Culture isn't something you create. It's something you reveal.
Culture at a glance.
The language, organization, and visual presentation of information offer immediate insights into a company's priorities, communication style, and values.
Penske
Industry:
Transportation Services
Role:
Design Thinking facilitator, Information Architecture, Culture Activation, Content Strategy.
Credits:
Matt Huss, Michelle Andreotti, Kate Knowles
Penske Transportation Services came to us with a straightforward request: update the culture section of their website.
When I dove into the project, two things became clear. The parent brand, Transportation Services, wasn't positioned highest in their organizational structure. Instead, their portfolio businesses (Trucking, Leasing, Logistics) were given visual prominence, creating hierarchy confusion.
During design-thinking workshops, I showed them the principle: you can't talk about yourself until you organize yourself.
Structure reveals culture. It's expressed through how you organize information and what you choose to say.
To illustrate this, I created two navigation models based on what emerged in the workshops—they saw themselves as innovative, but I wanted to show them how different priorities would shape their voice.
Same company. Different structure.
A different cultural story told before a single word is read.
Innovation-focused
Solutions→ About→ Smart Innovation→ News→ Find Us
People-focused
Who We Are→ What We Do→ Working Here→ Our Impact→ News
Once they saw that culture is embedded in the structure, across every page, they were ready to reimagine the entire digital ecosystem. What started as a single-page update became a comprehensive digital redesign.
We redesigned the website to function as an umbrella, uniting the portfolio businesses under a cohesive presence where culture was integrated throughout. Each business line maintained its distinct focus while sharing a unified navigation structure that reinforced the parent brand.
Before
After
By establishing clear organizational hierarchy and aligning language with their values, we created a structure that lets culture emerge naturally across every touchpoint.
