As the protocol moved from theory to implementation, the challenge was making a radically new multi-chain architecture understandable. This project focused on visualizing Polkadot’s core technology to make the protocol tangible, teachable, and widely shareable.
Role: Art Direction & Design
Year: 2018
The Challenge
Balancing deep technical accuracy with clarity. Polkadot needed to explain a heterogeneous multi-chain system without oversimplifying its innovation, while remaining credible to researchers and accessible to educators, ambassadors, exchanges, and investors encountering it for the first time.
Strategy
We centered on the idea: make the invisible tangible. Abstract protocol mechanics were translated into clear, modular visual narratives. Rather than decorative graphics, the goal was explanatory design—visuals that could teach, persuade, and scale alongside the technology.
System Thinking
Grounded in structural clarity and modularity, the system was built to endure as the protocol evolved.
A visual language that explains relationships between sub chains, main chains, and its components
A diagrammatic approach supporting technical reading
A logic adaptable to education, presentations, and documentation
Applications
The system was adopted across educational materials, ambassador toolkits, research presentations, and third-party communications. From academic explanations to exchange onboarding decks, each application reinforced Polkadot’s core architecture while remaining adaptable to different audiences and contexts.
Impact
This visualization system became one of the most iconic early Polkadot assets, embedded into the 1.0 brand era. It helped researchers communicate complex ideas, empowered educators and ambassadors, and was widely reused by exchanges, community, and investors establishing a shared visual language for understanding Polkadot’s technology.
This project was developed at the Web3 Foundation. Many thanks to the research team specially Alistair Stewart, Jeff Burdges, Fatemeh Shirazi and Bill Laboon.