ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter Website Rebrand

Overview

ZipRecruiter is a leading job marketplace for both job seekers and employers. As the company grows and redefines the job seeker matching experience, so does the brand. A brand refresh was created to revitalize the Zip brand for a job-seeker audience. Exemplifying everything it means to be your personal recruiter, advocating for your next role, and putting the spotlight on you. The brand refresh was coordinated by the ZipRecruiter Creative team and developed by the Prophet brand consultants. Together, we were able to make a visual language and a new brand voice.

Applied Skills

Art Direction, UX/UI Design, Design Systems, Discovery, Responsive Design

Tools/Resources

Figma, FigJam, Photoshop, Illustrator, JIRA, Wacom Tablet

Process

Goals

This project aimed to update the ZipRecruiter website and its marketing materials by expanding on the brand guidelines. After finalizing the brand messaging, typography, colors, icons, illustration styles, and photography styles, the next step was implementing these changes across all job seeker pages on the website and extending these updates to the employer brand experience. Our goal was to completely revamp the website to ensure users have a consistent experience with the new branding.

The Challenge

After our kickoff, we needed to address several challenges to get on track for a successful brand launch. With the brand guidelines in hand, we had a short timeline to implement changes to the website by the end of Q3. We also had to manage conflicting priorities and gain support from different teams and stakeholders who wanted to ensure that the changes would either maintain or increase web traffic and conversion rates. Additionally, we needed to generate enough engagement and excitement to begin testing the new look and messaging with other marketing materials.

Typography

The new typography uses the Aeonik font family, which is a simple and readable font. It is versatile and matches the conversational writing style that we want to convey through our marketing materials and product experiences. As a designer, I appreciate a font like Aeonik because it gives me a wide range to create different tones and remains accessible for everyone.

Color

Our new brand colors took on a bold direction to revitalize our look for new and existing job seekers while also honoring the green that sets us apart in the market. What may seem like a simple, subdued color palette became a powerful combination that creates impact at a quick glance.

Markups

Our markups add a human element to provide guidance, emphasize simple ideas, and add a personal touch to our brand communication. They give me a tool to direct and command users with a friendly nudge.

Icons

Our icons quickly illustrate simple industry and job-related objects that support information and storytelling without overtaking the message. Applying icons alongside text can feel like you’re doubling information, but we used them in a way that reinforced information.

Photography

Our goal was to use authentic-looking images to show the job seeker’s journey in a personal and relatable way. Instead of exemplifying the ideal “perfect” moment in the job search, we wanted to capture realistic moments that they could easily imagine themselves in.

Illustrations

Our new editorial illustration style adds visual interest and helps tell complex stories, visualize concepts, or add a human touch to warmth to ideas. It allows me to push ideas out of the literal and play within the abstract.

My Role

My responsibility was to oversee the website overhaul to enhance the job seeker experience. I worked with our Senior Copywriter to adapt the new brand messaging to attract new users to sign up using our new onboarding process and to encourage them to download our mobile app to begin their job search journey.

I also collaborated with the Product team to implement changes to our core design system while creating a version of the system that would allow the Creative team to have flexibility with the marketing website. It was crucial to establish a robust system with reusable visual components and adaptable templates, as the changes I made to the website would serve as a foundation that could later be modified for the product and employer experience.

Results

This project was a major undertaking for ZipRecruiter and for myself. We gained significant support from executives and key team stakeholders by involving them in the process and generating enthusiasm at critical points in the design. It was particularly challenging to navigate this while the company had shifting priorities and initiatives in the face of the AI tech boom. I coordinated with multiple creatives and teams to ensure the web experience felt fresh and seamless across the marketing website and product experience. Our new experience centered on the job seekers' journey and positioned us as their coach, champion, matchmaker, and personal recruiter at every step.