How I Helped Humanize Redzone’s Brand: Growing Engagement by Over 500%
Integrated Creative for QAD Redzone
QAD Redzone is a connected workforce platform used in manufacturing plants across the globe. While its tools deliver real-time productivity and compliance insights, its brand had room to grow beyond product features. This case study explores how I helped humanize and scale Redzone’s creative presence across web, video, print, and social.
THE PROBLEM
Manufacturing software often looks and feels as cold as the factory floor it serves: data-heavy, dashboard-led, and disconnected from the people who use it. Redzone has a different story to tell. They had powerful results and real community impact — but the brand’s visual language wasn’t yet capturing that human side. There was a need for more relatable storytelling, more emotionally engaging creative, and a more cohesive way to show the transformation happening on shop floors every day.
THE SOLUTION
I reimagined how Redzone communicated across channels by leaning into design that celebrated people, not just performance. Through campaign branding, social graphics, product explainers, physical activations, and original photography, I built out a design system that made our frontline community the hero.
Each asset — from stat-driven banners to product overviews — was created to feel engaging, personal, and true to the energy on the floor. The result was a content engine that scaled Redzone’s visibility while deepening its authenticity, sparking record social engagement, stronger customer advocacy, and a more emotionally resonant brand presence in a traditionally impersonal space.
Simplifying Complex Features with Clean, On-Brand Visuals
Redzone’s software is packed with powerful tools — but those tools don’t mean much if they’re hidden behind overly technical language or cluttered design. I noticed that many competitor brands led with dense dashboards and cold UI screenshots that alienated more than they educated. I wanted to take a different route.
My approach was to simplify and humanize how we visually explained software features and stats, starting with essential tools that manufacturing teams used every day. The goal was to bring them to life in a way that felt more accessible and engaging for both existing users and first-time audiences on our website, social channels, and more.
Rather than relying solely on screenshots, I built branded feature graphics and light-motion assets that blended interface mockups with messaging and visual storytelling. These pieces lived everywhere — sales decks, the website, internal training, even social media — and helped reduce friction in communicating how Redzone’s software actually worked.
I wanted to reflect the reality of how these tools showed up on the shop floor, while keeping the visuals energetic, clear, and unmistakably Redzone.
Pushing Brand Voice and Visuals Through Creative Holiday Content
Most software companies treat holidays as filler content — at best, a branded stock image with a timestamp. But for me, seasonal moments were a chance to do more: to surprise, delight, and tell stories that showed Redzone’s voice could be as human as the people we serve.
From heartfelt New Year’s reflections to playful April Fools’ jokes, I took the lead on holiday creative direction, scripting, design, and rollout. Each campaign had a distinct tone: celebratory, humorous, or inspirational. All having one thing in common: they turned moments on the calendar into meaningful opportunities to connect with our community.
The April Fools’ campaign in particular gained traction across social with our larger community, featuring a mock product launch for the Redzone Vision Pro, complete with animated goggles, faux features, and a parody microsite. Meanwhile, the New Year’s campaign took a softer approach, grounding optimism in real frontline wins from the year before.
Rather than breaking the rhythm of our content, these seasonal posts became some of our highest-performing and most talked-about work — on and off the shop floor.
Building Culture, Community, and Educational Content Through Everyday Design
At Redzone, social media isn't just a broadcast channel — it's a canvas for celebrating people and sharing knowledge. I led the design direction for a variety of social content that ranged from playful culture posts to educational-driven infographics, all aimed at deepening the brand’s connection with both internal teams and the broader frontline community.
One of the most joyful recurring series I built was our employee anniversary posts —decked out like stylized monthly calendars with illustrations inspired by the time of year. These weren’t generic shoutouts — they were mini spotlights that celebrated the heart of our company culture.
Alongside those, I created infographics and carousel content that translated complex topics—like frontline retention and productivity gains—into clean, easy-to-grasp visuals. These were designed not just to inform, but to be shared, bookmarked, and revisited.
Each post, whether it featured a team member or a chart, was made with intention. These weren’t filler posts. They were proof that design can reflect the people behind the platform.
Extending the Brand into the Real World with Physical Touchpoints
At Redzone, I helped push our creative into the real world — building branded experiences that people could see, wear, interact with, and remember. Whether it was a creatively packaged iPad sent to a prospective customer or a bold jumbotron activation on the expo floor, these pieces were designed with intention: to feel human, spark conversation, and strengthen Redzone’s presence in ways you could physically hold, see, and share.
Amplifying Culture & Capability Through Video
Video isn't just a format to Redzone, it's a strategy. A way to make the product more approachable, the features more digestible, and the people behind the software more visible. From step-by-step walkthroughs and initiative focused on company culture, I helped concept, script, direct, and edit video content that aimed to inform while building community.
Whether introducing powerful software features or sharing the story of WISE (Women Inspiring Success & Empowerment), our internal group for women and allies, the goal was the same: make the impact feel real. Each video leaned into authenticity — team members speaking directly to camera, moments of laughter left in the edit, and visuals designed to reinforce that our tech exists to serve real people doing real work.
These videos played a key role across internal comms, social launches, and onboarding flows, helping to humanize Redzone’s brand while making sure our messaging hit home.
Supporting Visual Consistency Through Custom Brand Photography
When needed, I also captured original photography for Redzone’s social and web use — focusing on people, process, and production in a way that aligned with our push for a more human brand identity. These images were used across campaign launches, blog posts, and internal assets to reinforce the brand’s tone and authenticity, instilling a sense of joy and wonder.