“…she sets a lofty goal focused on client delight and creates designs
expected to endure.”
Darrin Helsel
Sr. Customer Insights Manager, Extensis
About the Client
For the last 20 years, Extensis has made software that helps design professionals manage large image and video libraries. With just over 100 employees, they create an important digital tool used daily by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.
Project Goals
Prior to my involvement, Extensis hired a major design firm to redo their logo. A limited brand guide was provided by the agency, but it was just a starting point for what they needed.
Extensis also needed to announce their new logo and completely different brand aesthetic. Their internal marketing team needed to win over the rest of the company in adopting this big change.
Challenges
Most of the users of Extensis software are professional graphic designers and creatives. All brand materials needed to be exquisitely designed and impeccably produced. This is a discerning audience.
Solutions
I built out the refreshed brand identity into an 82-page in-depth brand identity guide with brand strategy, voice & tone, design instructions for creatives, and example layouts for how to reflect the new brand and aesthetics to a wide range of applications. The guide also included a section for UX/UI and website design.
The client staged a grand release event for staff to share the new logo and brand aesthetic. I concepted an animated logo explainer video, worked with an animator, and sourced voiceover talent to produce it quickly and on a budget.
I designed a culture book that explained the story behind the logo and new look of the brand. The book aligned the brand story with their core philosophies and unifying beliefs. At the internal launch party, each employee received a printed, bound copy of the culture book. Signs, posters, and swag were also designed for the event to help build excitement.