Propeller Industries
Web
Design system
Branding
Overview
Propeller Industries provides outsourced CFO, accounting, and strategic finance support to high-growth startups and venture-backed companies such as Hims & Hers, Liquid Death, OLIPOP, and Solana. Human Marketing was hired to refresh the brand and redesign the website over a six-month sprint.
This case study documents the rebrand launched in 2022. Propeller's branding and website has since been updated.
Challenge
How do you modernize Propeller's brand to reflect the ambition and personality of its startup audience while preserving the trust, credibility, and recogition it had already built?
Outcome
Propeller's rebrand transformed its outdated identity into a brighter, more modern visual system that reflected its growing client based across CPG, ecommerce, and wellness, while positioning the firm to attract clients in emerging industries like tech and Web3. We brought the new identity to life through a redesigned website that put founders and their stories at the center. The result was a cohesive digital experience that balanced financial credibility with the ambition and entrepreneurial spirit of the companies Propeller serves.
Role
Co-led the rebrand and website redesign with Human Marketing's Creative Director, shaping the visual identity, owning the website UI strategy, and supporting development through launch.
Team
Timeline
6-month sprint (launch: 06/22)
Tools
Figma and Illustrator
TL;DR
Reimagining a financial brand to reflect the ambition of its client.
Propeller had built credibility with high-growth startups, but its outdated identity no longer reflected its growing client base or ambitions. We modernized the visual system and redesigned the website around founder-led storytelling, creating a bold and vibrant digital experience that balanced financial credibility and trust with the energy, personality, and entrepreneurial spirit of its clients.
Key insights
25
Core pages
~200
Components & variants
6 mo.
Project timeline
The challenge
Close the gap between the brand and the business.
Propeller served ambitious, fast-moving companies, yet its existing brand and website no longer felt representative of its clients or growth.
Why this mattered
As Propeller expanded its client roster, its brand needed to communicate more than financial expertise. The opportunity was to differentiate the firm by highlighting the people and businesses behind the numbers, presenting Propeller as a strategic partner that understood the CEOs, CFOs, and founders it served. Below is a before and after example of how the brand came to life across the same social touchpoint.
Project goals
Modernize brand identity. Establish a bold, contemporary visual direction, and document the foundations in a style guide and comprehensive brand guidelines.
Redesign the website. Create a cohesive digital experience centered on founder-led storytelling, reflecting Propeller's evolving identity and client base.
Build for consistency and scale. Develop an internal design system with reusable UI components to streamline developer handoff.
Extend the brand across touchpoints. Translate the new identity into organic and paid marketing collateral.
Align stakeholders throughout the process. Collaborate with the Creative Director and Propeller's leadership through design reviews, iterations, and approvals to established a shared vision.
Design process
Explore boldly. Preserve what people recognized.
The brief called for a cleaner, more expressive visual identity inspired by motion, speed, circles, and forward movement. We first explored a monochromatic green direction, followed by a bolder blue concept that was ultimately approved by the client and became the foundation of Propeller's new identity.
Designing a new submark, then rethinking where it belonged.
Propeller's leadership was deeply involved in the submark redesign, leading to multiple rounds of creative reviews where we refined its visual direction, and discussed how it would be applied across the brand.
Design system
Turning the visual direction into a usable system
The website was the primary expression of the rebrand, connecting Propeller's financial expertise to real founder stories.
Across 25 core pages, we prioritized founder-led storytelling, clearer content hierarchy, and reusable layouts. I also developed an internal design system of approximately 200 componentes and variants to ensure consistency and support developer handoff.
Tell founder stories: Use client stories, testimonials, and portraits to make intangible finance offerings more human.
Make the offerings scannable: Organize service and industry content around clear hierarchy, succinct copy, and repeatable page sections.
Design beyond the homepage: Translate the identity into reusable patterns across the full site and establish shared implementation rules.
From identity to experience
Founder led- storytelling, brought to life online.
The new site highlighted the stories of founders and CEO's behind some of Propeller's biggest clients while translating the new identity into a cohesive digital experience.
Reflection
Small teams accelerate growth. The scope of the project was intense for an early-career designer, but it taught me to adapt quickly, collaborate closely with developers, and keep moving even when the brief changed.
Reviews with senior stakeholders require clarity. Creative reviews with agency and client leadership pushed me to connect visual choices brand positioning, audience needs, and business goals.
Systems turn visual ideas into real products. Translating visual direction into reusable rules and components became a foundation for how I approach product design and design systems.
Adaptability extends beyond client. The submark changed after rollout; the experience reinforced the importance of responding to evolving stakeholder needs.
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