As a freelance graphic designer for 15 years, I’ve worked on many different projects providing illustrations and helping clients create their brands. I also draw for fun. It’s a great creative outlet and I enjoy improving my skills.

Read on for a case study of one of my favorite branding projects.

Pivotal ERG Brand Design

In 2019, I led a cross-departmental branding initiative at Pivotal Software for Employee Resource Groups. This was a really fun opportunity to work with people from all corners of the company and was announced globally when it debuted.

The Problem

During the time I worked at Pivotal Software, several new Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) launched. A few, including Black@Pivotal and Remote@Pivotal, had already been in existence for almost a year, operating independently. These groups were formed by motivated employees interested in representation and support from the company for their demographic groups.

Though I was a consultant on Pivotal Labs, the consultancy arm of the company, I was approached to design a logo for the newest ERG, Women@Pivotal. Quickly it became apparent that what was needed was a holistic and cohesive solution that would fairly and inclusively represent all current and future Pivotal ERGs. While working full-time on consulting projects, I led the project and partnered with the Brand team to develop and approve a new brand system.

The Solution

From the beginning, we encountered the challenge of creating a design that was both inclusive and acknowledged the unique nature of the groups. After many rounds exploring illustration and images, we settled on a clean and modern text treatment using Proxima Nova, Pivotal’s brand typeface. The circle behind the AT provided a unifying shape and a vessel that could be filled with a design or pattern, adding a touch of flair to symbolize the ERG it represented.