Precision Under Pressure
Automotive Manufacturing Pursuit | Deloitte
When a decades-long client relationship goes to market and the stakes are institutional, the work has to carry weight that goes beyond aesthetics. This automotive manufacturing pursuit required navigating executive leadership across multiple levels, transforming a mandated creative direction into something extraordinary, and coordinating production timelines that left no room for error. The result was a proposal that elevated craft into strategy—and a cover beautiful enough to frame.
The Challenge
Some pursuits are transactional. This one wasn't. When a global automotive manufacturer went to market for independent audit services, the team was among the most senior in the firm—including Henry Phillips, a Vice Chairman whose relationship with the client spanned years. Phillips had requested me as his designer on every high-stakes proposal he led. That kind of trust is built through years of showing up and delivering work that holds up under pressure.
But the creative direction had to navigate a new reality. The client's incoming leadership didn't want extravagance. Ambitious early concepts were set aside. What remained had to be precise, purposeful, and restrained while still communicating the depth of the firm's commitment.
Phillips identified a single image from Deloitte's audit pursuit library and would not release it. Fifty cover variations later, the image remained. The task became making it extraordinary.
“Just when I think we've pushed the limits on creativity and innovation in our pursuit process, Brooke pushes us further—leading to new ways to differentiate us from our competition.”
—Henry Phillips
Vice Chairman and National Managing Partner,
Center for Board Effectiveness, Deloitte
The Work
The cover image—a field of concentric circles graduating from opalescent white at the center through teal and blue out to charcoal—was rebuilt entirely from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. What had been a flat reference became a production piece of quiet precision: opalescent ink for the whites, silver metallic ink for the grays, select circles embossed for dimension and touch. The stock was sourced specifically—a smooth, solid black uncoated cover—and bound in silver. Every material decision was intentional. Every conversation with the printer was earned over days of refinement.
Inside, the visual language opened up. The interior front cover became a choreography of overlapping circles in teal, blue, and green—each sized in deliberate proportion to the priority of the content it carried. Information architecture expressed as design. "These are moments that matter." anchored the spread.
A photographer was brought in to create a complete library of branded imagery for the pursuit—portraits, candid moments, and environmental shots that could be deployed across the entire document. Every image was art directed to ensure visual consistency and strategic alignment. The result was a proposal built entirely on original assets rather than stock photography—imagery as intentional as the message itself.
Role: Art Director, Lead Designer
Team: Coordinated design team and external vendors
Client: Global automotive manufacturer
Scope: High-stakes audit pursuit
THE OUTCOME:
The pursuit advanced deep into the process. The work was strong. The relationship was stronger.
When it concluded, the cover was framed and sent to Phillips. He loved it.
Some work outlasts the result it was made for. This was that.
