The following decisions guided the rollout of the new Open Social identity:
Defined reusable visual patterns across marketing, web, and product touchpoints
Balanced strong brand expression with usability and functional clarity
Created modular layouts that supported rapid iteration and scalability
Optimised assets for responsive developer implementation across breakpoints
Introduced illustration and motion to strengthen storytelling with purpose
Extended the visual system across both digital and physical brand experiences
Beyond the Rebrand
The new identity extended across website experiences, campaigns, social content, educational materials, motion, and physical touchpoints. Each application added another layer to a more recognisable and connected Open Social brand.
Reusable assets, modular layouts, and visual patterns made the identity easier to adapt across different formats. This created consistency without forcing every communication into the same visual formula.
The resulting system gave Open Social a more flexible visual toolkit, from reusable components and layouts to illustration, motion, and campaign assets. These could be adapted across different formats while retaining the character of the new identity.
The work turned the rebrand into something tangible and usable beyond the initial rollout. Instead of a fixed set of guidelines, it became a visual foundation that could evolve with new campaigns, product stories, and communication needs.
© 2026 All right reserved by Cezar-Gabriel Codreanu (CezarGC)
Open Social is a B2B SaaS platform providing open-source community software used by more than 1,000 Drupal-based installations. Operating in a competitive digital market, the company underwent a full rebrand to strengthen its positioning and create a more cohesive identity across its growing ecosystem.
The rebrand extended far beyond a new logo or colour palette. It required translating a refreshed visual direction into consistent digital experiences across marketing, website, product communication, campaigns, motion, and supporting brand materials while remaining flexible enough to evolve with the business.
COMPANY:
Open Social
ROLE:
Visual Designer & UI/UX
TIMELINE:
Aug 2020 - Oct 2021
TOOLS USED:
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, XD, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Slack, Google Workspace
Building Consistency
The challenge was not simply introducing a new visual identity. Every digital touchpoint needed to communicate the same brand while remaining practical, clear, and usable across different audiences and platforms.
Marketing campaigns, website experiences, educational content, product communication, and social media all had different requirements. The visual language needed enough flexibility to adapt without becoming inconsistent or losing its recognisable character.
Rather than treating each deliverable as an individual design exercise, the focus became creating reusable visual patterns and modular layouts that could support fast iteration in a growing SaaS environment.
Balancing creativity with usability was essential throughout the process. Brand expression needed to strengthen storytelling and recognition while functional interfaces, responsive layouts, and developer implementation remained efficient and maintainable.
My work centred on implementing and scaling Open Social's new visual identity across digital and product-related experiences. I redesigned website pages, created reusable UI patterns, and developed structured layouts that improved hierarchy while supporting consistent marketing communication.
Alongside UI/UX design, I created iconography, illustrations, campaign assets, e-books, infographics, motion graphics, and promotional videos. The work focused on turning the brand into a flexible visual system that could communicate complex ideas clearly across multiple channels.
FOCUS:
Brand system implementation | Marketing UX | Scalable UI patterns | Website redesign | Visual language | Motion & information design
Create & Collaborate
The rebrand brought Marketing, Sales, Product and leadership closely into the design process, shaping campaigns, website updates, product communication, and everyday brand needs. Regular feedback, shared workspaces, and ongoing discussions helped turn the new identity into practical design decisions across the business.
Design moved between exploration, feedback, and implementation, with developers involved where technical decisions affected the experience. Responsive layouts, assets, and production details were refined together, keeping the visual direction consistent while adapting it to real-world constraints.
Figma supported interface and layout design, while Adobe Creative Suite enabled illustration, motion, print, video, and campaign production. Each tool played a role in building a connected visual workflow rather than isolated design outputs.
Google Workspace provided shared documentation and meetings, Slack supported daily communication, and Asana helped coordinate work alongside development activities. This created a collaborative process where design decisions could move efficiently between marketing, product, and engineering.