StoryBolt

StoryBolt is a corporate inclusion training company — (I’d like to say it’s like Netflix, but my analogy can be wrong, so..) I think it’s safe to say it’s like an online school or an educational technology company made by experts in the fields of academe, film production, and HR, specifically for employees.

Big or small, firms hire StoryBolt so they can hear stories that will create empathy and impact at scale. StoryBolt has its trademarked online learning methodology called Mpathi™, and their platform has more than 4,000 documentary films that aim to deliver measurable attitude change toward inclusive behaviors. I’m all about advocating for equal access to education, and this project is definitely one for the books.

01 —

Brand Identity Redesign

During the project’s early stages, I worked with Tim Davisson and Sofia Lin, StoryBolt’s Chief Revenue Officer and Sales and Marketing Officer, in redesigning the company’s brand identity.

It was challenging at first since StoryBolt doesn’t have their own identity and brand guidelines, but we made it work. We went through several stages of discovery, and after doing a thorough Q&A and research, I found out they didn’t want to veer away from whatever they have — the company wanted a refresh; a subtle yet impactful refresh. And it’s important for them to keep the “StoryBolt pink” they’ve always had.

Below is what I presented to them, and we ended up with this new logo, fonts, and color on the right.

02 —

Website Design

Onto the second phase of the project: redesigning StoryBolt’s website. I was in charge of the visual design, and with the help of my talented team of developers, we translated everything from Figma to Squarespace.

Chris Halliwell, StoryBolt’s member of the Board of Advisors, and a technology marketing expert, also jumped in.

This is how their current website looks like, and you will see on the right the designs that didn’t see the light of day. Equally good, I’d say, but like any big firms, one of the challenges in working with heavy-weight clients like StoryBolt is that you’d have to have the yeses of all the stakeholders, and sometimes that means letting go of initial ideas that won’t work.

What matters is knowing when to push these ideas and when to let go. At the end of the day, I work for my clients and so long as their team of experts and target audience are satisfied, it’s a job well done; I’m happy.