All-star design team creates new Russian banking app

The Zhuck app has been created for Russia’s Bank24 and focuses on three main areas: profit and loss, invoices and payments and partners.

The design team worked with writer Nick Asbury and illustrator Ryan Todd to develop the proposition for Zhuck.

NB Studio says the service is aimed at ‘disillusioned entrepreneurs, accountants, managers and investors who want a closer control of their business… without getting caught up or slowed down by the bureaucratic Russian banking system’.

The name Zhuck translates into English directly as ‘beetle’ but is also used in Russian to talk about someone who is aggressive, predatory cunning and malicious, but also savvy, clever, entrepreneurial and driven.

NB Studio says, ‘Put simply, a “Zhuck” is someone you want on your side – not against you.’

Michael Wolff says, ‘Why Zhuck? Because it sounds good, useful for a name; looks good, useful for a name too; and because it’s short and lively and makes people smile as they deal with the serious financial day to day facts of money in their business.’

NB Studio says that from the very start of the project, the product was thought of as a ‘companion’. The consultancy worked with illustrator Todd to create the Zhuck character, while writer Asbury worked on the language (with translation by Ekaterina Solomeina).

NB says, ‘Unlike many banking/productivity/financial apps out there, Zhuck jokes, provokes and occasionally insults the user, cajoling them into action, making “doing nothing” seem like the difficult option.’

The Zhuck app was developed by SomeOne/Else and aims to ‘teach entrepreneurs new habits and reveal tricks to maximise the health of their business’.

Outside the app, NB Studio created an identity that aims to work both on and off-line. The Lora font is used as it works in both Roman and Cyrillic text, while off-white tones are offset by bright colours and the ‘marauding’ Zhuck character.

The team was appointed to the work after a similar team, led by Wolff and Singh, created the Knopka bank branding for the same client last year.