EICOM Styleguide

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Rebuilding EICOM’s Brand – From Strategic Insight to a Scalable Visual System

My journey with EICOM started even before I was officially hired. During one of the interview rounds with the Head of Brand and the Digital Marketing Manager, I was asked: “If you could redesign the branding of any well-known company, which would you choose and what would you do?”

Rather than naming Apple, Coca-Cola, or Microsoft, I shared my perspective on EICOM’s own logo and identity — highlighting areas I felt could be refined to better reflect their mission. That moment led to one of my first tasks as a Senior Designer: redesigning EICOM’s visual identity.

The Challenge

EICOM is a global education institution focused on enabling digital commerce transformation through collaborative education and high-standard certifications.

Despite its reputation and international programs — including executive education at the University of Cambridge — its visual identity had not evolved alongside its mission. The brand lacked consistency across platforms and struggled to communicate its value with clarity and impact.

At that time, the institution’s core audience consisted mainly of C-level professionals and executive learners. That meant the brand had to reflect not only intellectual authority but also professionalism, polish, and trust — across every touchpoint.

My challenge was to todernize the brand’s visual foundation while keeping it intellectually grounded — aligning internal culture with global educational standards and the high expectations of a senior executive audience.

Strategy & Process

I began by researching EICOM’s existing materials, pain points, and internal workflows. Through design audits, stakeholder interviews, and collaborative workshops, I mapped the core branding gaps.

While the original EICOM Institute logo carries academic symbolism and a sense of tradition, several issues affect its visual clarity and adaptability in modern contexts:

1. Outdated Typography
The serif font, while classic, feels overly ornamental and does not reflect the innovation and forward-thinking nature of the institute.

2. Inconsistent Line Weights
The shield contains elements with mismatched strokes, which undermines cohesion and makes the overall mark appear unrefined.

3. Misaligned Angles
The lower stripes use angles that feel visually awkward and disconnected from the rest of the shield's geometry.

4. Illegible Monogram
The inner "coded" monogram is overly stylized and difficult to decipher, especially at small sizes—hindering brand recognition.

The redesign process included:

Moderating brainstorming sessions with internal teams
Creating multiple visual proposals and validating them with leadership
Documenting every step of the evolution of the logo and design choices
Aligning the new identity with the brand’s core value proposition: "Enabling digital commerce transformation worldwide through collaborative education and quality accreditation."

Key Deliverables:

Redesigned logotype and visual identity
Complete style guide hosted on Notion (colors, type, tone, iconography)
Templates and assets for educational programs, certifications, and communication
Systematic rollout across presentations, social media, ads, brochures, and events

From Vision to Visual Identity

To position EICOM Institute as a prestigious, forward-thinking education brand in the digital marketing space, we reimagined its visual identity with a sharp focus on clarity, legacy, and authority. This transformation aimed to align the brand’s aesthetic with the aspirations of high-level professionals and global educators engaging with its programs.

With a mission to guide business leaders through digital transformation and establish a globally trusted alumni network, EICOM’s identity needed to reflect clarity, authority, and academic excellence across borders.

Insights That Informed the Redesign

Audience Clarity: At the time, the brand mostly attracted C-level professionals, which demanded a tone that balanced modernity and institutional credibility.
Market Positioning: Benchmark comparisons pointed toward the need for a premium yet accessible identity, bridging the gap between academia and innovation.

Visual Design Decisions

Typography Update: We moved away from the outdated serif with excessive ornamentation to a custom, cleaner typeface with modern proportions — a visual metaphor for EICOM’s thought leadership in digital transformation.
Shield Symbol Refinement: The crest was simplified to reflect precision and structure while eliminating inconsistencies in stroke weight and geometry.
Monogram Evolution: We reworked the monogram to ensure legibility across sizes, shedding the coded feel and opting for a clearer mark that echoes EICOM’s initials with pride.
Color & Composition: A more balanced layout and updated palette give the logo a contemporary feel, adaptable for both digital and institutional uses.

The shield/book symbol recalls the visual language of traditional universities — a nod to academic excellence and credibility.
The custom typeface is clean and minimalist, contrasting the classic shield to bring in a sense of modernity and digital relevance.
The inner symbol within the shield represents the exclusiveness of EICOM’s executive learning community — echoing how world-renowned universities display their legacy and prestige through inner monograms or heraldic coding.

At the heart of the brand repositioning lies the concept of Phronesis — a term drawn from ancient Greek philosophy, represented by the letter Phi (φ). It stands for practical wisdom, good judgment, and virtue in action — ideals that reflect EICOM’s mission to empower executive learners with not just knowledge, but applied insight that drives transformation.

This concept served as both a strategic anchor and a visual inspiration, influencing design decisions across logo, typography, tone, and overall expression.

Phronesis symbol studies: Practical Wisdom concept.

Primary use

Secondary use

Protective grid - Clear Area

Minimum size

Icon Library

Visual System in Action

The new visual identity wasn’t designed just to look good — it was built to scale. Once finalized, the system was rolled out across a wide range of EICOM’s initiatives and touchpoints, ensuring clarity, consistency, and brand recognition in every interaction.

From certification programs to content platforms, every asset was aligned with the EICOM Style Guide — creating a cohesive visual language that supported both executive education and thought leadership.

The new system was applied across:

EICOM Review - Digital commerce research and insights
EICOM Wiki - Knowledge base for ecommerce professionals
EICOM News - Weekly newsletter
EICOM Alumni - Exclusive network and community space
CMX - Commerce Management Certification
Commerce Chats - Content and live sessions with experts
DCE - Digital Commerce Expert Program
EICOM Experience - University of Cambridge - Leading Digital Transformation and Disrupting The Future of Commerce

Infographics, social media campaigns, advertising, brochures, sales decks, internal documentation, and pitch presentations

Each asset was designed to strengthen brand coherence while maintaining flexibility for various communication needs.

The Final Delivery: A Living Style Guide

To ensure consistency and scalability moving forward, I created a complete visual style guide hosted on Notion. This document became the centralized source of truth for all brand-related decisions — from typography and color usage to tone of voice and layout systems.

The guide helped streamline collaboration between teams, accelerate production time, and eliminate redundancies in communication design.

Impact

The redesign of EICOM’s visual identity brought more than just aesthetic improvements — it realigned the brand with its mission, voice, and audience.

By delivering a scalable design system, a refined logo, and a comprehensive style guide, the institute gained a stronger foundation to communicate its purpose across channels. The new brand elevated EICOM’s presence in executive education, strengthened internal alignment, and enabled faster, more consistent content production.

Across programs, marketing materials, and learning platforms, the visual identity now reflects the clarity, professionalism, and forward-thinking mindset that defines EICOM’s role in the future of digital commerce education.

📐 Consistency Across Channels

Reduced visual inconsistencies across departments, ensuring a unified brand presence in all touchpoints.

⚙️ Improved Team Efficiency

Streamlined asset creation for design and marketing teams through scalable guidelines and ready-to-use templates.

🌍 Stronger Brand Perception

Elevated EICOM’s positioning in executive events and global programs through a more professional and polished identity.