Rebranding a Billion-Dollar Tech Company in 90 Days

When Extreme Networks acquired its rival Enterasys, the company doubled in size overnight ... but its brand hadn’t caught up. The existing identity felt stuck in the ’90s and didn’t reflect the bold direction the company was heading. As Creative Director, I led the end-to-end execution of a company-wide rebrand that reintroduced Extreme to the world: modern, unified, and ready to lead. We launched a new visual identity, rebuilt the website, updated every asset across the org, and delivered it all in 90 days.

Company: Extreme Networks

Role: Creative Director

Timeline: 90 days

Tools Used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, PowerPoint, Excel, WordPress

Problem

After a significant acquisition, Extreme needed to signal to the market that it was a new company. But the brand looked and felt like a legacy player. The identity was outdated, inconsistent, and deeply fragmented across departments and acquired properties. The merger with Enterasys only heightened the need to show the market that this was a new company with serious momentum. We had just three months to retire two visual systems, bring in a new design language, new messaging, and build credibility with customers, analysts, and internal teams.

Oh, and our new CEO previously held the title of CMO at Apple Computers, so no pressure there.

Solution

We modernized the Extreme brand from the inside out. I led the internal design team and worked closely with multiple external agencies across brand, UI, content, and development. We kept the Extreme name and purple as core brand anchors, but that’s where the continuity ended. We introduced a bold new violet hue, a custom type system, and a visual language centered on user experience rather than the industry-standard “speeds and feeds” story. The brand story shift signaled to the market that this was not business as usual.

Execution

  • Rolled out the new visual identity across more than 1,000 pages of web content, hundreds of marketing and sales assets, and every key brand touchpoint
  • Led all creative execution: websites, sales decks, product collateral, video, signage, social media, trade shows, and more
  • Oversaw event branding for the public launch, including an analyst livestream unveiling of a tier-1 product and a new partnership with the NFL
  • Created a design system and scalable templates that supported global rollout while keeping the core identity intact
  • Coordinated across departments, locations, and agencies to deliver everything on time and under a 90-day deadline

Results

  • Successfully reintroduced Extreme Networks to the market with a cohesive, modern identity
  • Earned industry recognition at the MITX Awards
  • Received powerful internal validation, including from a longtime Senior Director who said, “Because of your work, people will now take us seriously.”
  • Launched new brand, product, website, and partnership on the same day, repositioning Extreme as a credible contender in enterprise networking
  • Helped shift perception both internally and externally, from legacy to leading-edge

Related Visuals

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