About.com was Originally founded in 1996 with the name: The Mining Company. In 2013, About.com, looking to be a player as a social media platform, reintroduced “MiningCo” as a new social media platform which was designed to publish content created by individuals and provide a community inspiring contribution to or collaboration.
Miningco may seem like an odd name for a start-up, unless you understand their definition of what a “mine” is: a treasure-trove of knowledge about specific, unique and sometimes obscure topics. There can be hundreds, thousands of mines of any size, each deep, unique and personalized.
Directions from Strangers: useful tips from the community you’re in, to help you get to where you want to go.
Designed and developed visual branding system including logo based on the “mine” concept: The logo for miningco is visual representation of these mines. It is built of young, fresh, and entrepreneurial completely custom typography, below 5 ever-changing and ever-growing mines.
The fresh and versatile color palette invites the imagination to come play, and shares the spirit of the larger community.
Ever-evolving logo for a collaborative social media platform.
The new “miningco” brand and user interface — the header of the UI —integrates the same “mines” in a user experience that is fully responsive.
For the product and UX design, responsive layouts were fully utilized—for desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile and even TV—to create a dynamic easily usable interface.
Collaboration is a key element, as users are allowed to create articles, blog posts, lists, ideas, and mines not only on their own, but also together with groups of friends and strangers. The user’s ability to navigate, integrate and investigate was always the most important consideration while developing the product.
