How Zapier Transformed its Brand Guidelines with Framer.

Introduction

Zapier wanted to design and build a new brand guidelines page to coincide with the announcement of their rebrand – serving as a crucial marketing asset. Their brand guidelines were a culmination of a ton of work that the team had done, and they wanted to showcase them in a way that showcased the project's impact. It needed to allow the design team to tell their brand's story in an engaging and storytelling way.

As they had no marketing metrics to hit on the brand guidelines page, the design team wanted to make it much more expressive than other pages on Zapier’s site. With full ownership over the project, the brand studio team got to work on finding a site-building tool to help them tell the journey of the Zapier brand.

Brand Guidelines before Framer

Before adopting Framer, Zapier’s brand guidelines were hosted in Google Drive. This made it impossible for the brand studio team to do any storytelling around their brand and made it hard for employees to understand what elements of their brand were most impactful.

Sharing this Google Drive link externally could have been better, especially when collaborating with PR agencies or partners. For a company deeply rooted in integrations and partnerships, they needed brand guidelines that were user-friendly and visually appealing.

Why Framer?

Zapier’s design team explored various options, but their rebrand's motion-heavy nature required a web-building tool that handled their robust animation needs. They initially came across Framer on Twitter – at the time, Framer had recently launched sites. Some of the leadership team at Zapier were initially hesitant about Framer's commitment to supporting sites, as it was a new product at the time. But, they were reassured after engaging with the Framer team and seeing the widespread adoption of the product. Framer's alignment with their legal and security requirements made it the perfect fit.

Shipping brand guidelines in just two weeks

With a small team of just one content writer and two designers, Zapier had less than two weeks to craft its brand guidelines page. Framer's UI, which felt familiar to their existing Figma workflow, provided the flexibility needed to design the precise layout and functionality they had in mind. Design and content took shape in just one week, and within another week, the page was built and launched in Framer.

Framer's dedicated enterprise support was crucial to Zapier's success. Available on Slack and willing to jump on calls, the Framer team played a massive role in ensuring Zapier's designers met their tight deadline. 

What’s next for Zapier with Framer? 

While Zapier currently hosts its Brand Guidelines page on Framer, the tool's flexibility leaves room for more one-off projects down the line. The brand studio team envisions using Framer for projects where they are the decision-makers, cherishing the creative freedom that Framer offers.