LAOUSTUDIO I Case I Kost

KOST

Complete brand identity and product design for a SaaS finance tool built for freelancers.

From naming to UI design, building a financial platform that makes freelancers actually want to open their accounting app.

KOST

Complete brand identity and product design for a SaaS finance tool built for freelancers.

From naming to UI design, building a financial platform that makes freelancers actually want to open their accounting app.

Brand Identity

UI Design

Landing Page

Product Design

client

Kost is a financial management platform designed for French freelancers and micro-entrepreneurs. Their promise: clear, beautiful, effortless accounting. The platform covers invoicing, revenue tracking, and tax contributions — everything a freelancer needs to stay on top of their finances without an accountant on speed dial.

challenge

The French freelance finance space is crowded with tools that are functional but forgettable. Freebe, Abby, Shine, they solve the problem, but none of them feel like a product you're proud to use. Kost needed a brand identity and product design that could compete on aesthetics and UX, not just features.

solution

LAOUSTUDIO delivered a full brand system, from naming logic and logo to a complete UI design across desktop and mobile. The visual language balances seriousness (it handles real money) with creativity (it speaks to designers, developers, and photographers). The result: a financial tool that feels like it belongs in a creative's toolkit.

Research & Direction

We started by mapping the landscape of freelance finance tools, what they do well, and where they consistently fail. The pattern was clear : trustworthy but cold, functional but ugly. Kost's positioning emerged from that gap: the Notion of accounting. A tool powerful enough to replace spreadsheets, beautiful enough to open every morning without dread. Key references: modern SaaS products (Linear, Notion, Stripe), with a color direction rooted in deep indigo focused, premium, creative.

Logo Exploration

The wordmark needed to feel modern and international, something a Paris-based designer and a Lyon-based developer would both find credible. We explored geometric, minimal, and hybrid approaches before landing on a clean sans-serif. The same logic as the brand name, simple, considered, slightly unexpected. The K letterform was tested across 20 color and background combinations to validate contrast and accessibility across every product surface.

Color & Typography

The palette is built around a tension between depth and lightness. Deep indigo anchors the system, serious, focused, trustworthy. Lavender softens it. Coral activates it, used exclusively for CTAs, alerts, and key actions. The dark Nuit background powers the dashboard environment, while Brume keeps marketing surfaces clean and airy. Typography follows the same logic : a geometric sans-serif for headings carries the modern SaaS confidence, while a humanist sans for body copy keeps data-heavy screens readable and human.

Title general sans, medium 48px

Body dm sans, medium, 36px

UI Design

Three screens were designed to demonstrate the full product experience,one desktop, two mobile. The desktop dashboard uses a dark sidebar to anchor navigation, with a light main area for data clarity. Stat cards surface the three numbers a French freelancer checks most: monthly revenue, pending invoices, and upcoming URSSAF contribution. A 2026 revenue chart with a coral dotted target line turns financial tracking into something visual and motivating. On mobile, the same information adapts for thumb navigation, stacked stats, a condensed chart, and a bottom nav bar built for one-handed use. The new invoice flow reduces friction to its minimum : client, service, amount, generate.

WEEKS

From brief to launch-ready brand and product system

WEEKS

From brief to launch-ready brand and product system

COMBINATIONS

Logo contrast tested across every surface

COMBINATIONS

Logo contrast tested across every surface

SCREENS

Full UI design across desktop and mobile

SCREENS

Full UI design across desktop and mobile

Kost launched with a brand and product design system that could credibly compete with funded SaaS tools on day one. The complete UI kit, four screens across two breakpoints, gives any development team a clear, documented starting point. The brand system ensures consistency as Kost scales from landing page to full product, from free tier to premium.

SIMILAR PROJECT IN MIND ?

Whether you're launching a new brand or elevating an existing one, let's talk about how LAOUSTUDIO can bring your vision to life.

Infos

Our Socials