FDI GROUP · 2020–2024
Brand Direction · Multi-Brand Systems · Publications · Digital · Experiential · Agency & Vendor Direction
Brand Direction · Multi-Brand Systems · Publications · Digital · Experiential · Agency & Vendor Direction
Designing across a family of brands, from strategy through production.
As Creative Manager and Senior Graphic Designer, I led day-to-day creative across 11 affiliated companies, balancing hands-on design with brand stewardship, agency and vendor collaboration, proposals, digital work, trade shows, and executive communications. The challenge wasn’t creating one visual language; it was knowing when to preserve, refine, or evolve each brand while keeping the work clear, consistent, and production-ready.
AbsencePlus: Evolving the brand-system
As the AbsencePlus brand expanded, I identified a need for greater contrast and flexibility across digital and print applications. After an initial agency exploration didn’t fully solve the issue, I developed an alternate color direction and tested it across real-world applications, including proposals and web pages. I presented the recommendation to leadership, and the revised direction was adopted.
The revised palette improved contrast and accessibility while giving the brand a clearer visual hierarchy and more flexibility across proposal and website applications.
The result - A stronger, more accessible brand.
A cohesive visual system that works harder - improving readability, meeting accessibility standards, and flexing seamlessly across sales, marketing, and digital platforms.
ManageAbility: Guiding a New Identity from Concept to Application
As ManageAbility prepared for a broader brand refresh, I worked with an outside agency through identity exploration and refinement, providing creative feedback, consolidating leadership input, and helping guide the selected direction into practical brand applications.
Identity concepts created by agency partner. My role included creative review, stakeholder alignment and, feedback, and implementation.
Taking the new identity into physical spaces
Once the ManageAbility identity was established, I extended the system into trade-show environments and supporting materials, translating the new brand into large-scale graphics designed for quick readability and impact in a busy exhibition setting.
Trade-show Installation | Las Vegas, NV
Environmental Design Rendering
Brand identity developed in collaboration with agency partner; trade-show environmental design and production led in-house.
Making complex information easier to use
A large part of my role was taking dense business, technical and operational information and giving it a clear structure. I built repeatable systems for long-form reports and training materials, using hierarchy to organize narrative content, photography, data, charts, findings and recommendations across dozens of pages.
I took the initiative to rethink the 21 page City of Detroit Stewardship Report rather than simply updating the existing format. I standardized chart titles, labels, legends and color, selected more appropriate chart styles where needed, and transformed supporting bullet points into typographic callouts that made key findings easier to scan. The redesign was highly praised by the client, strengthened the sales team’s presentation, and was later adopted as the standard for stewardship reports and used as a sample in RFP proposals.
Using team-provided content, I designed the 50-page education and training catalog from the ground up, developing a clean editorial system with relatable imagery, consistent section openers, headings and page layouts that made dense information easier to scan and navigate.
Supporting high-stakes client communication
Alongside ongoing brand work, I designed and directed a high volume of proposals, presentations and client-facing materials, creating repeatable systems that helped teams organize complex information quickly without sacrificing polish or brand consistency.
35+ proposals annually · typically 25–200+ pages
Directing outside creative partners
I worked closely with agency partners on identity development for several FDI brands, helping define the brief, reviewing creative directions, consolidating stakeholder feedback, and guiding successive rounds of refinement. Once a direction was established, I helped translate the system into practical applications for internal teams and outside partners.
Designing systems that Scale
Beyond individual projects, I built tools and processes that helped a small creative team support a large multi-brand organization—from Adobe libraries and reusable templates to clearer project intake, review and vendor workflows.
• 11 affiliated companies
• 35+ proposals annually
• 1,000+ projects moving through the department annually
• Internal team + agencies, freelancers and production vendors
• 35+ proposals annually
• 1,000+ projects moving through the department annually
• Internal team + agencies, freelancers and production vendors
