Creative Brand Director for B2B/B2C SaaS Design System

We're a profitable, bootstrapped B2B SaaS company midway through a full-scale website marketing rebuild. A strong, fast developer is already on the team and a working build is in staging. Copy direction is locked. What's missing is the layer above execution: a unified visual identity and design system that takes this from "well-built" to top-tier. The bar is Stripe, Linear, Vercel: restrained, confident, typography-led, with purposeful motion. We want work that could credibly sit on Awwwards, achieved through discipline rather than decoration. WHAT YOU'LL OWN - Brand direction for the web: refine our visual identity into a coherent system (logo usage, color palette, typography scale, spacing, iconography) - Design tokens and component design: sections, cards, buttons, data visualizations, the reusable building blocks our developer implements - Motion language: define how the site moves (micro-interactions, scroll behavior, transitions), principles and specs, not one-off effects - Art direction of key pages: hero, product, pricing, and a lead-generation tool funnel - Direct collaboration with our developer and founder in a fast feedback loop, you set the system, he builds it, and we iterate together WHO YOU ARE - A brand/visual designer or art director with shipped marketing sites for SaaS or tech products, portfolio required - You think in systems: tokens, scales, and rules, not just beautiful one-off screens - You can define motion with intent and spec it clearly for a developer (Figma prototypes, motion specs, or video references) - Strong typography is your default instinct, not an afterthought - You're opinionated, fast, and comfortable pushing back on a founder with strong opinions of his own HOW TO APPLY Skip the generic copy-and-paste proposals as we will only respond IF YOU PROVIDE: 1. Two or three LIVE WEBSITES or CASE STUDIES of brand design systems you directed, with one line each on what you owned. NO dribbble or screenshot mockups. 2. A brief note on how you'd approach elevating an already-built site to the Stripe/Linear bar without a full restart PLEASE NOTE: We REQUIRE LIVE WEBSITE and CASE STUDIES links for consideration, which means: 1. We will IGNORE & REJECT and NOT RESPOND to low-effort copy/paste "let's get on a call" applicants 2. We will IGNORE & REJECT Behance, Dribbble, and Figma portfolio link examples 3. We will IGNORE & REJECT "let's get on a call or talk about it" applications.