Episode 6 — Branding, UI & the badge system
Episode 6 covers dotmap’s visual philosophy — minimal, calm and professional — and the meaning behind the Explorer, Pathfinder and Navigator badges.
dotmap wasn’t designed to look like another social platform.
It needed to feel:
- clean
- calm
- professional
- approachable
The branding grew out of a simple idea: clarity helps people stand out.
A minimal, spacious interface
The UI avoids visual noise:
- neutral colors
- soft spacing
- minimal chrome
- clear typography
- intuitive hierarchy
Profiles take center stage.
The map remains the anchor.
Everything else supports the content, not the other way around.
Icons that feel grounded and directional
To reinforce the idea of exploration, dotmap uses iconography inspired by:
- navigation
- mapping
- direction
- movement
This led to the three badge identities:
- Explorer — your starting point on the map
- Pathfinder — you chart your direction
- Navigator — you see the broader landscape
These badges aren’t meant to gamify the platform — they provide clarity about subscription tiers while reinforcing the map-based metaphor.
A professional, uniform look
Badges, markers, cards and overlays share:
- consistent stroke widths
- clean geometric shapes
- subtle mint accents
- a single visual language
This consistency helps dotmap feel trustworthy and intentional.
Next episode
Episode 7 looks at the challenges behind discovery platforms and how dotmap approaches them differently.
All episodes
- Episode 0 - Building dotmap
- Episode 1 - Why I started building dotmap
- Episode 2 — Designing the concept
- Episode 3 — A map-first way to explore tech
- Episode 4 — Building the MVP
- Episode 5 — Why multi-stack matters
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