Lighthouse’s brand evolution marked a shift in thinking—from “a light in dark and stormy waters” to “the light shining the way.” With this new positioning and a mission to “Illuminate the Truth in Data,” our visual identity needed to reflect a message of light, hope, and clarity. The previous brand was clean but dark and heavy; the refresh brought warmth, color, and forward momentum to every touchpoint—from visuals to messaging.
Creative Director: Damon Nakagawa, NakagawaCo
Designer: Megan Harrigan, Lighthouse
Chief Marketing Officer: Stacy Ybarra, Lighthouse
Web Program Manager: Megan Betz, Betz Co.
We explored three concept directions under the guidance of our Creative Director, all centered on infusing more light into the brand. Early ideation moved away from literal lighthouse imagery and toward broader interpretations of light as a visual and metaphorical element—playing with both color and clarity.
The first concept, “The Glow,” leaned into light sources and the full color spectrum. This ultimately informed the muted, refined aesthetic used in the final brand.
The second concept, “A New Angle,” was built around the rising angle of the lighthouse beam in our logo—signifying momentum, optimism, and direction. This upward motion became a defining visual theme.
The third concept, “The Way Forward,” introduced geometric overlays and abstract motion, but ultimately lacked the clarity and emotional resonance our CMO envisioned. It was shelved early in the process.
The rising angle from our logo became the foundation of the new layout system, adding energy and direction to compositions across print and digital assets.
We moved from solid blue icons to lightweight orange line work to create more openness and flexibility. I curated a catalog of 250 multi-use icons, making the system more accessible and scalable across teams.
The core brand palette remained, but we introduced a tertiary tier of accent colors for increased vibrancy and variety—allowing for more creative freedom without sacrificing consistency.
To unify photo treatments, I created a branded image overlay with lens flare and bokeh effects. This soft layer of “light” created cohesion across diverse stock photography and helped communicate a feeling of warmth and consistency.
Every internal and external collateral template was updated and redistributed across the company. From pitch decks to HR documents, all communications were brought into alignment with the new brand.
Using Figma, I created the foundational designs for every key page type—home, service and solution pages (first and second level), about pages, newsroom articles, and content hubs like blogs, case studies, and whitepapers. After stakeholder approval, I translated the system into modular templates.
We partnered with a third-party development team in India, who built the base components. I then built out the full site structure using content from our Solutions Marketing team. HubSpot forms were integrated throughout the site at key conversion points. After a week of QA in staging, the new website launched in tandem with our brand reveal at Legalweek.
Navigation posed one of the biggest challenges. As we reorganized our offerings, we conducted multiple rounds of user testing—both internally and externally. We launched with A/B-tested variations using GA4, eventually landing on the structure that best balanced clarity, discoverability, and alignment with our evolving business strategy.
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