Additional Projects

Beyond the flagship products, my CDO role at Soramitsu encompassed design leadership across a broad portfolio of projects — some built on our core technology stack, others exploring new ecosystems entirely. Several remain under NDA, but the projects shown here illustrate the range: from enterprise payment infrastructure to cross-chain DeFi, from hands-on brand creation to high-level design oversight.

Zenswap — Cross-Chain Liquidity Protocol

Zenswap is a cross-chain asset swap protocol powered by USDC-based liquidity routing, enabling users to move native assets seamlessly between blockchains including TON, Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, and 30+ other networks. The protocol is secured by Analog GMP (Generic Message Passing) and built in partnership with Analog.

I handled the complete Zenswap visual identity myself — logo, brand system, website design and development, and social media presence, while delegating the product design (web application) to my experienced team.

Brand identity

The logomark is an organic, flowing shape — three soft, overlapping forms that suggest liquid movement and cross-chain flow. It deliberately avoids the geometric precision typical of DeFi logos, instead conveying something more natural and effortless. The name itself reinforces this: "Zen", calm, simple, frictionless swapping.

The color palette is striking: deep black backgrounds with hot magenta/pink as the primary accent, creating a cyberpunk energy that stands out in feeds and on dark-mode interfaces. Typography pairs Sora SemiBold with IBM Plex Mono for technical contexts. The brand copy rules codify the voice: bold, playful, rebellious, trusted, DeFi-native.

Visual world

I developed an extensive visual system using AI-generated imagery — cyberpunk cityscapes with neon cyan and magenta lighting, featuring a recurring cat character (a meditating Japanese tabby cat figure) that serves as the brand mascot. The social media toolkit includes profile avatars, X cover images, and a library of 40+ banner variations.

ADAR — Advanced Digital Asset Routing

ADAR (Advanced Digital Asset Routing) is a B2B payment infrastructure tool built on the SORA Network within the Polkadot ecosystem. It solves a specific, practical problem: simplifying recurring digital asset payments for small and mid-size businesses with global teams of employees and suppliers.

The interface carries the same warm, neumorphic visual language as the broader Soramitsu product family. The right sidebar surfaces community usage metrics, $8M+ in USD value routed to date. This was another project where the design system investment paid clear dividends.

Confidential Projects

Throughout my tenure as CDO at Soramitsu, I led design across several additional projects that remain under non-disclosure agreements. They spanned enterprise blockchain applications, financial infrastructure products, and government-adjacent technology initiatives. These projects collectively reinforced the value of the multi-brand design system approach.

What These Projects Demonstrate

These projects share a few things:

• ·Brand versatility. Zenswap's cyberpunk magenta energy and ADAR's warm, businesslike neumorphism are both created for the same type of underlying technology but for different audiences.
• ·Knowing when to be hands-on. I was hands-on creating the Zenswap and ADAR brands because the project needed a specific creative vision. I oversaw the product design at a distance because the design system and team could handle it. The judgment of when to do which is arguably the most important skill in design leadership.
• ·Design systems as multipliers. Across all of these projects, the multi-brand design system that originated with Polkaswap continued to accelerate delivery. Every new product shipped faster and more consistently than it would have without that foundational investment.