GermFree Innovations

Building structure, brand consistency, and digital marketing for a startup during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Challenge

GermFree Innovations was one of my first professional opportunities after college, and it came at a particularly unusual time: the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company was a growing startup focused on hand sanitizers, hand soaps, and disinfecting products, but its marketing materials and digital presence had grown without much structure. Different logos, fonts, layouts, document styles, and marketing materials were being used throughout the company.

They needed someone who could bring that information together and create a more consistent brand while also helping the company communicate what its products did.

That became my role.

What I Noticed

There was a lot of information, but very little organization.

Sales materials existed in different formats. Branding was inconsistent. Product information was spread across different documents and resources, and there was not a clear set of guidelines for how the GermFree brand should be represented.

Because the company was also navigating the rapidly changing information surrounding COVID-19, there was a constant need to research, organize, and communicate technical product information in a way that customers could understand.

The opportunity was bigger than simply redesigning a website. GermFree needed a more cohesive system for how the company presented itself.

The Approach

I approached the project from both a designer’s and a marketer’s perspective.

One of my biggest contributions was developing branding guidelines for GermFree Innovations. This gave the company a consistent visual foundation for everything from digital content to sales materials.

I worked across the website, marketing materials, downloadable documents, sales collateral, social media, photography, and product information so that the different pieces of the business felt connected.

Because I was working directly with the company in the office, I was also able to understand the day-to-day needs of the business and respond to them quickly.

The role became a combination of marketing, design, web development, content organization, product knowledge, and technical support.

More Than Marketing

Because GermFree was a startup, there was no strict boundary around my role.

In addition to marketing, design, web development, and content, I helped with shipping and receiving, product packaging, creating labels, preparing orders, and sending products to Amazon.

That experience taught me something that has stayed with me throughout my career: understanding how a business actually operates makes you a better designer.

I wasn’t designing from the outside looking in.

I was involved in the business.

A Relationship That Started It All

There is also a personal piece to this project that makes it especially meaningful to me.

The opportunity came through networking with my former seventh-grade softball coach, who became my boss at GermFree Innovations.

What started as a professional opportunity became a long-term working relationship. Even years later, I still occasionally get calls asking for help finding something, answering a technical question, or figuring out where something lives.

That relationship reinforced the value of networking and the importance of building relationships that continue beyond a single project or job.

Project Stats

What I Did

• Developed branding guidelines
• Created and maintained marketing materials
• Designed sales and partner collateral
• Designed and developed website content
• Organized product and company information
• Created downloadable website resources
• Managed social media for Facebook and Instagram
• Created whiteboard-style YouTube content
• Handled company photography
• Helped develop online bundles and giveaways
• Contributed to Amazon store setup and management
• Worked with product listings and online sales materials
• Prepared products, labels, and shipments
• Supported Amazon fulfillment
• Researched technical and public health information
• Provided ongoing technical support
• Helped increase Amazon sales by approximately 200% on average

My Role

Marketing · Brand Development · Branding Guidelines · Web Development · Content Creation · Photography · Social Media · E-Commerce · Amazon · Sales Support · Technical Support

The Result

GermFree came out of the project with a more consistent brand, organized marketing materials, an improved digital presence, and a stronger foundation for communicating with customers and sales partners.

The project also contributed to significant growth in the company’s Amazon sales, with sales increasing approximately 200% on average during my time with the company.

For me, the project provided something equally valuable: hands-on experience across nearly every part of a growing business.

I learned how branding connects to marketing, how marketing connects to sales, how a website connects to the customer experience, and how all of those pieces need to work together.

The Takeaway

GermFree Innovations was where I learned that being a designer is about much more than knowing how to make something look good.

I learned how to build a brand system, organize information, create materials that sales teams could actually use, work with e-commerce platforms, photograph products and people, develop web content, research unfamiliar subjects, and solve problems as they came up.

Most importantly, I learned how valuable it is to understand the business behind the design.

I started the role as a recent college graduate during one of the most unusual periods in modern business. I left it with experience that reached far beyond a single job title.

That foundation continues to influence the way I approach web design and marketing today.