Shortly into my tenure on our product design system, our marketing team kicked off a rebrand. Having no lead brand designer to help connect the pieces of what our two teams were each charged with tackling, I took the lead on connecting the dots from a design direction stand point as well as facilitating executional gaps.

I spent around 10 months off and on illustrating concepts, hand picking colors, testing typefaces, and visualizing our brand in a way that would help people get clarity on what we connected with and how we could show up in the marketplace.

### Round 1 Creative

```cv
gallery
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```

The initial creative I proposed focused on a concept of dots and lines mirroring connections of data points to tell a story.

* A simple color palette that would present our data visualization beautifully

* A unique sans-serif typeface, Everett, that had an approachable form but fit our personality as a data company.

* A focused photography selection keyed in on people with unique purple tones and increased contrast.

* Familiar icons, but with a twist (as opposed to third-party options)

* Conceptual patterns using the degree symbol from our logo (with meaning) to use as a brand asset across marketing collateral.

### Additional Concepts

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F3q3czRQAvtNOdMVQBU5dJYoVm3D3%2F9liirlQUYe5pw26e3JvM%2F1cd74ac2-a48b-4ab4-8942-fcf27a0ddae7.png?alt=media&token=36b81907-05c6-4fd2-9521-8b036b184ace","id":"1cd74ac2-a48b-4ab4-8942-fcf27a0ddae7","width":3200,"height":1680,"filename":"8451-Website.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F3q3czRQAvtNOdMVQBU5dJYoVm3D3%2F9liirlQUYe5pw26e3JvM%2Ff5580610-a64f-4b6f-8f45-d9b590d96799.png?alt=media&token=1506af21-028b-4f1c-9fe4-369eae2e3b7d","id":"f5580610-a64f-4b6f-8f45-d9b590d96799","width":3840,"height":2160,"filename":"Slide 03.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F3q3czRQAvtNOdMVQBU5dJYoVm3D3%2F9liirlQUYe5pw26e3JvM%2F0bef4393-725a-42ee-a50d-b2f78605e782.png?alt=media&token=b604b706-4be1-4d78-8f62-cd337c9482a2","id":"0bef4393-725a-42ee-a50d-b2f78605e782","width":3840,"height":2160,"filename":"Slide 08.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F3q3czRQAvtNOdMVQBU5dJYoVm3D3%2F9liirlQUYe5pw26e3JvM%2F78610964-5086-408c-a78f-427edd54c402.png?alt=media&token=39b40c33-1173-48e4-99d4-ad925ef125d9","id":"78610964-5086-408c-a78f-427edd54c402","width":3200,"height":1800,"filename":"PrismRebrand.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F3q3czRQAvtNOdMVQBU5dJYoVm3D3%2F8451-brand-design%2Fd37320d6-7e3e-46f1-8265-22a493ec6f55.png?alt=media&token=100effbb-13a5-47af-a71c-d7a580e4cd59","id":"d37320d6-7e3e-46f1-8265-22a493ec6f55","width":3840,"height":2160,"filename":"Slide 15.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F3q3czRQAvtNOdMVQBU5dJYoVm3D3%2F8451-brand-design%2F03c23cbd-ea42-40c9-b9a3-a35927913ad6.png?alt=media&token=c5068dcf-ae5e-41f7-9798-854014b82bb3","id":"03c23cbd-ea42-40c9-b9a3-a35927913ad6","width":3968,"height":1080,"filename":"ppt.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

84.51°  Brand Design Concepts

Product Designer

As part of a new product release, I partnered with our product and engineering team to redesign our cloud based point of sale experience leveraging native iOS elements.

Clubessential Point of Sale

I designed and coded a support center experience to bring vision around what a great customer support experience looked like. Coded in Atom with HTML5/SASS and compiled in CodeKit.

Clubessential Knowledge Base

I helped facilitate research and designed a prototype in Figma that would show the potential of coalescing insights to activation across our platforms with no technical obstacles.\
\
\* All content and data is for presentation purposes only.

Project Zenith @ 84.51°

Design systems are so 2019. By now you are sold on the increased productivity and shared design style benefits that come from a design system and you have successfully sold one into upper management, but now what? In this talk we’ll walk you through some of the details that come after your design system has been given the green light by your organization.

Presented by Ryan Merrill & Rich Gustke

Next Steps with Design Systems: What Comes After You Get Buy-in

Shaping a decade of product, service, and brand design offerings for a Cincinnati based SaaS company in the private club, resort and hospitality industry. Delivered design, direction, and strategy for notable clients such as Disney, Snowbird, The Ritz-Carlton, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Diageo, The Ohio State University, Waldorf-Astoria, and PGA.

Creative Director

Drive design system adoption at scale across media and insights programs while mentoring designers and leading with a systems-first mindset.

Rich Gustke

2024