#Built2Last: How Design Powered Refyne’s Polaris 2025
Role: Branding & Visual Design
Celebration of success and excellence
Polaris is Refyne’s annual event, a time for all employees to step away from the everyday hustle and celebrate what we’re building together. The 2025 edition was special. Over two days, we not only came together as a team, but also introduced SPEED; our new culture values: Sustainability, Performance, Excellence, Efficiency, and Discipline.
The guiding thought was simple: great things last when they’re built with care. That spirit came alive in our event theme, #Built2Last, a celebration of the people, values, and vision that keep Refyne moving forward.
This is a high-pressure, fast-paced internal event that presents a wide range of creative challenges under extremely tight deadlines. Often characterized by evolving or ambiguous requirements, the project demands full commitment, rapid iteration, and close collaboration across the entire creative team.
Project Deliverables
Theme Design
Print & Promotional Material
Stage & Event Design
Merchandise
Digital Experience
Presentation
Documentation
On-ground Visual Support
Awards
The Design Challenge
With no past templates or references to lean on, the challenge was to craft an identity that felt fresh, aspirational, and deeply connected to the new values. Polaris already carried the symbolism of the North Star, pointing toward higher heights. Now, it needed to blend with the idea of SPEED; a framework that reflected both literal motion and the future-forward energy of our culture.
Primary Devices
Secondary Devices
The Polaris Star
Dotted Radial Lines; the small things: achievements, people, around the star
The Journey
(On our way to the north star)
The People; multiple colors representing different individuals, teams, functions that contribute to the bigger picture
Bringing Speed to Life
The identity leaned into speed-inspired motifs gradients, streaks, and dynamic compositions layered over the constant symbol of Polaris, the North Star. Together, they conveyed both direction and momentum.
The Response
The designs were met with pride and excitement. Leadership praised how the identity made the new values feel more real and aspirational, while employees felt the awards and staging captured the significance of the moment. For many, the event marked the first time SPEED felt tangible, not just words, but a culture expressed in form and design.
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