Joele Frank

The problem

Deal news lands all at once. On announcement morning, investors, employees, reporters and customers all reach for the same few documents.

Most of them skim. And the terms are the story: an exchange ratio, a premium, synergy estimates, pro forma financials.

A wall of figures gets skipped, and then the story gets told by someone else.

What I did

I designed the announcement package for Herman Miller and Knoll. That meant the microsite hosting the press release, presentations and filings, plus the infographic carrying the terms.

The two companies were still separate that morning. MillerKnoll, the combined brand, is what the microsite was there to announce.

The infographic had to do the skimming for the reader. $1.8 billion in cash and stock. A 45% premium to Knoll’s April 16, 2021 close. $100 million in expected run rate synergies.

Each number got a size and a position matching its weight, not the order it arrived in.

I also designed a corporate responsibility report for Baker Hughes, “Energy Forward: Rethink. Redefine. Renew.” Long-form, and it had to stay readable page after page.

The rest of the work was investor decks and shareholder letters on the same clock. Reusable templates kept a high volume of client work aligned.

Outcome

The microsite and the infographic both shipped for the announcement. Everything shown here is from published, public material.