Multi-Brand Post-Acquisition Identity Systems

Community Choice Financial grew through acquisition, adding to its portfolio, resulting in 12 distinct financial services brands. Each came with its own visual identity — or more accurately, its own collection of inconsistently applied design decisions, undocumented brand rules, and institutional knowledge that lived in people's heads rather than in guidelines.

Create coherent visual identities and comprehensive brand guidelines for 12+ brands simultaneously, while navigating the cultural complexity of two corporate acquisitions and integrating new staff who brought their own design practices and institutional knowledge.

• Built comprehensive brand guidelines and documented design systems for each of the 12+ brands, replacing tribal knowledge with scalable infrastructure.
• Directed creative execution across 6+ channels per brand: email, web, print, in-store signage, digital ads, and events.
• Navigated two corporate acquisitions without a missed deadline or brand disruption.
• Integrated staff from acquired companies through collaborative onboarding that preserved institutional knowledge while establishing new standards.
• Created component-based design systems in Figma that enabled consistent execution across a large brand portfolio.

• 12+ brands with documented, scalable identity systems for the first time.
• Zero missed deadlines or brand disruptions through two corporate acquisitions.
• New team members onboarded into a system rather than dependent on tribal knowledge.
• Design infrastructure that could support continued M&A activity.