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Helping MetaCTF grow into SkillBit, with a new identity, website, Labs platform and event presence for a cybersecurity skills company stepping into the enterprise world.
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Over 12 months, I led creative direction, UX research, brand identity, product UI, social and copywriting alongside the founders and marketing team. I directed a freelance designer, a DC-based video production team and the in-house marketer, and carried the new brand through the company’s move to its new name, SkillBit.
The team was nervous about drawing attention to themselves; I saw future industry leaders. Their product was interactive, engaging and new, but their brand was stagnant. And their audience, people who live in hacker culture, wanted something fresh and fun, not stuffy, corporate or collegiate.
So I proposed “Playful Intelligence”: the curiosity, energy and friendly competition of hacker culture, with the precision enterprise security leaders expect. We moved to a brighter, more confident palette and a modular system built on the idea that skills grow one piece at a time, anchored by a tagline I wrote: “Cyber skills, bit by bit.”
On the site, I gave security teams, individuals and educators each a clear path, with enterprise credibility up front: client logos, testimonials and demo invitations.
Video of the real team replaced stock imagery, so an abstract product felt tangible. In SkillBit Labs, I carried the same system into the platform UI.
Within three months of launch, demo requests rose 400% and SkillBit was invited to debut at 10 major cybersecurity events. Since then, the site has drawn about 20,000 more unique visitors a month, active users are up 35%, events drive 40% of new leads and social has grown 60%.
This project reminded me that design should lead messaging, not just follow it, and that a brand earns trust in the room as much as on the screen.
