Overview
A core belief at Expedia is to force simplicity, drive clarity and to create momentum. In order to do this it’s important that everyone know what they are doing and has a shared belief in how to not just work but to create better elevated work. From internal working processes to brand standards to guidance for external partners to better express not only who we are but who they are I have been deeply involved in both research, concepting, drafting and execution of a many of the standards by which we worked on a daily basis.
My Role
As lead designer on the B2B marketing team I oversee brands and maintain design standards within the team and across all assets. I develop visual styles for global campaign strategies and adapt/adjust for regional marketing assets and develop usage guidelines. I Identify and initiate improvements to the design and execution of graphics material that’s on-brand while also measuring results to continue improve and optimized creatives
Content and Design intake guidelines
An important part of creating is making sure that everyone is clear how to work together to achieve the goal. Working closely with project management and copy/content creation leads we worked to develop a clear and realistic work process, standards and guidelines for working with the creative team including guidance on effective briefs, SLAs, and demystifying work processes and then putting the information into one easy to use guideline document.
Inclusive and diverse design practices
In a commitment to making sure that the world of our design reflected the diversity of the world I worked closely with our internal Inclusion and Diversity team in order to draft and execute guidelines and a mission statment that our designers and vendors could refer. With clear guidance especially focused on photography selections our designers are able to ensure that the world we presented is one where travel is for everyone.
Partner photography toolkit
In addition to working to improve internal standards and guidelines I also worked to create guides for our external partners to use to improve their listings and elevate the quality of their work as well as ours. One such document was on improving the photography used by partners listing rooms on Expedia. Recognizing the need for consumers to be better informed as well as knowing the range of our audience it was important to make sure the guidelines were accessible and easy to understand and implement for everyone from the small business mom and pop bed and breakfast up to multinational chains.
