Led the design of a comprehensive, flexible system enabling non-designers to produce on-brand social content, reducing design bottlenecks and reinforcing TAPPI’s visual identity across multiple channels.
Role
Senior Digital Experience Designer – Brand Systems & Visual Strategy
Employer
TAPPI (The Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry)
Platform
Canva, Teamwork
Skills
Visual Systems, Canva Template Design, Brand Governance, Process Optimization
Background
TAPPI’s social media content was created by multiple contributors with varying design experience. This resulted in inconsistent branding, slow publishing timelines, and diminished campaign impact.
I led the creation of a scalable template system that maintains brand cohesion, empowers non-designers, and streamlines content production across:
4 social channels
5+ major events per year
Multiple courses, webinars, and member highlights
This system also informed the development of additional brand toolkits (email templates, video thumbnails, banner ads), establishing a repeatable, high-quality design framework across the organization.
Before: Posts were inconsistent, requiring lengthy review cycles and resulting in diluted brand presence.
After: Standardized templates maintain brand integrity while allowing event-specific customization, reducing approval time and increasing internal adoption.
The Process
Audit & Strategy
Conducted a full audit of existing social content across 5+ content types (events, webinars, member highlights, publications, and community posts).
Identified inconsistencies in typography, layout, and visual tone.
Defined content buckets and designed a flexible visual system that balances brand consistency with event-specific personality.
Each template set includes a guideline section covering brand rules, color use, typography, logo placement, and step-by-step instructions for editing in Canva. Each template includes guidelines to keep the spacing, visual hierarchy, and white space consistent.
System Design & Guidelines
Created reusable Canva templates in multiple formats (square, landscape, vertical).
Locked key elements: typography hierarchy, spacing, logo placement, and image treatments.
Developed 6-page instructional guides per template to ensure non-designers follow brand standards.
Templates include:
Approved fonts and sizes
Color usage and contrast rules
Logo placement and clear space
Grid and alignment guidelines
Image quality standards
Step-by-step instructions for editing
Publication template – Features a direct header and subheader for the article, a publication-specific logo, and a clearly defined photo area with strict guidelines on placement and image selection
Workflow Integration
Embedded the templates and guides into TAPPI’s Teamwork platform as a “Social Media Toolkit.”
Linked tasks directly to the appropriate template, reducing designer intervention for routine content.
Designed full event suites, covering all stages of promotion - from registration announcements to speaker highlights - following a clean grid system with consistent typography and imagery.
Full Event Suite - A cohesive set of designs that cover every stage of promotion, from registration open to speaker highlights and event experiences. Each template follows TAPPI’s clean grid system with consistent typography, image placement, and messaging structure, making it easy to create a full, on-brand social campaign that’s visually connected and quick to update internally.
Impact (Expected + Strategic Value)
Turnaround reduced from 1 week to same-day delivery, enabling rapid content production across all social channels.
Consistent brand presence across multiple content types and events.
Scalable model adopted organization-wide, informing new systems for email, video thumbnails, and banner ads.
Empowered non-designers to create on-brand content without sacrificing quality or consistency.
Established governance and oversight, ensuring flexibility for content-specific personality while preserving core brand standards.