Employee Advocacy: Designing Inside-Out

Here’s a truth that every new designer should tattoo on their creative soul: a brand isn’t just what the world sees, it’s what the people inside it believe in and talk about.

Once upon a time, branding was an external show. Sleek ads, clever copy, logo perfection. But today? The story has flipped. Employees are the brand. The way they speak about their workplace, the pride (or frustration) they share, the visuals that surround them daily, that’s what shapes the company’s reputation from the inside out.

So, if you’re stepping into the design world, don’t underestimate your role in that internal narrative. You’re not just making pretty posters for the outside world. You’re helping define a culture.

Survival Steps for Designers in the Age of Inside-Out Branding

1. Design Strong Internal Branding

Handbooks, onboarding decks, team swag, intranet visuals... all of these are not afterthoughts. They’re touchpoints of belonging. When you design these with care, you’re telling every employee, “You matter here.” And when people feel seen, they become natural ambassadors. That’s real advocacy! Word-of-mouth with roots in authenticity.

2. Use Design to Humanize Communication

Corporate language often feels like it was written by a robot having an existential crisis. As a designer, you have the power to soften that. Warm visuals, thoughtful typography, and approachable layouts make internal communication feel like it’s coming from humans, for humans. That’s how culture becomes relatable and alive.

3. Champion Inclusivity Internally

Representation isn’t just a checkbox it’s a mirror. The faces, stories, and visuals inside an organization should reflect the diversity of the people who make it run. When internal design embraces inclusivity, it sends a message outward that’s impossible to fake, this is who we are, for real.

Below are some examples of creating an environment through design!

1. Airbnb: Onboarding & Welcome Kits

Airbnb doesn’t just hand you a laptop, they hand you belonging.

From day one, their culture whispers “you belong here.” Airbnb recognizes two kinds of employees: those who power the platform: the developers, designers, and customer service pros, and those who are the platform: the hosts who open their doors to the world.

New hires are greeted with a workspace that feels like a stay from welcome signage, branded swag, to thoughtful details that echo Airbnb’s brand promise. The design-team onboarding includes creative icebreakers that build community and spark conversation, while new hosts receive beautifully packaged kits to help them design spaces that feel unmistakably “Airbnb.”

What to steal for your own brand:

• Create swag that reflects your company’s values, not just its logo.

• Build onboarding experiences, for both employees and external partners, that echo the same feeling your customers expect.

Takeaway: Consistency in culture breeds consistency in experience.

2. Google: Office Interior & Place‑Branding

Google doesn’t just build search engines, they build wonder.

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tep inside Google’s Tokyo office and you’re instantly transported: custom wallpapers inspired by local culture, themed meeting rooms bursting with color, and bold wayfinding graphics that make every hallway feel like an idea in motion.

The design isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about energy. Each space reminds employees that creativity doesn’t happen in spite of the environment, it happens because of it.

What to steal for your own brand:

• Design spaces that mirror your company’s personality. It can be playful, focused, or fearless as long as it represents your company.

• Use color, art, and signage to turn even the most ordinary office corner into an experience. This is also true in store fronts and branded customer facing areas.

Takeaway: When your environment reflects your values, innovation becomes instinct.

3. Shopify: Internal Handbooks & Brand Expression

Shopify doesn’t just write handbooks, they design belief.

Their employee guide isn’t a dry rulebook; it’s a visual manifesto. Vibrant illustrations, thoughtful typography, and intentional design choices make it feel less like policy, more like culture on paper. It tells employees: this is who we are, and this is what we build together.

Because design isn’t only about selling products, it’s about shaping pride, belonging, and belief. When employees feel the brand, they carry it naturally into conversations, communities, and the world.

What to steal for your own brand:

• Treat your internal documents like brand artifacts. Like it's something worth keeping, not skimming.

• Design your “brand story book” as beautifully as your marketing, because culture deserves good design, too.

Takeaway: Be a brand that doesn’t just advertise, it echoes its belief to its employees.

Keep designing with heart, with humanity, and with the understanding that sometimes the strongest campaigns start not with the customer, but with the colleague sitting right next to you. XOXO