Portafolio – Branding

BRANDING CASE STUDY

Two rebrands, one vision: transforming CFI and Macabacus into scalable, cohesive brands

Starting from the bottom, fixing the logo.

The previous CFI logo had multiple structural issues: the bars were misaligned, creating a floating effect, spacing was inconsistent, and visual weight leaned heavily to the right in the isologo and left in the larger logo. The typeface didn’t match the brand’s core font (Open Sans), making it hard to read at smaller sizes and visually disconnected from the rest of the design ecosystem.

Solution

I led this effort and with the help of 3 product designers got to redesign the CFI logo with pixel-perfect precision, aligning the bars to an exact 18:28 ratio for clean scaling at any size. The proportions were balanced seamlessly beside the ® mark, while the typography matches the brand’s Open Sans family, now highly legible even at small sizes. The result was a technically sound logo that integrates smoothly into the broader design system, creating a consistent and cohesive brand foundation.

A balanced design ecosystem

Then Macabacus joined the team and its brand needed to align with CFI’s.

Under CFI’s acquisition, Macabacus needed both integration and a refresh. I added the same logo marc as CFI to instantly blend it in, and then introduced a bold green palette with a Purple Ash accent, streamlined typography, and a consistent icon system—aligning it with CFI while giving it a confident, distinct voice.

Other brand expansions

The previous CFI logo had multiple structural issues: the bars were misaligned, creating a floating effect, spacing was inconsistent, and visual weight leaned heavily to the right in the isologo and left in the larger logo. The typeface didn’t match the brand’s core font (Open Sans), making it hard to read at smaller sizes and visually disconnected from the rest of the design ecosystem.

The Driver

Introvert

#440E0E

Red900

#6E1616

Red800

#981F1F

Red700

#C32828

Red600

#D94545

CFI Danger500

#E26F6F

Red400

#EA9999

Red300

#F3C4C4

Red200

#FCEEEE

Red100

Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)®

Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)™

Extrovert

The Protector

#462906

Yellow900

#75440A

Yellow800

#A45F0E

Yellow700

#D37A12

Yellow600

#ED942D

CFI Warning500

#F1AB5B

Yellow400

#F5C38A

Yellow300

#F9DBB9

Yellow200

#FDF3E8

Yellow100

Capital Markets & Securities Analyst (CMSA)™

The Analyst

Introvert

#380F47

Purple900

#5A1973

Purple800

#79229B

Purple700

#9A2BC5

Purple600

#B14BD8

Purple500

#C375E1

Purple400

#D59FEA

Purple300

#E7C8F3

Purple200

#FAF2FC

Purple100

Business Intelligence & Data Analyst (BIDA)™

Introvert

The Scientist

#0A182E

Blue900

#132E57

CFI Primary800

#1C4582

Blue700

#255BAC

Blue600

#3271D2

CFI Blue500

#5C8EDB

Blue400

#86ABE4

Blue300

#AFC8EE

Blue200

#E9F0FA

Blue100

The impact

By rebranding both CFI and its acquisition, Macabacus, I transformed fragmented visuals into cohesive brand systems. The result: scalable identities, consistent marketing, and stronger credibility that supported growth across products, certifications, and new markets.

Marketing assets based on the refreshed branding

Adriana supported our content team with her incredible graphic design skills. From documents, brochures, icons and more, Adriana was able to take a technical concept like Business Intelligence and Data Science, and create clear, meaningful, on-brand graphics. She works fast, and helped manage our team's expectations by clearly communicating when she had a backlog of tasks. Aside from being exceptionally talented and hard-working, Adriana's big and warm personality will light up any team she finds herself in.

Seb Taylor

VP of Strategic Projects

(Product Focus) @ CFI

BRANDING CASE STUDY

Two rebrands, one vision: transforming CFI and Macabacus into scalable, cohesive brands

Starting from the bottom, fixing the logo.

The previous CFI logo had multiple structural issues: the bars were misaligned, creating a floating effect, spacing was inconsistent, and visual weight leaned heavily to the right in the isologo and left in the larger logo. The typeface didn’t match the brand’s core font (Open Sans), making it hard to read at smaller sizes and visually disconnected from the rest of the design ecosystem.

The Solution

I led this effort and with the help of 3 product designers got to redesign the CFI logo with pixel-perfect precision, aligning the bars to an exact 18:28 ratio for clean scaling at any size. The proportions were balanced seamlessly beside the ® mark, while the typography matches the brand’s Open Sans family, now highly legible even at small sizes. The result was a technically sound logo that integrates smoothly into the broader design system, creating a consistent and cohesive brand foundation.

A balanced design ecosystem

Then Macabacus joined the team and its brand needed to align with CFI’s.

Under CFI’s acquisition, Macabacus needed both integration and a refresh. I added the same logo marc as CFI to instantly blend it in, and then introduced a bold green palette with a Purple Ash accent, streamlined typography, and a consistent icon system—aligning it with CFI while giving it a confident, distinct voice.

The impact

By rebranding both CFI and its acquisition, Macabacus, I transformed fragmented visuals into cohesive brand systems. The result: scalable identities, consistent marketing, and stronger credibility that supported growth across products, certifications, and new markets.

Brand expansion

CFI’s evolving certifications required distinct brand systems—colors I strategically defined—and I expanded this system further with a one-time set of personality-test illustrations that showcased the brand extension.

The Driver

Introvert

#440E0E

Red900

#6E1616

Red800

#981F1F

Red700

#C32828

Red600

#D94545

CFI Danger500

#E26F6F

Red400

#EA9999

Red300

#F3C4C4

Red200

#FCEEEE

Red100

Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)®

Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)™

Extrovert

The Protector

#462906

Yellow900

#75440A

Yellow800

#A45F0E

Yellow700

#D37A12

Yellow600

#ED942D

CFI Warning500

#F1AB5B

Yellow400

#F5C38A

Yellow300

#F9DBB9

Yellow200

#FDF3E8

Yellow100

Capital Markets & Securities Analyst (CMSA)™

The Analyst

Introvert

#380F47

Purple900

#5A1973

Purple800

#79229B

Purple700

#9A2BC5

Purple600

#B14BD8

Purple500

#C375E1

Purple400

#D59FEA

Purple300

#E7C8F3

Purple200

#FAF2FC

Purple100

Business Intelligence & Data Analyst (BIDA)™

Introvert

The Scientist

#0A182E

Blue900

#132E57

CFI Primary800

#1C4582

Blue700

#255BAC

Blue600

#3271D2

CFI Blue500

#5C8EDB

Blue400

#86ABE4

Blue300

#AFC8EE

Blue200

#E9F0FA

Blue100

Brand expansion

Adriana supported our content team with her incredible graphic design skills. From documents, brochures, icons and more, Adriana was able to take a technical concept like Business Intelligence and Data Science, and create clear, meaningful, on-brand graphics. She works fast, and helped manage our team's expectations by clearly communicating when she had a backlog of tasks. Aside from being exceptionally talented and hard-working, Adriana's big and warm personality will light up any team she finds herself in.

Seb Taylor

VP of Strategic Projects (Product Focus) @ CFI

BRANDING CASE STUDY

Two rebrands, one vision: transforming CFI and Macabacus into scalable, cohesive brands

Starting from the bottom, fixing the logo.

The previous CFI logo had multiple structural issues: the bars were misaligned, creating a floating effect, spacing was inconsistent, and visual weight leaned was off. The typeface didn’t match the brand’s core font (Open Sans), making it hard to read at smaller sizes and was visually disconnected from the rest of the design ecosystem.

Solution

I led this effort and with the help of 3 product designers got to redesign the CFI logo with pixel-perfect precision, aligning the bars to an exact 18:28 ratio for clean scaling at any size. The proportions were balanced seamlessly beside the ® mark, while the typography matches the brand’s Open Sans family, now highly legible even at small sizes. The result was a technically sound logo that integrates smoothly into the broader design system, creating a consistent and cohesive brand foundation.

A balanced design ecosystem

Then Macabacus joined the team and its brand needed to align with CFI’s.

Under CFI’s acquisition, Macabacus needed both integration and a refresh. I added the same logo marc as CFI to instantly blend it in, and then introduced a bold green palette with a Purple Ash accent, streamlined typography, and a consistent icon system—aligning it with CFI while giving it a confident, distinct voice.

The impact

By rebranding both CFI and its acquisition, Macabacus, I transformed fragmented visuals into cohesive brand systems. The result: scalable identities, consistent marketing, and stronger credibility that supported growth across products, certifications, and new markets.

Other brand expansions

CFI’s evolving certifications required distinct brand systems—colors I strategically defined—and I expanded this system further with a one-time set of personality-test illustrations that showcased the brand extension.