Helping brand storytellers find their visual voice

Founded in 1992, Applied Storytelling is a pioneer in story-driven brand strategy, collaborating with some of the world’s most iconic organizations. With a reputation to uphold, they became increasingly uncomfortable with a legacy website that fell short of their own high narrative standards. Applied Storytelling needed a website that expressed their personality, elevated their narrative, and reinforced their role as a trusted partner and thought leader in brand-building.

A deep understanding of Applied Storytelling’s vision and design sensibility lived at the heart of this project. From the outset, we partnered closely with their team, including their in-house visual strategist, to uncover the nuances that would lead to a compelling, immediately recognizable presence. Applied Storytelling has always operated at the intersection of art and business, using narrative as a transformative tool for brands across industries. Their website needed to distill this spirit—telling a story while creating an engaging experience.

Typography became the cornerstone of the new visual language. By combining the sophisticated elegance of Tiempos Headline with the approachable modernity of Stabil Grotesk, the design found its voice. Bold typographic compositions, paired with a vibrant color palette of Coral Red, Dark Blue, and Teal, expressed both energy and confidence. The layout itself was crafted as a narrative journey, leading visitors through dynamic headlines, striking large-scale graphics, and interactive elements. The animated homepage headline, while drawing attention, visually encapsulated the transformative impact Applied Storytelling delivers to its clients.

Applied Storytelling’s new web site gives the firm the platform it needs to further its leadership in story-based brand-building. With a site that now “walks the talk,” new clients no longer have reason to question the firm’s capabilities or expertise. Team members report strong positive feedback from prospects who visit the site as well as an uptick in unsolicited inquiries. We aimed for an experience that suggested a well-crafted novel—layered, purposeful, and leaving visitors eager for more—and look forward to hearing about chapters yet to be written.