Art Director / Product Designer / Human
Amex Offers is a program designed to help Card Members save money or earn additional points on shopping, dining, and other purchases. The American Express marketing team engaged our agency to create assets for a series of upcoming partnership campaigns. Having collaborated with American Express for several years, the design team had accumulated a collection of guidelines, templates, and technical specifications — but these resources were scattered and inconsistent, making the process less efficient than it could be.
To meet the demand for quick, high-quality asset production, we needed a solution that would centralize all guidelines, specifications, and templates into a single, easily updatable system. This approach would streamline the design process, ensure consistency, and allow for seamless updates whenever the American Express brand team made changes to the guidelines.
• Centralize and standardize the existing brand guidelines
• Include developer specifications to bridge gaps between design and implementation.
• Streamline the creation of marketing assets to support delivering consistent, high-quality work efficiently.
The process began with a comprehensive audit of existing resources. I reviewed the brand guidelines to pinpoint inconsistencies and gaps, particularly in cross-channel usage and developer specifications. Additionally, I collaborated with stakeholders to identify workflow challenges and address specific agency requirements.
To enhance efficiency and consistency in partnership marketing, I developed a design system for American Express tailored for agency use. This system consolidated pre-existing brand guidelines into a centralized, comprehensive resource, addressing previous fragmentation and improving the design process.
The design system was built to be modular, with templates for banner ads, marketing emails, and webpage heroes that could be easily customized for various campaigns. Detailed documentation was created to ensure the system was user-friendly and adaptable to updates from the brand team.
To ensure a smooth transition, I guided the design team through adopting the new system and provided training to help them become proficient with Figma. This collaborative rollout ensured that the system was quickly and effectively integrated into the team’s workflow. As a result, over the past four years, this design system was used to create 200+ assets that promoted partnerships with renowned brands like Hulu, Delta, and Google
While designing Amex Offers emails, I collaborated closely with a copywriter to establish a clear information architecture for the messaging. We strategically utilized Subject Lines and Inbox Previews to ensure Amex emails stood out in Card Members’ inboxes. Each email was rigorously tested in Litmus and Email on Acid, ensuring proper rendering across 56 devices, while also undergoing accessibility and spam checks to maximize deliverability and provide an optimal user experience for all recipients.
• Increased Efficiency: The team reported a 40% reduction in asset creation time, thanks to standardized templates and a streamlined workflow.
• Enhanced Consistency: Campaigns benefited from a more cohesive look and feel across channels, meeting brand expectations.
• Improved Collaboration: Developer specs bridged the gap between design and implementation, minimizing revision cycles.
Over the past four years, this design system was used to create 200+ assets that promoted partnerships with renowned brands like Hulu, Delta, and Google. By unifying American Express brand guidelines and addressing agency-specific needs, this project delivered a comprehensive, scalable, user-friendly design system. The streamlined process not only saved time but also strengthened alignment between designers and developers, setting a new standard for partnership marketing efficiency.
