeled after our CEO, Ernie Garcia. In crypto lingo, a "whale" is someone who holds a large amount of currency, so the reference was both fitting and a fun inside joke that really landed with the team.
UI Designs
I collaborated with the UX Designer to develop the wireframes before taking the lead on the visual design. Our deliverables included a landing page to spark interest, the core interface of the program, and additional marketing materials like email templates to support the campaign.
I collaborated with the UX Designer to develop the wireframes before taking the lead on the visual design. Our deliverables included a landing page to spark interest, the core interface of the program, and additional marketing materials like email templates to support the campaign.
Outcome
After multiple rounds of voting, we presented our project to the C-suite and ultimately secured one of the top four prizes out of more than 50 teams. We were awarded in the Culture category! Our whale character, modeled after Ernie, was a hit — not only with him but also with the entire Carvana team. It quickly became a popular Slack emoji, and there was even a petition to turn it into an actual plushie.