Brand & Product Design for Laurentum

The Challenge

Laurentum was an early-stage startup with a vision but no visual identity, no website, and no product design. They needed everything: a brand that communicated trust and community, a marketing site that converted visitors into customers, and a dashboard platform where brands and organizations could manage their community marketing efforts. All of it needed to feel cohesive, professional, and scalable.

My Process

From zero to a complete product ecosystem

I approached this project in four phases, each building on the last. First, I established the brand identity and visual language. Then I designed the marketing website to attract and convert users. Next came the complex dashboard platform for both brands and organizations. Finally, I documented everything in a comprehensive design system for the engineering team.

• Phase 1: Brand identity, logo, color system, typography
• Phase 2: Multi-page marketing website (desktop + mobile)
• Phase 3: Brand Dashboard + Organization Dashboard (30+ screens)
• Phase 4: Design system with 100+ reusable components

Brand Identity

Building trust through warmth and authenticity

I developed a complete brand identity system grounded in warmth and approachability. The color palette centers on deep forest green (#0b3f30) for trust and authority, accented with warm cream (#fff9f1) and burnt orange (#ed572b) tones that feel inviting and human. The typography uses Poppins for its friendly yet professional character. A custom sunflower mascot character was created to give the brand a memorable, playful personality while reinforcing the community-first message.

Color System

The palette was intentionally chosen to feel different from the typical cold SaaS blue. Deep greens communicate growth and trust. Warm creams and oranges create an approachable, human feel. The system includes primary, secondary, neutral, and semantic colors (success, warning, error) all calibrated to work together across web, dashboard, and marketing materials.

• Primary: Deep forest green (#0b3f30) for trust and authority
• Secondary: Burnt orange (#ed572b) for energy and action (CTAs, highlights)
• Neutral: Warm cream (#fff9f1) and soft grey (#e9e9e9) for backgrounds
• Semantic: Green for success, amber for warning, red for error states
• Dark accents: Rich charcoal (#4f5052) for text and borders

Dashboard Platform

Where brands manage their community marketing

The dashboard was the most complex part of the project. I designed two distinct experiences: a Brand Dashboard where companies manage their community campaigns, offers, events, and analytics, and an Organization Dashboard for managing partnerships and community growth. This was the core product, 30+ screens designed end-to-end.

Offer Creation Flow

Designing for complex inputs

Creating an offer involves multiple steps and form fields. I designed a scrollable creation flow that breaks complexity into manageable sections, keeping users oriented with clear labels and progressive disclosure.

User Onboarding

Making first impressions count

The onboarding flow was designed as a two-step process. Users first choose their role (Brand or Organization), then fill in their company details. The flow uses large, friendly cards with the mascot illustrations and a clear progress indicator at the top. The design keeps friction low while collecting the information needed to personalize the dashboard experience.

Marketing Website

Converting visitors into believers

The marketing site was designed to tell Laurentum's story clearly and drive signups. I created a full-page experience with a bold hero section, a breakdown of partnership types, social proof with 1,800+ organizations and 2 million+ members, and a clear step-by-step 'How It Works' flow.

Design System

100+ components built for scale

To keep the entire product consistent and to accelerate development handoff, I built a comprehensive design system from scratch. This wasn't just a UI kit; it was a complete system with documented patterns, spacing scales, and interaction states.

Key Design Decisions

Several intentional design decisions shaped the final product:

• Warm green + orange palette over typical SaaS blue to differentiate and feel more human
• Custom sunflower mascot character to make a B2B platform feel approachable and memorable
• Sidebar navigation for the dashboard to maximize content area for data-heavy screens
• Card-based campaign management with clear status indicators for at-a-glance scanning
• Progressive disclosure: showing complexity only when users need it
• Mobile-first marketing site, desktop-first dashboard (matching real usage patterns)
• Two-step onboarding that personalizes the experience from the first interaction

Mobile Experience

The marketing website was designed mobile-first, with a fully responsive layout that maintains the same visual impact on smaller screens. The hero section, partnership cards, organization grid, and 'How It Works' flow all adapt gracefully. The mobile navigation uses a hamburger menu, and CTAs are sized for thumb-friendly tapping. The dashboard was designed desktop-first since usage data showed brands primarily manage campaigns from their computers.

Results & Impact

I delivered a complete, cohesive brand and product experience from zero. The founders had a professional brand identity, a marketing site ready to drive signups, a full dashboard platform ready for development, and a design system that would scale with the product. The scope of this project, from logo to design system to complex dashboard flows, demonstrated the range of what a single dedicated designer can own and deliver.

What I Learned

Laurentum reinforced that the best products come from understanding the whole picture, not just individual screens. Designing the brand, the marketing site, and the product dashboard together meant every piece informed the others. The design system became the connective tissue that tied it all together. Working as the sole designer also taught me to be disciplined about prioritization: when you own everything, you have to be strategic about where to go deep and where to keep things simple.