Salesforce Brand Systems
Salesforce | Brand Design | 2020-2022
VP, Group Creative Director, Brand Center of Excellence
THE CHALLENGE
By 2020, our Digital Creative team—partnering with our agency, Instrument—had developed the beginnings of a scalable design system. Inspired by the circular motif of our Customer 360 Portfolio, it used multi-colored circles and arcs to frame content, guide the eye, and create consistency across the site.
But Salesforce’s visual identity wasn’t limited to web. Our brand had grown wildly complex, with characters, color, product UIs, people, and national park illustrations all vying for space. Designers across teams were making well-intentioned guesses about how (and when) to use these elements. Without an underlying logic, the result was still chaos.
We had the pieces. What we needed was a global system to hold them together.
THE SOLUTION
As head of the Brand Center of Excellence, I engaged Instrument to help define a broader visual governance model. Together, we reverse-engineered consistency into a system that had grown organically, codifying rules for hierarchy, composition, and flexibility across the funnel—from clean, message-first awareness ads to full-blown brand expression at events.
(Can I just pause to express my envy for every brand that doesn’t work this way?)
I also led the definition of our voice and tone. Since day one, I’d been fighting to make Salesforce copy more human, clear, and conversational. The biggest pushback always came from stakeholders saying, “That’s how our customers talk.” Maybe so. But it’s not how they read. I drove the creation of company-backed guidelines that helped writers advocate for clarity, readability, and a tone that reflected our personality—not our first-call decks.
Over time, my teams also developed custom design systems for high-profile brand partnerships like Formula 1 and the Olympics. These systems helped Salesforce stand out in complex co-branded environments, while still looking, sounding, and feeling like us.
Results:
Replaced “gut-check” brand decisions with clear rules
Established visual and verbal principles used across global marketing and design
Empowered creatives to “hold the line” on design and copy best practices
Developed custom systems for high-profile partnerships, including Formula 1 and the Olympics
Enabled global consistency without sacrificing creativity or cultural relevance
Advertising Design System
As leader of the Brand Center of Excellence, I initiated and led the development of the Advertising Design System, serving as principal stakeholder and point of contact for our agency partner, Instrument. Our goal was to bring structure to a brand that had become more expressive than intentional. We examined the core elements of our visual identity—color, layout, illustration, product imagery, character usage—and worked together to reverse-engineer a clear, consistent logic for how those elements should be used.
The final system provided practical guidance for applying the brand across the funnel, from awareness to engagement to consideration. From 2021 to 2025, every ad produced by Salesforce followed these guidelines. Below is the section outlining visual logic, and how to apply it to brand-level advertising.
Formula1 Design System
Formula 1 is a carnival of sound, speed, and globe-trotting glamor. The design system for our partnership needed to express that excitement in a Salesforce-y way.
As ECD of Brand Programs, I led the F1 creative team that developed, among many things, a distinctive look that honored our core brand while feeling at home on the grid. The system features dynamic racing stripes abstracted from actual F1 tracks, custom typography, and color palettes that infuse our visuals with motion and flair.
