Meet Florian, creative director at bunny.money

Florian Cordier is our creative director at bunny.money. As a key member of the startup since its inception, he built from scratch our branding identity, to help us create a unique, impactful, and yes… a bit artsy banking service! As a self-taught multifaceted and prolific artist, he brought his singularity and various skills to our team sharing with passion and generosity many creative ideas. Today, he tells us more about his journey and creative process at bunny.money.

Tell us more about your background

I went to business school where I learned that making sure creative projects were feasible makes a big difference. I loved graphic and motion design and decided to pursue this passion as an autodidact. Always curious and willing to learn and try multiple things, I followed the career path of a creative director, which allowed me to impulse ideas and not just execute them. I worked for many years at Digitas -the digital spearhead of Publicis- in New York and in Paris. Then I joined Backelite, which is now Frog -part of Capgemini Invent, the global design firm that works with the world's leading companies.

bunny.money looks quite artsy for a banking service. What’s the story, how did this adventure start?

“The experience we built is engaging, and offers a concrete way to impact our communities. We empower the people to do more. ”

I met Fabien Lamaison while working on Digicare, a digital health startup project incubated by Capgemini. Later on, we came to talk about bunny.money, and I was quickly convinced this was the right concept for the future of banking & giving. I was really impressed by the enthusiasm of the team and the fact they put the user experience and engagement at the heart of everything.

We wanted to have a fresh look at banking, and build impact at the core of our platform. It was important to us to make it accessible, and closer to the people and communities -and that’s where art & culture comes in. What started as a side project, quickly became my “bac à sable” (sandbox) to explore new creative ideas and let my imagination go.

The logo came first, then the branding identity, the color swap and finally “Zee”, our bunny mascot was born. I love iterating, and often present multiple alternative creations, to keep it fun and see what works the best! Our bunny has changed over time. Well I guess our bunny is a grown-up now!

The experience we built is engaging, and offers a concrete way to impact our communities. We empower the people to do more. It’s an impulse to change, tangible and not utopist.

“I continuously use imagination and creativity to find innovative and practical ways to make the design trustworthy and fun. The creation of the mascot “Zee”, our ambassador, is the perfect example of that balance. ”

Bringing Art into banking is indeed a good challenge and not that common! For bunny.money we had a blank page, which allowed me to be very creative and used my inspirations and experiences to propose something different and appealing. As a creative director I’ve had a blast working on this project. I continuously use imagination and creativity to find innovative and practical ways to make the design trustworthy and fun. The creation of the mascot “Zee”, our ambassador, is the perfect example of that balance. As much as Zee is full of energy and playful, Zee is also trustworthy and will act as a bank clerk.

Speaking about Zee... can you tell us more about the background story?

I started to create the bunny through image banks as we were running out of time and through inspirations from other neobanks. I am personally inspired by the universe of comics and graphic design such as the one of Manu Larcenet, a French cartoonist, and Jamie Hewlett (Gorillaz). I liked the idea of creating a nonchalant animal, with big legs, sloping arms, malicious, walking with a rolling gait, and almost being disjointed. Then, the details came step by step in trying different things like adding a cap and flares.

Since then, I have been animating Zee, dancing, and moving. I am trying to develop other graphic design propositions like 3D.

We’ve heard you’re a prolific creator?  

I have always worked on different tools and developed many various skills such as motion design, digital, video, sound design, and launch campaigns. I think I am also hyperactive which pushes me to do lots of projects and get outside of my comfort zone and day-to-day work. In my spare time, I do music, photography, and writing because I need other sources of inspiration, creativity, and personal enrichment. Music for instance has been a part of my life since I’m a kid, as I used to play the piano. I use all of my senses to get creative: sight, hearing, touch, etc. It’s part of who I am. As I am working on a computer everyday, I find activities that pull me out of the digital world.

Work:
Digital portfolio
Photo portfolio
Instagram
Linkedin

Music:
Billie Ellish cover
Soundcloud

What is your favorite place on Earth?

Two places come to mind spontaneously. I come from Thonon-Les-Bains close to Lake Geneva. It is a peaceful place, surrounded by mountains - a living ecosystem with birds, stone, water. I feel my roots there, it is a place I call home. The second one is Bordeaux, close to the ocean. Thinking about it, I would say that when I need to get inspired and energized I go to Bordeaux. And when I need to take care of myself, I go to Lake Geneva.