TL;DR

Mindgrub’s client work was strong, but its own brand and design foundations varied project to project — every engagement started from zero. I led a brand refresh and built the shared design system that now underpins new client work, cutting kickoff-to-prototype time and giving the agency a clearer voice.

• -40% kickoff-to-first-prototype time

• One token and component foundation across teams

• Refreshed brand used in every new-business pitch

The Problem

Agencies sell consistency they rarely apply to themselves. Divergent starting points cost billable hours and made the portfolio feel like five different companies. Constraints: the system had to flex across wildly different client industries, and adoption had to be voluntary — designers wouldn’t use a system that slowed them down.

My Role

I led the brand direction and system architecture: tokens, type scale, core components, and documentation. Two designers contributed component coverage; engineering owned the Storybook build. I was personally responsible for the token model and for the decision to ship a small, hard-working core instead of an exhaustive library.

Research & Insights

I audited two years of project files and interviewed project leads. Findings: 80% of screens reused the same twelve patterns; inconsistency came from spacing and color, not components; and designers skipped documentation longer than one page.

Exploration & Design Process

Brand directions ranged from tech-forward to human-and-warm; workshops with leadership landed on warm confidence. For the system, I prototyped the token model against three past projects to prove it flexed before asking anyone to adopt it.

Validation & Testing

Validation meant real projects: two pilot teams built client work on the beta system while we measured setup time and collected friction notes. My one-page-docs rule proved wrong for components with tricky states — we added expandable deep-dives while keeping the one-page entry point.

Final Solution & Impact

The refreshed brand and system launched together: tokens, twelve core components, Storybook parity, and docs designers actually read. Kickoff-to-prototype time dropped about 40%, and the brand now leads every pitch deck.

Reflection & Credits

Systems succeed on adoption, not elegance — I’d start the pilot projects even earlier. Credit to the two designers who built out coverage, the Storybook engineers, and the leads who trusted a beta on live client work.