HM Electronics, Inc.

Brand evolution & multi-channel execution

Project overview

This case study involved a comprehensive ground-up rebrand for HME. As the lead creative, I took initiative with modernizing the visual identity and scaling it across every touchpoint of the business. The goal was to transition the brand from being dated and inconsistent, to an elevated, market-leading presence that resonates with both digital users and physical event attendees.

Tools

Figma logo with colorful shapes on a black background making the letter "F."
Adobe Illustrator logo with a dark red background and yellow text
Google Gemini logo

Team

Senior marketing manager
Kaitlin Miller

Marketing coordinator
Paige Hammerschmidt

Senior marketing copywriter
Eliza Ortega

Role

Lead graphic designer

Duration

Feb 2025 - June 2025

A computer screen displaying a website for Allister Peabody supporting education, featuring a smiling girl with curly hair and headphones, with navigation links for Home, About, Support, Contact, and a red Subscribe button.
A laptop displaying a webpage for Allister Peabody with a banner featuring children working on computers and the text "Education Reimagined".
Black and white photo of John F Kennedy, 35th US President, speaking at a press conference, with a quote: 'A child miseducated is a child lost.'

The problem

HME lacked consistent branding due to a lack of brand guidelines which led to a fragmented existing brand identity that lacked consistency and modernity.

HME suffered from years of accumulated assets that didn't share a common language or visual identity. The digital presence felt dated compared to competitors, and the tradeshow booths contained a lot of visual clutter that failed to command attention in crowded exhibit halls. A lack of a centralized design system meant that every new marketing piece was being built from scratch, leading to a diluted brand image that confused potential clients and weakened professional credibility.

Screenshot of a website homepage titled 'Allister Peabody.' The page features a blue header with navigation links, a yellow oval logo with blue wave designs and red text, and a white section with red and blue text that reads 'A New Vision for Education and the Future' and 'Freedom lies in being courageous and bold.'

Before

Color palette with five color swatches labeled with hex codes, ranging from red to gray. Below the palette, there are table headers for a web design chart, including font styles and weights for different sections.

My role

Sole Creative Lead and Production Designer, overseeing the project from conceptual strategy to final delivery.

In this high-autonomy role, I wore many hats: brand strategist, UI designer, video editor, and print production manager. I was responsible for defining the creative direction and then executing every single deliverable. I managed the entire pipeline, including presenting concepts to stakeholders, technical web handoffs, and working directly with external vendors to ensure that complex print and environmental projects were produced with 100% color accuracy and quality.

After

An educational website on a MacBook Pro screen shows the logo of Allister Peabody. The page discusses problems with the education system, presenting a classroom with empty desks and blue chairs on the right. There is a red subscribe button at the top right and a yellow speaker icon below the classroom image.
A screenshot of a color palette with six color swatches labeled with hex codes: red (#CC160B), white, navy blue (#0B3364), blue (#2375FF), yellow (#FFD042), black (#000000). Below is a graphic showing different font styles and sizes for headers and body text, with sample text in blue and black.

The process began with a deep-dive audit of all existing materials to identify what was working and what needed to be updated. I then moved into the discovery phase, competitor research, creating mood boards and a new color palette to establish a new visual presence. Once the direction was approved by stakeholders, I moved into a high-intensity design phase, creating an end to end brand book, building out the website UI, print assets, digital assets, and trade show booth assets simultaneously to ensure cross-platform harmony. The final stage involved execution to ensure all future assets remained consistent with the new brand vision.

A rigorous four-phase workflow:
Audit, Discovery, Design, and Implementation.

Process

The solution

The brand website elevated our professional standing and increased engagement across the board from social media, to website traffic, to tradeshows.

I successfully launched a new, responsive website that prioritized user experience and interaction. To solve the tradeshow challenge, I designed a modular booth system with bold environmental graphics and integrated modern solutions that significantly increased booth dwell time. By creating professional and modern marketing collateral I provided the company with an elevated refresh with updated assets to maintain a premium brand feel.

This project taught me how to think three steps ahead. I learned that a brand system is only as good as its weakest asset, which pushed me to master diverse mediums—from the technicalities of large-format printing to the nuances of video design. I also gained invaluable experience in project management; being a design "team of one" required me to be hyper-organized and disciplined with my time, ensuring that the creative integrity of the rebrand was never compromised by tight production deadlines.

The importance of "Future-Proofing" design systems and balancing creative vision with logistical constraints across multiple departments.

What I learned