Call me Swilly.
Outgrowing the Cake
(reinventing a name brand)
The Challenge:
Cakes.com was a well-known brand, but one that had become overly narrow and overexposed. While recognition was strong, the identity no longer reflected the product, the ambition of the technology, or the market it needed to compete in.
Leadership initially believed a visual refresh could shift perception. But the reality was more complex. The product had already grown beyond what the name and brand could support—and even more expansion was coming.
The challenge wasn’t just to update a logo. It was to evolve a legacy identity into something larger: a flexible brand ecosystem that could support a growing suite of products, adapt ahead of major platform updates, and make sophisticated technology feel accessible and inviting to an audience that leaned more creative than technical.
The brand needed room to grow—before it outgrew itself.
The game
plan
I took on full project leadershiP, guiding strategy + solution evaluation. After deep research and cross-team collaboration, it became clear that a company-wide digital asset management system was the right move.
my approach
Rather than treat DAM as a simple software install, I approached it as a behavioral and workflow shift, designing adoption into the rollout from day one.
Led research, vendor evaluation + platform selection
Managed implementation strategy + execution with a focused cross-functional team of four
Designed asset structures, metadata standards + governance models to support scalability
Created onboarding materials, training tools + documentation to drive adoption
Provided ongoing education + workflow refinement as needs of each team evolved
Putting
it all in motion
The Payoff:
Achieved full rollout within one business year
for 10TB / 18K files
+ automated workflows
+ cross-team governance
Achieved and sustained
97% adoption + usage across entire company
drastically Improved
consistency + confidence
in asset accuracy
Established a scalable foundation for future growth + system integrations
yielded a 90% reduction overall
in resource time + production requests from marketing
Challenge Two:
As product volume increased, the demand for high-quality imagery grew to nearly four times the existing output. Traditional photography workflows couldn’t cut it.
At the same time, the creative team was spending an increasing amount of time in repetitive production mode, pulling focus away from higher-value creative work + impacting morale.
The team needed a way to scale production significantly without sacrificing quality, burning out talent, or adding headcount.
The game
plan
again, I drove the project, leading strategy + solution evaluation. After research + heavy consultation with my in-house photographer, we settled on robotic photography.
my approach
I approached this as a scalable production layer for product teams, with clear ownership and accountability built in. By speeding up the essentials, it unlocked room for experimentation and pushed creative standards forward.
Putting
it all
in motion
Built the business case + earned leadership buy-in for adopting orbitvu as a scalable production solution
Defined the implementation roadmap + timeline, enabling the photographer to test the system, establish workflows + train power users at a sustainable rate.
Facilitated cross-functional discussions ahead of rollout to address concerns, align teams + co-create new processes to incorporate
Adapted the roadmap + evaluation approach to support ongoing testing, refinement + expansion of use cases
The payoff: