Macquarium.com
Blending an agency's creative identity with a parent company's corporate brand — without losing either.
- Role
- UX Design, Visual Design, Information Architecture
- Timeline
- 6 months
- Year
- 2024
- Tools
- Figma · FigJam · Miro
OVERVIEW
Macquarium was acquired by Synoptek, creating an opportunity to modernize the company's digital presence while aligning it with Synoptek's broader brand ecosystem. The existing site had grown complex over time, with redundant pages, inconsistent experiences, and a visual identity that no longer reflected the company's evolving position in the market.
Two brands, one site
A whimsical agency identity, suddenly inside a corporate IT brand.
Macquarium's existing site leaned into creative, experiential storytelling — animated underwater scenes, script headlines, and bold editorial layouts. Synoptek's parent brand spoke a very different language: structured, enterprise, and conversion-driven. The redesign had to honor both worlds without diluting either.
CHALLENGE
How might we redesign Macquarium.com to preserve the agency's unique creative identity while aligning with Synoptek's corporate brand and simplifying the overall user experience?
Left: the legacy Macquarium site — playful, narrative, and visually rich. Right: Synoptek's corporate site — structured, enterprise-focused, and conversion-driven. The redesign had to bridge the two.
USER RESEARCH
A democratic approach, incorporating feedback from stakeholders across the organization.
- 01
Facilitated stakeholder workshops and internal team exercises to surface brand attributes, audience needs, and business goals.
- 02
Ran a company-wide survey to capture how Macquarium employees described the agency and its evolving relationship with Synoptek.
- 03
Audited the existing site for redundant pages, inconsistent patterns, and content gaps to inform a leaner architecture.
DESIGN PROCESS
Discovery & Strategy
Workshops, surveys, and stakeholder interviews aligned the team around shared brand attributes and a clear point of view for the new site. We mapped audience priorities, defined the editorial voice, and translated business goals into a navigation strategy that worked for both Macquarium and Synoptek.
Information Architecture
We audited the existing structure, eliminated duplicate pages, and consolidated content into clearer pathways. The refined sitemap reduced the overall page count, simplified primary navigation, and gave every section a single, defensible job to do.
Visual Design System
To inform the design system, the team reviewed conceptual moodboards drawn from competitive sites and trending design aesthetics, then voted on the elements that best fit Macquarium's voice. Those collective choices — a dark editorial palette, geometric forms, immersive imagery, and a typographic hierarchy built for long-form storytelling — pair Macquarium's bold creative energy with Synoptek's corporate credibility, scaling cleanly across marketing pages, case studies, and team profiles without losing personality.
WIREFRAMES
Wireframes & Concept Exploration
Low-fidelity wireframes tested navigation, page hierarchy, and content rhythm before any visual design. From there, we explored multiple directions that balanced Macquarium's creative culture with Synoptek's enterprise positioning — pressure-testing each concept against the audiences identified in discovery.
FINAL SOLUTION
A redesigned Macquarium.com — modern, editorial, and unmistakably the same agency, now clearly anchored inside the Synoptek family. From the homepage to service offerings, insights, team, and case studies, every surface uses the same visual system across desktop and mobile.
Editorial homepage anchoring the new Macquarium brand inside the Synoptek family.
About page introducing the agency's people-first story and Synoptek partnership.
Team page showcasing the people behind the work with a warm, human portrait grid.
Work index reorganized around outcomes, with a flexible card grid for future stories.
Long-form case study layout designed for narrative pacing and modular content blocks.
Service detail template built for layered content, proof points, and case studies.
08 · Impact & Results
Navigation
Streamlined
Page count
Reduced
BRANDS
Unified
09 · REFLECTION
"Sometimes the best way to evolve a brand isn't to replace its identity, but to thoughtfully blend what makes it unique with the goals of a larger organization."
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