A high-speed, high-stakes identity pivot—without agency support.
📍 The Situation
We were hit with a cease-and-desist from a credit union in another state claiming conflict over one of our brand names. Instead of spending a year and a pile of legal fees trying to argue our case, leadership opted to switch to an “on-ice” brand name the company already owned.
There was no budget for an agency and no appetite for a lengthy exploratory process. So I stepped up and took on the rebrand—with just myself and a graphic designer.
🗺 Scope of Work
Everything was built from scratch. I led strategy, messaging, UX, and content while the designer tackled the visual identity. Together we delivered:
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New logo and full visual identity
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Brand messaging, voice, and positioning
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From-scratch website (built and written by me)
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All new social presences
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Sales and marketing materials (email signatures, PPT decks, internal docs)
⚙️ My Role
I served as both project manager and creative lead. I created the timeline, wrote the messaging, built the website, and worked directly with executive leadership for approvals. I also coordinated with Legal, IT, HR, and Sales to ensure all the right pieces were in place—from technical implementation to compliance and internal rollout.
To move quickly, we split the effort into two parallel tracks: I tackled structure, language, and architecture while the design lead built out visual directions. Once we locked in the look and feel, we moved into asset production and full implementation.
🧱 Challenges
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IT constraints: Our infrastructure team normally needs months for web approvals—I had to build and launch in weeks.
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Unclear direction: Leadership was reacting to the legal situation in real time, so messaging was often a moving target.
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No outside help: We had zero agency support. Everything was built internally, with very little margin for error.
✅ Results
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We successfully launched the new brand in just 100 days.
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We avoided both the legal fallout and the cost of outsourcing.
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I delivered a site, brand system, and digital toolkit that gave the sales team resources they had never had before.
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The project was well received across leadership, and we turned what could’ve been a liability into a fast, clean brand evolution.
🪞 Looking Back
For the scope and circumstances, I’m proud of what we delivered. If I had access to external dev or design resources, I would’ve brought in a partner to validate and tighten up the build—but given the constraints, the work held up beautifully.