01Capital construction software · 2023 → ongoing · Fractional creative direction
A brand engineered for growth.
InEight makes the software that runs the world’s largest capital projects, and the company had outgrown its brand. We rebuilt it the way their customers build: measure first, agree on the data, then construct. One direction, approved once, extended across every product, page and channel. The year after launch was their highest sales year to date.
- Best yearHighest sales year to date, the year after the rebrand
- 33%Sales increase reported by the client
- 1Direction, agreed by every stakeholder before design began
- 0Revision rounds after launch
Square One
A leader in a serious industry, growing fast, with a brand that still described the company it had been a decade earlier. New products, new audiences and a busy marketing team had each added to the picture, and the picture needed one dataset under it again. Before any design, Square One measured what leadership believed, Constellations measured what the market saw, and the gap between the two became the brief.
Data before construction
Everyone with authority over the brand agreed on one direction before anything was designed. The refresh was built on that data, not on anyone’s taste, which is why it was approved once and never reopened. Then we built on it: the website, the social system, the films, the sub-brands. Joseph stayed on as fractional creative director, and the style guide keeps every new piece on the same footings.
- 01Square OneThe data: leadership, market and the gap between them.
- 02DirectionOne direction, agreed by every stakeholder, approved once.
- 03ConstructionWebsite, social system, video, print, sub-brands.
- 04MaintenanceFractional creative direction and a style guide that holds.
The foundation.
Product pages, campaign landing pages, the resource library and the events program, all on one system. Engineered to the security and performance standard InEight’s enterprise customers hold their vendors to, because the site gets audited too.
HomepageHover to scroll
Event programHover to scroll
We didn’t keep revisiting the direction like you often do. DarkSquare gave us a clear starting point, and the whole team moved forward together. The excitement was so high, we weren’t prepared for all the internal requests to update everything, even our IT portal. It really showed how bought-in the organization was.
InEight NOW. An extension, not an addition.
A self-serve product for a different segment needed its own voice, faster and more direct, without becoming a different company. NOW is built on the same footings and changes the tempo: the wordmark, the lockups, the landing pages and a social run of its own.
Fifteen seconds, two audiences.
Spots for a connected-TV media plan. Two for contractors already in the market, one for owners and program managers who aren’t yet. Same system, a different job for each.
InEight Schedule. Specified by the people who built it.
A product campaign where the positioning came out of the team’s own answers. Square One, Constellations and a stakeholder rubric turned a room of perspectives into one line, the wisdom of your team, and the campaign was designed from there.
The as-built set.
A web-based style guide: color values and ratios, typography, logo rules, photography standards, decks and AI prompts, all in one browsable system. Written so a designer who has never talked to us can produce InEight work on Monday. It is also what the brand AI is trained on, so the team’s tools produce on-brand output without anyone standing over them. It is what makes the creative director’s seat a part-time one.
DarkSquare brought a rare level of thoughtfulness to how our brand shows up across the business. That consistency and intentionality across different facets has been invaluable. Even when providing an ambitious timeline, DarkSquare is able to turn our vision into reality. The work provided is always of extremely high quality and cohesion without requiring a lot of input or direction.
The rest of the work.
A brand engineered for growthYou are here 
Eight logos, one brandCase study 
Branding an artist the Smithsonian collectsCase study 
Three companies, one brand, and a character to carry itCase study
Start with a conversation.
One call and we'll tell you if this is a fit. If it isn't, we'll say so and point you somewhere better.
03Social
Two feeds · one systemThe system in daily use.
A grid the in-house team runs day to day without us. Photography direction, type hierarchy and a color logic that reads as InEight at thumbnail size.
InEight corporate
InEight NOW