My Role

Lead Brand & Graphic Designer

Overview

Since its founding in 2009, 500px had never established a comprehensive brand guide to ensure consistency across all internal and external communications. As the lead brand designer, I took initiative to create the company’s first full brand guideline — a foundational document that clarified how the brand should look, feel, and behave across platforms.

The final guide is a 23-page document covering essential brand elements and practical usage rules. Selected pages are presented below.

My Contribution

1. Brand Audit & System Development

• Conducted a full audit of 500px’s existing visual assets, identifying inconsistencies and gaps across print, digital, and product touchpoints.

• Established a unified visual system that strengthened brand clarity and ensured coherence across all teams.

2. Creation of the Brand Guide (23 pages)

I compiled, updated, and standardized all core brand components, including:

• Logo usage (clear space, size rules, incorrect use cases)

• Color system (primary, secondary, accessibility contrast considerations)

• Typography guidelines (hierarchy, pairings, weights, usage examples)

• Iconography & image style guidance

• Voice & tone reminders to support consistent storytelling

3. Cross-Team Alignment

• Collaborated with marketing, product, and leadership to confirm that the guidelines supported real-world use cases across design, engineering, and editorial.

• Delivered the guide in a format that was easy for teams to reference and apply.

Outcome

The new brand guide became a single source of truth for all 500px design and communication needs, enabling consistent and professional execution across marketing, product, social media, and partner-facing materials.
It reduced ambiguity, improved brand recognition, and set a strong foundation for future campaigns and design initiatives.

Selected pages from the 23-page brand guide are shown below.