Redesigning parallel18’s Website and Digital Brand Presence

By Augusto Suárez Vicenty, Lead Creative Designer 

After 10 years, parallel18 has evolved from a grants-based program into a full investment platform, and the brand has to evolve with it; this is where our website redesign comes into play.

Our identity has always carried that #WorkHardPlayTropical attitude: fun, but capable. Now, it needs to reflect something deeper. Our history, our community, our results… our confidence. These are the principles that drove the complete redesign of the parallel18 website. 

As parallel18’s in-house creative designer, I’d been quietly reshaping the brand’s visual direction as the program grew. But one critical piece remained untouched: the website. The virtual home of any brand and where every decision has to be both functional and narrative.

The Nitty Gritty of the Platform

Parallel18 is one program within the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust, and within parallel18 we have three main initiatives: BioLeap, P18 and Xpand. Each parallel18 initiative serves a specific purpose, sector and community of entrepreneurs. 

The solution was to build a cohesive visual language that could scale. Each initiative shares the same foundational design DNA: shared font, icon style, background colors and visual elements, but they are differentiated by their distinct highlight colors, tone, content, collaborators and community.

On the website, this wasn’t just a visual decision, it was a navigational one. Every page follows a similar structure, deliberately. The goal was to make the experience feel intuitive. The idea is that over time, it becomes second nature to our users to know where to look, what to expect, and where to go next. 

More Faces in Our Webpage

Parallel18 isn’t an abstract entrepreneurial platform. It is a complete team that shows up every day. It’s startup founders that take real risks, and solve real problems. It’s ecosystem leaders, mentors, investors, corporate partners and a community that has been built over a decade. I wanted that humanity to be visible and present across the entire website. 

• The first thing you see when you enter any page is a dedicated hero section where we include the latest news, paired with photos of the events, founders, team members, and people closely tied to that story. 
• We crafted short, direct and to-the-point videos narrated by our team members to show our initiatives in action.
• Additionally, we integrated the parallel18 blog, a news room and a straightforward, easy to navigate startup directory, where you can find our alumni and visit their respective websites.
• Throughout the different pages, we also included a mix of alumni videos and past event recordings so you can get a real taste of what going through our programs and collaborating with us feels like.
  

Additionally, we integrated the parallel18 blog, a news room and a straightforward, easy to navigate startup directory, where you can find our alumni and visit their respective websites. 

A Team Effort

At first, when I took on this task, I set out to build something exciting, energetic, and distinctly parallel18. Something that reflected the bold efficiency that has come to define us. 

The parallel18 team supported that direction as well. The essentials were there, the structure, the people, the colors, big bulky text, with a more direct messaging.

This is where our collaboration with MitiMiti Estudio became essential. They brought a clean, sleek development sensibility that acted as the perfect counterweight to my bulkier design style. 

After tweaking the design together we arrived at the balance that was needed, and the unspoken philosophy of less is more. 

The result is a site that feels tech-driven without being cold, and feels exciting without being overwhelming. 

The copy is another key element of the redesign. Our marketing team stripped it down to what matters: authenticity, impact, and humanity.

What the New Site Represents

This redesign is a reflection of where parallel18 stands after 10 years: a program that has earned its place in the global startup ecosystem, that invests in startups with intention, and that is proud of its roots in Puerto Rico. 

parallel18.com is built to communicate our trajectory, community, and ambition. I want the experience to clearly signal to a founder scrolling the page for the first time that this is where they need to be.

That’s what we set out to build. And I believe we got there.

Parallel18 is a Puerto Rican-based startup investment platform, supporting founders through international acceleration, Life Sciences incubation, and growth-stage technical assistance. Learn more at parallel18.com.