A loveletter from your design friend

I was asked to present my process in crafting together brand guidelines for Mailchimp Developer. At Mailchimp, brand runs deep within their culture; they are proud of their carefully brand narratives and personas. With this line of work, I had introduced a new user type that they had not yet adopted: the developer. Getting Mailchimp acclimated with the developer persona and brand required a familiar language that was communicated through brand guidelines and storytelling.

Previously there was very little and segmented documentation about these personas. I imagined that one day when I handed off the work I crafted on Mailchimp Developer, the designer would not have to suffered my fate; they would be given this brand guideline carefully documented with research and software decisions.

a case for brand guidelines: building a foundation

• They will use this brand guidelines as a foundation
• They will adjust and change elements over time.
• The user has not seen the Phase 1 brand guidelines
• This will include the work from Brand Guidelines in Phase 1
• This will tell the story of the entire ecosystem.
• This will also show the changes made in Phase 2 and the reasons behind the change for context
• This is not a design documentation or design spec