Micah Johnson

First Republic Bank

Brand, campaign and business design for a private bank during a period of rapid growth.

Years
2018–2022
Role
Senior visual designer
Supported
Private Wealth Management, New York region, and company rebranding
A First Republic Instagram post in the brand’s serif type: “Question: Can I transfer money or deposit a check without visiting a Preferred Banking Office?”

Impact

Supported the Bank’s 20% year-over-year growth with 550 projects from 2018–2022, for example:

  • $3MM in regional deposits quickly generated on a pilot campaign, initiating broad rollout
  • 10% brand awareness lift in New York, from a campaign with 470MM impressions during 2021–2022
  • 7 teams with enhanced collaboration over seven years’ time

Creative workflow

The diagram below details the process of asset generation, from initial request to project archiving.

Swimlane diagram across Marketing, Brand and Creative, Studio, and Design and Copy. Request initiated; concept development; concept outline; creative and brand review; marketing manager review; concept approval; design and wireframe; content and copy; copy inserted into design; first proof read; creative and brand review; marketing manager review; additional changes as necessary; marketing manager approval; final proof read; move to studio; compliance review; final approval; finalize files; deliver to vendor, sprint or process; files archived.

Brand awareness campaigns

The campaign generated a 10% brand awareness lift in New York, with hundreds of iterations displayed over three years in Hudson Yards, Grand Central Station, and Chelsea Piers.

A green First Republic LinkNYC street kiosk reading “Everywhere you are,” and a First Republic banner on a boat at Chelsea Piers.
A lit display in Hudson Yards showing a client couple and the quote “Banking with First Republic gives us time back to spend on our lives and our business.”

Proprietary typefaces

Developed in correspondence with type house Dalton Maag: complete type families, optimized for brand and digital finance.

Lowercase alphabets set in the two proprietary typefaces, FR Atlas and FR Heritage, in white on dark green.

Digital advertising and social media

Design and animation for numerous campaigns across social media, retail digital signage, and digital advertising.

Infographic evolution

Evolution, from left to right, to align a legacy infographic with the refreshed brand.

A circular infographic with “Client” at the center and “Your First Republic relationship manager” around it. Outer segments: personal and digital channels; private wealth management (financial planning, investment management, brokerage, trust and insurance, foreign exchange); and full-service private and business banking (real estate lending, deposits, business banking).
A sequence of versions of the circular client infographic, moving from the legacy gold style toward the refreshed green brand.

Business materials

Interpreting business intent, user needs, and brand guidelines into many assets over seven years’ time, in collaboration with cross-functional teams.

A printed one-sheet titled “Family office services for the Adler family,” with a dark green header band and gold accents.

Direct mail for the ultra-high-net-worth

The pilot quickly brought in $3MM in regional deposits, initiating rollout to additional regions. Target audience: Portland clients with a $50MM minimum in assets. A blind-embossed cover, with custom full-color regional illustrations to anchor the piece to place.

The mailer’s cream cover, blind embossed, reading “We’re bringing extraordinary service to your neighborhood.”
A spread with “Our clients are at the center of all that we do” on dark green, facing the client-centered service wheel.
A spread with a full-color illustration of Portland, with the aerial tram and Mount Hood behind.
A spread with a map of downtown Portland marking the new office, facing “Discover a distinctive brand of service.”

Wealth management newsletter

A port of the legacy wealth management newsletter into a templatized magazine format.

Three fanned covers of Spectrum, the wealth management magazine, each with a conceptual illustration.
An open Spectrum spread: an illustration of a sailboat facing an article titled “Guiding Your Family Successfully Through the Transition to Wealth.”

Design guidelines and templates

Design guidelines and templates for one-sheets increased efficiency and consistency across assets and designers, and became foundational for later guidelines.

An annotated one-sheet template with header, title, rate table and body text areas marked.
Guideline page annotating header, subhead and feature text styles.
Guideline page annotating a rate table’s column widths, rules and type styles.
Guideline page showing the column grid and margins for a two-page layout.