JLL (Jones Laing LaSalle)
Global Creative Director, Global Brand
Crafting JLL's Distinctive Brand Identity: A Journey of Innovation and Impact
JLL, a Fortune 500 global leader in property consultancy and investment management, was expanding rapidly across 20+ international markets — and with that growth came the opportunity to bring its brand presence into closer alignment, unifying local execution, regional assets, and visual storytelling under one scalable system. Beyond the visual opportunity, this was a chance to remove operational friction — improving speed-to-market and reducing design duplication across regions. My role was to lead the brand refresh and build a system that could scale with the business.
Crafting a Cohesive Brand Experience
To better understand the challenges, I conducted a comprehensive audit of JLL's existing brand identity. Using data and insights from an internal survey, I planned the strategic and creative execution to elevate the brand's presence. Through meticulous collaboration and attention to detail, I crafted a cohesive visual language that aligned with the core brand idea: "SEE A BRIGHTER WAY."
The Strategy
Rather than impose a rigid top-down style guide, I built a flexible, living creative framework grounded in the brand idea. I led cross-functional alignment workshops with regional teams to work through resistance directly, so local teams adopted the new identity because it worked for them, not because it was mandated. Alongside this, I partnered with teams across the business to develop comprehensive guidelines — the Brand Playbook, Visual Brand Guidelines, Tone of Voice, Copy Style Guide, and Strategic Naming Guide — embedding the brand idea consistently across every touchpoint.
Bringing It to Life
The Logo
We retained the existing logo, recognising its strong market presence and connection with the audience. Given the updates to the other visual elements, it was important not to disrupt this established recognition. Additionally, a logo lock-up was introduced to highlight the brand idea, developed in both horizontal and vertical formats.
Colour Palette
Known as the 'red' brand in the real estate industry, we retained it for recognition. The remaining core palette was updated with lighter tones to reflect "SEE A BRIGHTER WAY," tested to maximise legibility against accessibility standards. A secondary palette was designed for data visualisation, using bright tones while maintaining accessibility.
Typography
We selected a modern typeface available in all languages, ensuring a consistent identity across global markets. A secondary font was introduced for decorative purposes.
Photography
To differentiate ourselves in the market, we commissioned original images reflecting the brand idea across six themes: People, Sustainability, Technology, Architecture, Places, and Locations. Tones within the images were aligned with the core palette to enhance visual recognition.
Brand Pattern
A unique pattern, 'Solar,' was developed to replicate the worldmark in the logo, creating a differentiator among competitors and aiding brand recognition.
Brand Shape
A rectangle, 'Radiant,' was introduced as a brand shape, allowing teams to apply it flexibly across applications while aiding legibility and consistency.
Iconography
An extensive icon library was introduced to accommodate all use cases, using a thin line weight tied to the typography for a sophisticated feel.
Illustration
Illustrations became an active part of the brand language, telling informative and engaging stories consistently. Line weight was matched to the icon style for a uniform look.
A Global Launch with Local Sensitivity
The culmination of our efforts was the global launch of the brand campaign, highlighted by a standout moment in Times Square, New York — amplifying JLL's brand recognition on a global scale.
Events & Experiential
Alongside the global rollout, I directed the creative and experiential design for major international industry events including MIPIM — overseeing all collateral, environmental design and client experience touchpoints to ensure the brand showed up with consistency and impact on the world stage.
Post Launch & Impact
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A new global website launched within a year of the brand refresh, and the identity's consistency is visible today across social channels in every market
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Reduced time-to-market for regional campaign deployment from months to weeks, using templates and libraries
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Decreased creative governance and agency spend by supplying brand asset kits