OVERVIEW
BCG Design Studios began as a network of specialist design hubs supporting consulting teams around the world. As the function grew, BCG made the strategic decision to bring all global design capabilities - including regional studios, visual services and specialist creative teams - into one organization.
The assignment was bigger than creating a new identity. More than 400 people across 15 offices needed a shared vision, a stronger internal presence and a clearer way to describe the value they brought to the business.
My role was to lead the brand transformation from strategy through implementation, creating not only the identity but also the system that would allow it to scale across a large, global and fast-moving organization.
CHALLENGE
At first, the brief sounded like a visibility problem. Design Studios needed to look bolder, more modern and easier to recognize within the wider BCG ecosystem.
But the real challenge was alignment. Different regions had developed independently, each with its own history, culture and way of working. Some teams operated as strategic creative partners, others as embedded support or production specialists. All of those roles mattered, but together they made it difficult to tell one clear story.
Before designing how the brand should look, we needed to define what Design Studios was becoming. Without that shared direction, the identity would have been cosmetic rather than useful.
APPROACH
The work began with strategy rather than design.
I led workshops with the Global Design Director, regional creative leads and the Head of Strategy to define the studio's long-term vision, business objectives and positioning. These conversations gave us the foundation for the identity and helped surface potential adoption challenges early.
From there, a small team of three, including myself, developed the complete brand system: logo, typography, color palette, motion principles, templates, guidelines and supporting assets. The visual language moved away from a darker, more fragmented identity toward something clearer, brighter and more confident - distinctive enough to stand apart within BCG, but structured enough to work inside a global professional services organization.
Implementation was as important as the creative work. A brand used by hundreds of people cannot rely on central control alone. It needs to be easy to understand, easy to apply and clear enough for teams to make good decisions independently.
To support that, I created a rollout model built around regional Brand Guardians, onboarding materials and practical templates. The goal was not to police the brand, but to give teams ownership within a clear framework so the system could scale consistently across markets.
IMPACT
The identity was adopted across all 15 global studios and approved by BCG's Global Marketing team - an important milestone for a brand that intentionally pushed beyond much of the firm's established visual language.
As Design Studios grew from around 200 people to more than 400, the system continued to support the organization without needing to be replaced. Five years later, the brand is being refreshed and evolved rather than redesigned from scratch, and I continue to oversee its global stewardship.
More importantly, the project gave Design Studios one shared identity and a clearer internal voice. It helped teams across regions explain who they were, how they worked and what value they brought to BCG.
The result was not just a more consistent brand. It was a stronger sense of belonging, clarity and alignment across a growing global design organization.
