Dell Brand Evolution
A confused brand.
When I joined Dell in 2009, Dell was embarking on a renaissance and for the first time beginning
to understand the power of a unified brand. Before then, it was a company without a consistent
presence and understanding of who it was. I was part of a small, humble five person group that
grew to become the in-house agency it is today, Dell Blue. Together, we refreshed and redefined
Dell's visual brand.
The early days
In the early days, our work was focused on gaining global alignment on logo usage, selecting a color
palette and typeface, and defining our voice and photography styles. Our team made the rules, taught
the masses and sought to spread the work across the company about the power of a strong brand.
Tools of the trade
In an effort to bring more than 100,000 employees worldwide into brand alignment and strengthen
and promote the visual identity we were creating, we carefully constructed brand tools of the trade.
These tools included everything from business cards and letterhead to a PowerPoint template and
email signatures.
Product bezels
As the power of consistent and thoughtful branding started to spread company-wide, our influence
started to impact things like product bezels...
Brick and mortar branding
...and is now even reflected in our facilities around the globe.
Internal and external sites
The new design elements create a more cohesive, sophisticated look that is seen across internal and external sites as well.
The evolution continues
As support for the team’s mission grew, so did the team and our reach. In 2014 we were
tasked with evolving the brand’s voice and visual identity further. There was an appetite to create a larger
toolbox for agencies and creative teams to work with—but it all still needed to look like Dell. It was my
responsibility to push the limits and define these boundaries. Keeping the team focused simultaneously
on the big picture along with the many executional details was a terrific challenge.