Rankify

Inspiration

We were captivated at the scale of corporate rebranding and logo alteration that has been occurring due to a new wave of consumer awareness. We discovered that due to this, businesses are now looking to incorporate minimalism and diversity in their logo design. However, entrepreneurs who are looking to create startups are often lost and overwhelmed on what graphic design elements to incorporate to make their business logo stand out. So, we have decided to create Rankify as a platform to help them better tailor their logo to their business and their target market.

What it does

Our logo analyzing application, Rankify, is a web application geared towards startup businesses designed to analyze an imputed logo based on its choice of graphic design elements such as colour, shapes and typography. It will then rank the logo based on how suitable these design choices are in appealing to the predicted industry and target market. Rankify can be pivotal for startups who are trying to solidify their corporate branding, as the bot will provide easy to understand explanations for users to understand how appealing the design choices were. Through this, our bot can help these businesses kickstart their marketing campaign, and allow them to retain a higher percentage of customer engagement in their sales.

How we built it

Rankify is a front end application, as the inputed image as well as the sample data used for this bot is locally stored. It had 2 main components: The GUI and the TensorFlow.js model.

For the GUI, we first created the design framework and prototype on Figma. Through this, we were able to visually lay out what users will see when they use our web application. Afterwards, we used React to code out the design we have previously outlined on Figma.

For the TensorFlow.js model, we deployed Rankify with a dataset filled with logos that based on market perception, are the best visually designed in their respective industry. Using TensorFlow.js , we were able to train the application to recognize general design trends in the logo framework. Our application was designed to process inputed logos using algorithms and machine learning by comparing the input to others in the dataset that share the same industry. Based on that, the application can rank the logo.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into several obstacles when creating Rankify. Due to time constraints, we had some issues with training the analyzing model on TensorFlow.js in a productive manner. We were quick to adapt to this complication, as we were able to simplify this process by using Teachable Machine. Moreover, we also had some difficulties fully deploying Rankify. In spite of this, we are optimistic that we have the knowledge and resources to fully deploy Rankify in the near future.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Despite all the difficulties we faced, our group was still able to successfully create an interface for Rankify that is both minimalist and user-friendly. We were also able to deploy TensorFlow.js into the logo analyzing model with a moderate degree of success. Finally, our passion for machine learning and graphic design allowed us to envision how Rankify can introduce startups to a new era of innovative applications to help jumpstart their marketing and branding journey. Our group has learned invaluable lessons about web application development and business pitch, all skills that we hope to build on as we continue creating and developing solutions to empower others.

What we learned

As a group, by developing the prototype of Rankify, we were able to learn more about web application development and business planning. Through the development stages, we gained an insight into how applications like React can streamline the creation of an engaging user interface. Furthermore, integrating machine learning in Rankify using TensorFlow.js has taught us to adapt and try out more efficient testing methodologies to train the computer model to analyze logos. Afterwards, with guidance from the business pitch workshops, we were able to put together a comprehensive yet concise business pitch.

What's next for Rankify

Our mission, through Rankify, was to bridge the gap that startups face in designing their brand aesthetic. We hope to make Rankify more accessible to startups worldwide, who might not have the resources available to hire a full time design and marketing team. We plan to do so by keeping our application free and open source. This way, we can look to implement new features that other developers might come up with. Furthermore, we plan to further customize Rankify’s rating and feedback system by having the bot return custom messages beside each category breakdown, which can help startups perfect their logos. We hope that Rankify can pioneer a new wave of innovations that can empower the next generation of small business owners and entrepreneurs.