We worked closely with a cross-functional team from The Home Depot to refresh brand and strategic foundations while creating a roadmap for component normalization. Our recommendations were housed in a high-fidelity prototype that served as a functioning MVP for the brand system.
Design System Strategy
Technical Documentation
Component Architecture
Creative Director
Associate Creative Director
Senior Experience Designer
Verbal Designer
Approach
The Home Depot engaged R/GA to refresh and organize their foundational brand elements and components to create the organization's first unified brand system. All design resources were centralized in a reference site—a comprehensive source of brand information for all things verbal, visual, and design.
Throughout three major phases, we assessed the brand, developed recommendations, and designed and prototyped an MVP brand platform. Along the way, we consulted with THD stakeholders, from junior to executive levels, to create a roadmap for a universal design system.
Key Takeaways
Eliminating internal bifurcation through a unified brand platform and streamlined tooling
Ongoing interviews with THD associates informed the iterative development of the site architecture for the brand platform. Centralizing existing and refreshed guidelines from several sources, these guidelines are now organized to more accurately reflect departmental structure and workflows.
We tested several design and development tools to streamline THD’s ways of working. By the end of our engagement, we had selected a design system management tool and fully migrated from Sketch and Adobe XD to Figma, improving collaboration and eliminating roadblocks in the design process.
Designing alongside clients as a continuous form of education and training
We worked closely with the THD team to codify and create the first set of normalized components, collaborating throughout the rigorous process of taking components from discovery to development for the React component library. This new framework establishes an efficient and repeatable process for creating components with the current design and new designs to come.
Applying strategy frameworks to design process to shape ways of working
Our brand framework was designed to be a filter for decision-making for output, but we also turned the framework inward to define processes. We developed internal ways of working using Home Depot’s principles to guide associates on everything from collaboration to documentation to presentation.
Credits
Key collaborators included an Associate Creative Director (design systems extrodinaire Leen Al-Bassam), a Visual Designer, and Verbal Designer. The ACD and I worked closely on content strategy, IA, and visual for the system itself, while also holding daily standups with a team of client-side designers to initiate the process of component normalization. While structuring the guidelines, we consulted the Visual and Verbal Designers who were focused on refreshing the brand’s exhibits and guidance.