Building a Unified Internal Communications Brand
A shared design system brought consistency to employee communications across corporate HQ teams.
BACKGROUND
A national environmental services company relied on newsletters, executive updates, presentations, emails, town halls and digital signage to communicate with employees across corporate teams. These channels helped employees stay informed about company priorities, but they had developed without a consistent internal communications identity.
THE CHALLENGE
Internal communications like newsletters, presentations, emails and digital signage lacked a consistent, polished visual identity. Clip art and heavy use of the company’s primary brand color further limited the visual variety of the materials and made them feel less refined. Differences in design and messaging across channels made it harder to present company updates as part of a cohesive employee experience.
THE OBJECTIVE
To create a recognizable internal communications identity that reflected the company’s brand, supported a consistent voice across channels, and gave communication teams practical tools for producing clear, engaging materials.
STRATEGIC APPROACH
The work began with an audit of existing internal communications, including newsletters, executive templates, presentations and digital signage. The review identified inconsistencies in visual identity, along with opportunities to simplify how recurring materials were created.
The company’s brand team was engaged to align the internal refresh with its broader identity. A design system was then developed to bring consistent layouts, typography, colors and visual treatments to employee communications. Reusable email and presentation templates were created for communication professionals at the corporate office making the system practical to apply across teams.
DELIVERABLES
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Audit of internal communications channels and materials
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Refreshed visual identity for employee communications
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Branded newsletter, email, and presentation templates
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Shared guidance for corporate and regional communication teams
Led by MCA’s founder while serving in an in-house communications role.
RESULTING IMPROVEMENTS
A more polished visual identity: Consistent typography, layouts and graphics replaced clip art and mismatched design elements.
Stronger brand consistency: A more balanced use of the brand colors gave employee communications a more polished finished.
A more cohesive employee experience: Newsletters, leadership updates, presentations and digital signage shared a recognizable look and feel.
Faster content creation: Reusable templates gave corporate and regional teams a starting point for recurring communications.
Higher newsletter engagement: Open rates increased by 20% following the redesign.
RESULTS & IMPACT
The new system gave employee communications a more consistent look and feel across channels. Shared templates and guidance made it easier for communication professionals to create materials without rebuilding each asset from the ground up.
Following the newsletter redesign, open rates increased by 20%. The broader refresh gave teams a common visual foundation for communicating company priorities and gave employees a more recognizable experience across the messages they received.