Brave Little Beast
Adam Hayman (Creative Direction)
Nik Williams (Development)
Hannah Peterson (Design)
MindForge
MindForge is a construction communication and training platform built on a simple idea: better communication and better training lead to safer job sites. The platform is used by large construction companies, but its success ultimately depends on adoption by the crews in the field.
The Problem
MindForge was originally designed to sell to executives, but it needed to be used by workers.
The brand and product positioning reflected a corporate audience, which helped with initial sales conversations but created a disconnect once the platform was rolled out to jobsites. Engagement was low, training completion suffered, and the team found themselves trying to re-explain the product to a completely different audience after the sale.
In an industry where adoption and compliance are already difficult, the platform was not resonating with the people it depended on most. The challenge was to bridge that gap by creating a brand and experience that felt relevant, approachable, and worth engaging with for construction crews in the field.
The Solution
We shifted the focus of the brand from the boardroom to the job site.
Rather than optimizing for executive perception, we designed the experience to win over the workers first. The assumption was simple: if crews embraced the platform, the value would become obvious to leadership.
We rebuilt the visual identity from the ground up to feel more expressive and human while still maintaining credibility. This included a refreshed logo, a more flexible and bold color system, expressive typography, and photography centered around real workers rather than abstract corporate imagery.
We also developed a new verbal identity designed for clarity and accessibility. The product’s complex features and philosophy were rewritten in plain language, both in English and in Spanish, with the goal that any worker could quickly understand what MindForge is and why it matters.
The website was also redesigned to support this shift. Instead of overwhelming users with feature lists and pricing complexity, we structured content to guide understanding progressively and make the platform feel approachable from the first interaction.
Beyond digital touchpoints, we extended the system into the physical environment of the job site.
We created a series of custom illustrated hard hat stickers that crews receive when completing training units in the app. These acted as visible markers of progress and recognition, turning completion into something social and rewarding rather than purely procedural.
The Impact
Engagement across the platform increased significantly, with more training units completed and more communication happening within the app. By aligning the brand with the workforce, MindForge saw stronger adoption at the job site level, which in turn reinforced its value to leadership.
In some cases, crews who had previously worked on MindForge-enabled job sites began advocating for the platform themselves when moving to new companies. These worker-driven referrals became one of the highest-converting sources of new business. What began as a top-down sales product evolved into something crews actively participated in and supported, turning engagement into a driver of both safety outcomes and growth.
