• Midland Brand Refresh

    A full brand refresh, from research to rollout, that grew site engagement and won a 2025 Communicator Award of Excellence.

    Role: Lead Designer & Creative Direction

    Deliverables: Brand identity system, campaign photography & video, digital & print collateral, website redesign

The Challenge

Midland's existing branding wasn't fully reflecting who the bank was or what customers needed from it. The goal was to identify the gaps and build a brand that felt warm, trustworthy, and consistent everywhere it showed up, from digital ads to the website to physical branches, while also solving a technical constraint: keeping Midland's signature orange front and center without compromising ADA compliance.

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The Process

1. Research

Started by identifying gaps in the current branding and understanding what customers actually want from a bank.

Key insight: Customers want a bank that represents who they are and makes them feel safe, not just a service provider.

2. Ideation

Translated that insight into a visual system built to evolve with the brand. Took Midland's logo, broke it into shapes, and built patterns from those shapes, used behind and in front of subjects in imagery to add depth and keep the customer the visual focus.

3. Production

Partnered with internal teams to define an art direction centered on warmth, brightness, and friendliness for the first campaign. Led the full production, creating all campaign materials and directing the photography and video, including talent selection, scheduling, and on-set direction, from first concept to final delivery.

A person holding a light bulb with an orange outline around it, symbolizing ideas or innovation.
Two advertisements for Midland States Bank. The top ad features a happy family of three with a woman and father playing with their young child, promoting banking services for families. The bottom ad features a smiling woman in a white shirt holding a laptop, promoting tailored financial services for small businesses.
Film crew filming in front of Midland States Bank during daytime with a family walking past, American flag flying, and cloudy sky overhead.

  • Campaign photography & video (talent, scheduling, and direction led in-house) to launch our new refresh

  • Ad suite carrying the new visual system across channels

  • Full website redesign, rebuilt for brand consistency, usability, and full ADA compliance, including a solution for keeping Midland's orange central to the brand without sacrificing accessibility

  • Refreshed Brand Guidelines and the creation of a Design System to ensure brand consistency across all assets and platforms

The Solution

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  • 2025 Communicator Award of Excellence — the top honor from the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts (AIVA)

  • Website redesign is fully ADA compliant while preserving Midland's core brand color

  • Brand Guidelines and Design System built to scale, extending from campaign creative through to digital tools

The Results

A circular logo for the 31st Annual Communicator Awards featuring a black center with white and blue text and graphics, including the letter Q and a projector icon, surrounded by a blue ring with black text that reads 'A Ward of Excellence'.
Three electronic devices—a smartphone, a laptop, and a tablet—displaying the same financial services website.
Screenshots of a bank's website homepage, featuring sections about services, online banking features, customer support options, and financial articles, with images of people, mobile devices, and banking signage.