New app Yoderlay draws attention with bespoke illustrations

Copenhagen-based design agency Studio Morfar is behind the identity, website and app for Yoderlay, a new offering coming soon to the UK that aims to seamlessly connect trusted tradespeople with local customers.

The founders of Yoderlay imagined the app as a disruptor in the home services sector but were also conscious of maintaining a deep respect for both new and old-school tradespeople. Essentially, they wanted it to boost their livelihoods rather than take them away.

While the majority of the studio's projects are B2B, the team always likes to shake things up by working with consumer-facing clients. "In some ways, there's more at stake, but it means we can approach the project through deeper, more extensive research," says Studio Morfar founder and creative director Torsten Power.

Reliability is the foundation of the brand, and Yoderlay wanted to communicate this to both sides of its user base: tradespeople and customers.

Power says: "Yoderlay should be a place for finding trusted traders when customers are in a panic and likewise a platform that traders feel comfortable relying on for work and using every day to manage their livelihood.

"It was critical we created that sense of trust for both sides from the get-go." Not only this but when Studio Morfar looked at the current landscape, they felt that most offerings were not resonating with both types of users.

Yoderlay immediately stands out thanks to a bespoke series of illustrations created by Doug John Miller, known for his work with BAO, Netflix, Nike, and The New York Times. Featured across the app and brand identity in general, the illustrations depict complex scenes while ensuring the people remain the focus.

"The most important thing behind the direction was that we should be hero-ing the skilled tradespeople, and so the focus shouldn't be on the thing being done (i.e. the tap being fixed); it should be on the person doing it," Power explains.

Miller describes the style as being "somewhere in between clean vector linework and something with more texture and grain." He adds that he and Studio Morfar chose this because "it keeps the illustrations simple without losing the sense of the hand-drawn that sets them slightly apart in a space full of good graphics".

Yoderlay's distinct colour palette was curated to make it feel familiar to traders, resulting in a bold but not garish selection of hues. "When it came to the illustrations, we needed to depict a large variety of different situations, people, and places, and so we wanted to limit the palette as much as possible to create a super consistent, confident look," says Power.

He explains that Studio Morfar's priority for the app was to create "a beautifully simple interface that would make it as clear and easy as possible to do whatever the user needs to do". After all, when there's a major malfunction in your home, the last thing you want to do is faff about with overly clunky UI.

That being said, Power adds that they also wanted to include "celebratory moments" that are "more bold, playful and illustrative" to mark moments such as 'Job booked' or 'You've been paid'.

When Studio Morfar came into the project, the wordmark had already been done, and they didn't see any reason to change it. For the main typeface, the design team opted for Matter by Displaay Type Foundry for its simplicity, modern look and sense of approachability.