Rose Rocket is a platform transportation management software (TMS) that helps manage today's transportation companies' unique needs. With Rose Rocket's Platform TMS, companies can improve communications with systems, customers, and the people who move freight. I joined Rose Rocket in April 2023 as a sole visual designer. It was my third time working with a start-up business, but it was the first time to be a first visual designer at the company, which means I have a lot of ownership that I can try. I could implement new systems that will make the design process much more efficient and impact the company's culture, helping the people team to have better internal communication with visuals and creating cohesive and consistent visuals throughout all the brand assets. You can find examples for each area that I worked on below.
Roles: Brand Designer / Visual Designer / Graphic Designer / Project Manager
Building Brand Identity
One of the most significant benefits of working as a sole designer at the company is building the brand/visual identity. It's an honour to leave your footprint in the company's growth and also such a fun project setting rules of colours, typography, etc. When I created this brand guide, I spent most of my time finding the company's concept. It connects to the company's vision, goals but mostly what they do. I realized Rose Rocket is a trucking software company, and freight makes people get together. With that in mind, I developed a rectangle resembling a container box into an 'element' of brand identity. You can find the details below by clicking the View Brand Guide.
Implementing New Systems
When working at start-up businesses, you often find yourself working without rules. Everyone depends on their own rules when communicating, working, and getting feedback until someone develops systems. I decided to become one. The first system that I created was the ‘Design Request System.’ People asked me for visuals in many ways, like pinging me on Slack or emailing me. It was so hard to manage all the tasks coming in, and mostly they didn’t give enough information about visuals either. So I created the visual design page on Notion and uploaded my work scope table where people can see if/when I’m available for the next project. On the same page, they can find a request form asking all the requirements to create visuals. In this way, I don’t need to tell people when I can jump on working on projects and ask questions about what/what they expect over and over. Another system that I implemented was the ‘Design Asset Map.’ Companies often keep data on their server, but people don’t know what is where. Whoever is in charge of the server needs to direct people, and it’s a lot of wasting time. I also found myself directing people where they could find the company’s logo or stock images, so I decided to make this map showing where all the design assets are. This map follows the folder structure so people can easily understand it. You can find my blog articles about how I created systems for designer by clicking the button below.
Outdoor Marketing
One big project I participated in was creating visuals for outdoor marketing. The marketing team planned to rent one of the freight trucks and have it run around GTA. We discussed what kind of advertising image would capture the drivers’ eyes and decided to have a 3d printing image wrapped around the truck. I had never worked on 3d printing images but thought it would be fun and challenging, so I became part of the project. We got an idea from our company’s name, ‘Rocket,’ and made the truck look like carrying a rocket to power it. I used Photoshop to render the image, and it took lots of layers of highlights and shadows to make it look natural. The final image blew everyone, and I was proud of my design running on the road.
Creating Company Culture
As the only visual designer, I helped various internal teams with my design skills to build their unique culture. I created this ‘Moon Man’ character using my illustration skill and applied it to many different projects, and he became the company’s mascot. From an HR team project shared with the entire company to a T-shirt production for a pilot team, contributing to in-house projects was always a great pleasure.
B2B Documents
Working closely with the marketing team, I created many reports and sales guides to show our clients, brokers, and carriers how Rose Rocket TMS helps them successfully manage their freight business. One of my specialties is editorial design, so I know how to show valuable data effectively using many graphic elements using shapes, tables, charts, and illustrations.
Promotional Materials
Last but not least, here are the promotional materials that I created. Most of my work at Rose Rocket was making digital design pieces like web banners, social media ads, or landing pages. When building a brand identity, you need to focus on how consistently an essential element is displayed. When creating a digital design? It would be best to concentrate on attracting the viewers' attention from other distractions fighting over the screen's real estate. To do that, I participated in a brainstorming session to decide on the visual concept. I like to design promotional materials as there are many things I can do visually more than other works. Above all, it is so fun to utilize the latest trendy design elements.
CONTACT
leh923@gmail.com