Problem

The current brand is disjointed, inconsistent and incapable of accommodating the rate at which we are acquiring brands to sit in the group. We have no way to communicate our brand and ethos to our staff or current and potential customers.

Solution

Work collaboratively with the stakeholders of the company to establish and define their brand and create a design system for them to communicate it through their products and external communication platforms. 

Process

After an initial series of workshops, we proposed breaking down the overall project into a series of iterations. This allowed us to work within the client's sporadic availability and their immediate requirements. It also allowed us to hand over control of the project gradually and to be involved should there be any more assistance required. Once the project was signed off, I took on the lead role in the project, communicating directly with DNA Payments’ lead and managing a team 3 (Copywriter, UX Designer and another Product Designer) who would be directly involved in various stages of the project. 

Discovery

As the lead in the project, I facilitated two workshops with the stakeholders of DNA Payments and the companies within the group. We used the first as an opportunity to establish their ethos, values and their long-term ambitions, including where they see themselves amongst their competitors. Our second helped us establish the requirements and deliverables of each iteration. 

Identity iteration

To help us, and the client, define the content to come, we began defining the identity. Our iteration contained four stages we would cycle through until the optimal solution had been created. Research, ideation, test, analyse and repeat. 

I took full responsibility for research due to my experience in a variety of branding projects over the years. The product designer and I worked collaboratively to create a range of options throughout each cycle. I was then able to conduct the tests through user testing.com and then as a team, we convened with the stakeholders to review our findings. After I would collate a list of actions to take through the next cycle and send it to all involved for sign-off. Three cycles were conducted until we struck upon the optimal option that the stakeholders believed in and were well received in testing. 

Brand Design system iteration

The solution and findings from the previous iteration phase formed the basis of the brand design system. For this iteration, our deliverables were established as having a brand guidelines document for internal use and a system of assets and components to be used externally. Most importantly, for their website. 

Again, I took full responsibility for research due to my experience in a variety of branding projects over the years. After initially writing the foundations of the brand values, tone and messaging in the first cycle, the copywriter fleshed out the remainder of the content. The copywriter, UX designer and I worked collaboratively to define the structure of the assets within the design system. This allowed the UX Designer to create the wireframes which I could then Ideate a suite of designs. In the final cycle of this project, I finalised the iteration by documenting the guidelines and whilst the product designer finalised the design system, ready for final sign-off and handover to the development team. 

Product design system iteration

Our final iteration cycle took all the work from previous phases and produced a functional design system that could be applied to their product. This followed the format from before but worked with the company's product team to ensure they were comfortable with the assets at their disposal and had valuable input from the beginning.

I began by supplying the team with our former research along with more specific findings for their product. We then began working collaboratively by taking the brand assets created previously and applying them to their product in a clear, clean and importantly, accessible format. My involvement lessened over each cycle to allow the internal team more control over the file. After five cycles a global design system that could be applied to the DNA Payments product and any company inside the group was established and fully handed over for deployment by their development team. 

"I'm happy to inform you that the brand book was approved. We've already started using some mockups to prepare updated materials and they do look awesome indeed. Many thanks for your hard work and great results!"