Danielle Vernelson
Brand Evolution
Case Study Evolving & Shaping the Deeto Brand
Goal of the project: Support Deeto’s marketing team by creating scalable templates for publications, presentations, social content, and videos
Created while freelancing at: Incite Media
Role: Brand Designer
Project Details
A Brand in Its Early Stages
Deeto is a fast-growing SaaS company founded in 2022. When I joined, a new visual identity was underway, but most templates didn’t yet exist. My role was to translate early brand guidelines into a cohesive system of templates—while helping evolve the brand into a more polished, thought-leader presence.
Before
Deeto’s earlier look relied heavily on bright purples and yellows and lacked visual consistency, resulting in a brand that felt energetic but not yet mature.
Early Brand Guidelines
I was provided with an early brand book outlining colors, typography, and logo usage—but few practical applications. Using this foundation, I began designing flexible templates that could scale across marketing channels while leaving room for the brand to grow.
After / Key Contributions
Photography
Because Deeto’s platform is AI-based, it was natural to lean into AI-generated imagery via Midjourney. I helped develop a visual concept centered on “customer voice,” using expressive, mid-thought gestures to represent authentic feedback. I contributed several images to the growing library, including the following:
Marketing Collateral
The marketing team needed a full suite of thought-leadership assets, including one-pagers, eBooks, presentations, and social content. I designed all templates from scratch, then adapted them into individual pieces as needed.
One-Pagers
Deeto one-pagers give readers a quick run-down on a topic. On the cover, readers find a customer quote, and a discussion of pain points. Then on the back, it talks about how Deeto satisfies those pain points.
eBooks
Deeto eBooks are a detailed look at their offerings. They required product imagery, data visualization, and custom illustration to support deeper storytelling.
Featured Example: The Complete Guide to Closing the Trust Gap on Your Website
This eBook explores five trust gaps on websites and shows how Deeto modules help convert high-intent visitors. I created custom illustrations for each section to make the concepts more visual and actionable.
Social Media
For each eBook, I also produced supporting social content—including animated GIFs and LinkedIn carousel “mini eBooks.” I begin by drafting social copy using ChatGPT, then refined and approve it with my manager, for a streamlined workflow.
Animated Gif for Social Media
Multi-Page Mini-eBook for LinkedIn
I designed three reusable email templates (newsletter, webinar, and content release), then built them directly in Mailchimp—quickly onboarding myself to the platform so the team could easily manage campaigns independently.
I went on to design a couple of specialty emails: an end-of-year newsletter encouraging companies to invest their end-of-2025 budget in Deeto, as well as campaign emails for an upcoming product launch.
End of Year Newsletter
Product Launch Email
Deeto App Homepage
While Deeto has dedicated product designers, there was a need for an in-app homepage that could surface help videos, articles, and guidance around the launch of a new UI. At the time, the app didn’t support hosting long-form content, but the website did—so I was brought in to design a homepage experience that could bridge that gap.
The solution included a video pop-up modal, a slim content-card layout for articles, and full support for Deeto’s in-app color themes: burgundy, teal, and gold. Take a look:
Presentations
The customer presentation deck was in rough shape. Some slides had no design at all, others had a severely dated appearance, others were just hard to read. Here are a couple of examples of how I redesigned the slides.
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After
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In all, I edited over 140 slides, taking them from the old look and feel to the new. The result is a customizable deck that salespeople can use to customize for their audience.
Motion & Animation
As the product evolved, the team needed new explainer and marketing videos. I created animations end-to-end—from storyboard through final delivery—using After Effects.
Results
Customer and prospect engagement with Deeto’s marketing assets increased significantly during my tenure. Several programs—such as webinars and downloadable eBooks—were net-new initiatives when I joined, and I helped launch them from zero to hundreds of registrants and asset downloads, establishing new inbound and nurture channels for the business.
Email performance saw a particularly strong lift following the rollout of new templates and visual standards. Prior to my involvement, average click-through rates sat at 2.4%. After the redesign, CTR increased to 10.1%, and in the most recent 90-day period reached 12.4%, signaling stronger engagement and clearer paths to action.
Updated brand systems and sales materials supported stronger pipeline confidence and improved late-stage conversion throughout Q4. This helped influence a double-digit percentage growth in ARR in FY25, with net-new revenue contributing over 60% of total growth for Deeto.