Lighting the Way: A Brand Refresh for HLB

For its 50th anniversary, HLB — one of North America’s largest independent architectural lighting firms — needed a brand cleanup to match its evolving legacy. With seven offices, brand fatigue had set in, and teams were creating their own templates and documents. I led a refresh of the visual identity, standardized Word, PowerPoint, and proposal systems, and redesigned the website to better showcase the firm’s history, people, portfolio, and perspectives — setting the stage for a new era of growth.

AGENCY: Waltz Creative DEVELOPER: Chee Studio

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Zack Shubkagel DESIGNERS: Michelle Padron, Kamryn Keefe, Sara Campos

Lighting Innovation Online

The redesigned site leverages dark and light modes to highlight HLB’s expertise in architectural lighting, while maintaining full ADA compliance across both settings. Designed in prototyped in Figma and developed in WordPress, it showcases their impressive portfolio with dynamic filtering. The site also features an interactive timeline that tells the story of HLB’s 50-year history.

Website Redesign: UX/UI and sitemap development. Developed by Chee Studio.

A LEGACY IN PRINT

To celebrate HLB’s 50th anniversary, I led the design of a commemorative coffee table book featuring their portfolio and storied history. Perfect-bound with a foil-stamped cloth cover, the book reflects the firm’s craftsmanship and legacy in architectural lighting.

Elevating the Details: A Brand Evolution

I led a subtle but strategic brand refresh to elevate HLB’s overall identity. We refined the logo, optimized the color palette for both print and digital, and evolved the type and layout systems — improving craft, consistency, and execution across all brand touchpoints.

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