MORGAN STANLEY DESIGN SYSTEM - 2025 REBRAND
In 2023, Morgan Stanley began a full refresh of its brand identity. Throughout my tenure, I’ve worked collaboratively across teams to help shape and evolve the new brand system. My contributions focused on foundational elements including the development of the color palette, spatial system, and UI, ensuring visual consistency and usability across all touchpoints.
I began each exercise with in-depth competitive and comparative analysis- studying design approaches from both direct competitors and industry leaders to identify what worked, what didn’t, and why. I then assessed how these insights could inform the development of our new system, benchmarking our existing assets against best practices. Based on this analysis, I identified key gaps and opportunities, and presented strategic design recommendations in a clear, actionable deck for senior leadership in the marketing department. A significant part of this work involved effectively communicating design principles and rationale to cross-functional stakeholders without formal design backgrounds.
COLOR
The first piece of the brand system I tackled was color. While an external resource had previously delivered a refreshed palette, it quickly became clear that what we needed was a robust color system, not a palette. I began by clearly articulating the limitations in a way that resonated with stakeholders; acknowledging prior work while diplomatically reframing the challenge. The goal was to build a system anchored in our core brand blue, yet flexible enough to serve UI, illustration, marketing, and beyond- all while meeting accessibility standards and supporting ADA compliance.
After landing on a refreshed brand blue, we used it’s brightness and saturation to determine the base colors that would comprise the rest of the core palette.
Morgan Stanley Blue
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh
Result
Ramps
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh
SPATIAL SYSTEM
The first piece of the brand system I tackled was color. While an external resource had previously delivered a refreshed palette, it quickly became clear that what we needed was a robust color system, not a palette. I began by clearly articulating the limitations in a way that resonated with stakeholders; acknowledging prior work while diplomatically reframing the challenge. The goal was to build a system anchored in our core brand blue, yet flexible enough to serve UI, illustration, marketing, and beyond- all while meeting accessibility standards and supporting ADA compliance.
After landing on a refreshed brand blue, we used it’s brightness and saturation to determine the base colors that would comprise the rest of the core palette.
Proportional Grid
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh
Result
Scalability
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh
UI
The first piece of the brand system I tackled was color. While an external resource had previously delivered a refreshed palette, it quickly became clear that what we needed was a robust color system, not a palette. I began by clearly articulating the limitations in a way that resonated with stakeholders; acknowledging prior work while diplomatically reframing the challenge. The goal was to build a system anchored in our core brand blue, yet flexible enough to serve UI, illustration, marketing, and beyond- all while meeting accessibility standards and supporting ADA compliance.
After landing on a refreshed brand blue, we used it’s brightness and saturation to determine the base colors that would comprise the rest of the core palette.
Proportional Grid
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh
Result
Scalability
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh
Talk about how we landed on morgan stanley blue here. ferfrdfsfffffffaefdgfdsgdsfgdsfgds ggergrgsg gsgshhdh hshhtrhgrthtr hrththtrhrthtrhtrw hththththteththtrw htrhthtwhtr ggtrgtrht hthythtyjtye hytehty htehthe heth htretht etht rwtgt grgfregw grgrgregrgregewrg gwrgrgrgwrgrthrthrtwh