Grape Up provides technology consulting and modern software development services. With a team of over 100 engineers, it delivers innovative solutions powered by cloud and AI. The company is constantly developing and actively recruiting. To stay current and show the atmosphere and values, they decided to lift its employer branding and refresh its communication materials.
The team included people from the marketing department, people operations, and design: myself as a designer and a motion designer responsible for film campaigns. My role was to propose new lines and visual guidelines consistent with the brand’s DNA, design marketing graphic templates, design a new website, and refresh internal gadgets.
Together with the Employer Branding Manager, I conducted a number of activities and workshops aimed at empathizing with recipients and employees and proposing the best solutions for individual design issues.
The employer branding communication materials differed significantly from the visual line of Grape Up's business communication. They were often inconsistent, as different departments created materials independently without clear guidelines or templates.
The main challenge of rebranding was returning to the brand's DNA and linking the Employer Branding style with the business line. Proposing a strong, fresh image and message that would resonate with the IT industry. Showing the atmosphere of the workplace and of the employer to stack up better against the competition.
It was necessary to create a system of guidelines for visual materials, as well as sets of templates, to streamline the creation of materials and ensure their coherence.
We also wanted to reinforce employees’ identification with the company’s values by making internal communication more dynamic, people-focused, and engaging.
The whole process was based on design thinking methodology, which consists of five main steps: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Deliver, and Test. The first step, also known as “Discovery,” involved identifying and empathizing with the target user and their needs. We conducted market research with the HR team to understand current employer branding trends and review Grape Up's core brand principles.
The result of this stage was defining the problem and guidelines for the project. We decided to create a simpler, fresher design using clean layouts, a minimal color palette, and modern fonts. The tone of voice needs to be clear, concise, and highlight what makes Grape Up unique as an employer.
During the ideation stage, together with company employees, we used a mind mapping tool to build maps of associations of company values and their graphic interpretations. As a result, I proposed a set of visual interpretations of company values, which include:
We wanted the company's values to accompany employees in their daily work. That is why we integrated their graphic elements into posters, recruitment materials, stickers, and branded merchandise.
We wanted the company's values to accompany employees in their daily work. That is why we integrated their graphic elements into posters, recruitment materials, stickers, and branded merchandise.
Another graphic motif present in all communication materials that I proposed was based on the geometric parts of the Grape Up signet. I combined them with the interpretation of values but also with other promotional materials and gadgets.
Another important design decision was to replace generic stock images with our internal photos showcasing the company culture and real employee experiences. As a result, the communication became a more authentic representation of company culture. Employees had previously highlighted the workplace atmosphere as a defining feature, so we aimed to capture this in the rebranding.
To further highlight the unique atmosphere of the company and its great people, we created a Feel at Home campaign in-house. It featured films telling real stories about our colleagues’ work and passions, as well as a series of digital graphics and billboards. The campaign was recognized in the Image Film category at the Employer Branding Excellence Awards 2023.
In order to harmonize digital graphic materials throughout the company, we collaborated with an external designer (Jakub Lehman) to create a system based on grids, allowing for the free and quick creation of content within the established brand guidelines. The overall structure and layout remained consistent across both business and employer branding. The business line maintained a strict and clear structure, using photos that reflect various market sectors. The employer branding line focused on people, workplace atmosphere, values, and related graphic elements.
This project also included building the new careers website with a flexible system of CMS components that allows HR teams to easily create and update recruitment pages. More information →
Additionally, I designed a collection of custom employer branding gadgets like bags, mugs, shirts, and more.
Grape Up needed to improve their look as an employer since their marketing materials lacked consistency and clear rules. Working closely with employees, we created new designs that showed what the company really stands for, using real photos of the team instead of generic pictures. The project grew to include a successful "Feel at Home" campaign that showcased authentic workplace stories, earning industry recognition. We built an easy-to-use system that helps keep all designs consistent, whether they're used for business or recruitment purposes. Along with updating the careers website, we also created company merchandise that employees actually want to use.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.svg)
.svg)