Bold Penguin

Scope of Work

Branding, Graphic Design, Front-end Web Design

Location

Columbus, Ohio

Year

2021 - 2026

Role

Brand Designer

Collaborators

4-person Marketing Team

Assets Created

Presentations, Social Media Graphics, Front-end Website Design, Infographics, Swag, Conference Graphics, Digital & Printed Sales Collateral + More

Industry

Insurance Technology

Audience

Carriers, MGAs, Brokers & Agents

Evolving a startup into a

trusted industry leader

THE CHALLENGE

Joining Bold Penguin meant stepping into a fast-moving startup environment with tight turnarounds, minimal creative direction, and a lean team. The company was ready to evolve from a make-a-statement startup identity into something that reflected its growing authority in the industry. That meant making strategic decisions about when to differentiate from competitors, when to return focus to the product, and how to build a visual language that could scale across web, print, social, events, and everything in between, without losing momentum along the way.

THE WORK

What followed was a full-spectrum creative strategy spanning every touchpoint of the brand. I led the visual evolution of Bold Penguin's identity through several deliberate phases - from bold and attention-grabbing, to distinctly differentiated, to a refined UI/UX-informed approach that brought the focus back to the product. That evolution touched everything; initial front-end web design, a suite of annual year-in-reviews spanning print and digital, social media content, icon development, blog series infographics, and sales collateral. Read more about the strategy thought process >

hire-creative-graphic-designer-asa-melissa-kennedy-BP-sphere-of-influence.png

bold-penguin-blog-assets-asa-melissa-kennedy-design-hire.png

Success Story

Redesigned conference booth cut setup time from 45-60 minutes down to 15-20 (3x faster) entirely on my own initiative. I saw an opportunity to make the team more efficient and ran with it. By prioritizing clean visuals, evergreen messaging, and a modular design that could flex across venues of any size, the result was a booth that worked harder and set up easier. The measurable win was time saved. The immeasurable one was a less stressed sales team on the floor, having better conversations and closing more leads.