Consistency is king
Elevating eSentire’s visual identity across all platforms
eSentire
My role
Systems designer,
Graphic designer,
Web designer
Mentor
2018 - 2020
Team members
Rob Pittman
Arindm Sharma
Jennifer Fowler
Notable projects
Brand Re-design
Brand Guidelines
Systems Design
TLDR;
The rebranding and design system implementation at eSentire were transformative. We didn’t just give the company a new look; we provided them with the tools to scale and evolve their brand consistently across all platforms. The design system became a critical asset for the company, ensuring that as they grew, their brand remained strong, clear, and aligned with their strategic goals.
As eSentire shifted from feature-based selling to customer-value-based selling, it became clear that their visual identity no longer aligned with their new direction. To support this strategic transformation, I was brought in to redefine the brand, unify eSentire’s marketing and digital presence, and ensure consistency, usability, and scalability by building and implementing eSentire’s first-ever design system.
The challenge
eSentire’s original branding, dominated by black and red, was not only visually harsh but also too similar to competitors in the cybersecurity industry. The colors felt alarmist and unapproachable, undermining the brand’s new promise: to empower clients to feel safe, secure, and in control of their digital assets. The company’s visual identity needed to move away from fear-based tactics and align with their evolved focus on trust, security, and client value.
Moreover, eSentire had no formal design system in place. This resulted in inconsistent branding across various platforms, both digital and print, making it impossible to maintain a cohesive user experience.
Approach & Strategy
I started with the rebrand, as this was the most time sensitive. eSentire wanted to debut their new look at RSA 2019 - which only gave us 3 short months! Clear and concise communication was imperative to meeting this aggressive timeline, so the first thing I did was create a mood board of how I was interpreting eSentire’s request for a light and bright rebrand. Once I was assured we were on the same page, it was off to the races!
Building eSentire’s First Design System
Once the visual identity was established, we created eSentire’s first design system, a comprehensive set of guidelines that standardized the use of colors, typography, iconography, and UI components. The design system was more than a static set of rules—it was a living, scalable framework that allowed the brand to grow alongside the business.
Key elements of the design system included:
Color Palette & Usage: Clear guidelines on primary and secondary colors, with strict rules on when and how to use them to maintain visual harmony.
Typography: A modern, legible typeface was chosen to ensure clarity across both digital and print mediums. This was paired with flexible text hierarchies that could adapt to different content needs.
UI Components: We developed a suite of reusable components, including buttons, form fields, and navigation elements, to ensure consistency across eSentire’s digital platforms.
Grid & Layout Systems: We implemented a modular grid system that made it easy for the team to create new pages without compromising on design consistency.
Website Redesign and Implementation
With the design system established, we tackled the website redesign. The old site had numerous issues: it was difficult to navigate, filled with unnecessary content, and didn’t provide a clear user journey, all of which which led to page abandonment and lost sales. Working alongside eSentire’s marketing and development teams, we rebuilt the site from the ground up, focusing on a user-centered approach.
We migrated the backend to a new, more user-friendly CMS, enabling the marketing team to manage content without relying on developers. The new responsive site launched within 3 months, just in time for eSentire’s major rebrand debut at RSA 2019, one of the most important cybersecurity conferences in the industry.
The Long-Term Impact
The new website saw an increase in organic traffic, a clear user journey, and stronger lead generation. The new design system allowed eSentire's internal team to efficiently create new content and maintain the brand’s visual integrity without external support.
Over the next year and a half, I continued to partner with eSentire to refine their website, focusing on improving SEO performance and accessibility, and continuously enhancing the user experience based on user feedback. I also continued to mentor the in-house designer, helping him grow his skills which eventually led to his promotion to eSentire’s Creative Director.
