Responses by Studio Freight.

Background: Based in Columbus, Ohio, and founded by two former Sequoia partners, Drive is known for its early stance on the potential of investing in the Midwest—instead of Silicon Valley. We built the brand and website to embody Drive’s thesis that greatness can be achieved when you build with grit where you’re strongest, making it bold, resolute and sophisticated. The goal from the outset was to project a sense of confidence and relentlessness, because that’s why founders choose to partner with Drive—it wants convicted investors who will push them to be great.

Favorite details: As a starting point, we love the brand, from the visuals that feel tech-forward yet editorial to the messaging that’s grounded yet prophetic. And there’s a few driving-related puns, so our copywriter finally got their chuckles too. This was actually our second brand and website collaboration with Drive, and the second go-around afforded the opportunity to implement many of the ideas we couldn’t do the first time. For the website, we’ll point to an easy-to-miss detail we love; if you find yourself on the 404 page, we recommend taking the scenic route.

Special navigational features: “Our companies are proving that you can build a world-class technology company anywhere. We believe the best advantages are the ones you already have. Build where your talent is. Build where your customers are. Build where you’re strongest.”

This statement frames how we wanted to represent Drive’s companies. When viewers land on the Portfolio page, they’re met with a functional index list. But geography is an important theme within the Drive narrative and brand system, so we created an alternate view that highlights where its portfolio companies are being built. Selecting “gallery view” leads to a dramatic scrolling experience where hovering over any company name reveals a portrait of their home city.

Technology: Figma and Adobe for the design. For development, Satus, our starter kit using GSAP, Next.js and WebGL. Scrolling smoothness by Lenis, our open-source library. Contentful for the CMS. And, as always, deployment and hosting on Vercel.