How I designed the Portico Investment website around confidence instead of property

People invest in confidence before they invest in property. That simple idea shaped the decisions I made while designing Portico Investment’s website, from its illustrations and typography to its content and an interactive prototype.

Property investment websites often spend too much time talking about property. I think they should spend more time helping people trust the business behind an investment. That was my thinking behind my design for Portico Investment.

Trust comes before investment

When people invest their savings, they’re making far more than a financial decision. They’re deciding whether they trust the people asking for their confidence. That means a property investment website isn’t really about property at all. It’s about trust.

When Portico Investment approached me, they already had years of experience helping clients build property portfolios. Their expertise wasn’t in question, so my challenge was communicating that experience in ways that felt reassuring. What interested me wasn’t the property market, it was an opportunity to design confidence.

Looking beyond property

Most property investment websites make the same assumption. If they show attractive buildings and explain enough financial products, people will trust them. I’m not convinced that’s how trust works. Trust comes from clarity, consistency, and from demonstrating good judgement.

As I explored the business, I decided that this website didn’t need pictures of property, it needed a strong visual language. Instead of filling pages with financial clichés, I explored ideas around balance and connections. Those themes reflected the way Portico Investment works with clients better than apartment photographs ever could.

Every design decision came back to the same question: “Does this make Portico Investment feel more trustworthy?” If the answer wasn’t a resounding “yes,” it didn’t hang around long.

Designing confidence instead of decoration

Once the direction became clear, I started sketching. Rather than drawing buildings, I explored abstract graphic forms inspired by maps, networks, pathways, and the geometry already present in Portico Investment’s identity. Those ideas evolved into a series of bespoke animated illustrations.

Financial businesses often hide behind conservative typography because they believe seriousness automatically creates credibility. I don’t think that’s true. Calm typography can still have character. Good typography should reassure people without becoming anonymous. I chose typefaces and layouts that felt calm and contemporary.

Building a prototype instead of a PDF

One of my decisions surprised the client and their development team. Rather than handing over static mock-ups or Figma files, I built the website as a fully functioning prototype using Eleventy. The finished website wasn’t going to use Eleventy and would ultimately be rebuilt in WordPress, but that didn’t matter.

A working prototype communicates design intent far better than static mock-ups or Figma files ever can. Developers don’t have to guess how animations move, layouts respond, or how interactions should feel. They can experience the website exactly as users will.

It also gave the client something they could explore long before development began. By the time the project was handed over, the WordPress developers weren’t interpreting a collection of screens, they were recreating a working website. That dramatically reduced ambiguity and helped preserve the integrity of the design throughout implementation.

What I learned

This project reinforced something I’ve been thinking about for years. People buy confidence before they buy property. Whether someone is investing £10,000 or considerably more, they’re placing their trust in the people behind the opportunity.

Once I recognised that, every design decision became easier. Instead of asking, “How do I make this look like a property investment website?”, I started asking, “How do we help people feel they’re in safe hands?” That’s a much more interesting design problem.

See the finished project

The finished Portico Investment prototype combines bespoke illustration, editorial layouts, and an interactive Eleventy prototype to create a digital experience that builds confidence. Take a look at the finished portfolio project to see how those ideas came together and explore the working prototype I delivered.

Related reading

• My Portico Investment portfolio page
• Last week in the studio (CW29-26): Portico illustrations
• Last week in the studio (CW28-26): Portico Investments brand guidelines PDF
• Design a new website or product