The refinance calculator.
WowRate is a new US mortgage refinance company. Homeowners choose an effective rate between one and five percent, the loan is written at nine percent, and the difference is paid out as a check at closing. The company needed a brand, a website and a calculator that shows the offer in real numbers.
[ROLE] Design lead, Akka Studio [WHEN] June 2026, about fifteen days [WHERE] United States, remote [WITH] Hristijan, CEO of Akka Studio
What the page had to do
WowRate started without a brand. Because the company does not lend the money itself, the offer had to be shown as a calculation the visitor runs, with every figure presented as an estimate.
The product mechanics and the legal disclaimer.
The name treatment, the green, the type and the photography.
Four deliverables in fifteen days.
The structureNine percent note rate, an effective rate of one to five percent, and the difference paid as a check. Set by WowRate.
The legal lineWowRate Mortgage LLC does not originate loans.
All loans originated by a licensed mortgage lender.
No figure on the page can read as an offer, so every calculator result is labelled as an estimate.
The brand identity.
The wordmark sits above MORTGAGE in letterspaced capitals. All text is set in HK Grotesk, except the few words that carry the offer, which use Instrument Serif.
The exploration board
Marks, lockups and colour studies
Typography alternatives
Options tested before HK Grotesk and Instrument Serif
The offer and how it works.
01 / 03
The mechanism, step by step.
02 / 03
Refinance and cash out, in two tabs.
03 / 03Every figure is an estimate.
The calculator asks for no name, email, phone number or credit check, and it sits ahead of the contact form, so visitors see their numbers before they share any details.
What it asks
Home value, minimum $500,000
Current mortgage balance or payoff
Cash out amount, on the cash out tab
Effective rate, one to five percent
What it returns
Estimated check at closing
Estimated note amount
Origination fee
Estimated monthly interest only payment
Projected balloon LTV
LTV status, under or over the eighty percent cap
The direct mail piece.
A printed mailer with a code that opens the calculator. It uses the same headline as the website, so the card and the page read as one campaign.
Front
A refinance with a check at closing
Back
The four lines, and the code
Two series of social visuals.
The first series explains the mechanism. The second shows what homeowners do with the money. Each has six variants, from type-only layouts to photography.
