Dow Jones' Special Projects team is tasked with conceiving and building products that could be useful to Dow Jones' large legal and financial services readership. In early 2013, the team was developing a concept that seemed likely to appeal to both institutional and consumer users:  an online tool for seamlessly exchanging and discussing documents online. The product required a brand and a design that would convey the ideas of document exchange and conversation simultaneously. The market is already crowded with document storage tools and with chat tools:  it had to be clear that this product was both of these things...and more.

I first helped the Special Projects team settle on the product name "Briefcase." I then drew a simple logomark—a speech bubble with a briefcase handle—to illustrate the product's two main aspects. Working with the information architecture team and information drawn from user feedback sessions, I developed layouts to introduce new users to sharing and commenting in a rational way. To heighten the product's appeal for consumers, I saturated the design with friendly colors and textures, which also provided much-needed contrast with the solid white backgrounds found on most business documents.