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Generate Upcycle—From sustainability brand to infrastructure platform

Generate Upcycle had a compelling story, food waste in, renewable natural gas out, but their website wasn't telling it. As the company matured toward infrastructure scale and acquisition-stage conversations, the messaging hadn't kept up. Purpose came through. Clarity didn't. They needed to explain a complex business to multiple audiences at once, each with different questions and different stakes. Working alongside marketing, copywriting, and development, we rebuilt not just the site but the underlying communication logic, turning a 12-page brand presence into a 40+ page platform built to do real business work. Visit website

CHALLENGE

The most honest summary: someone could spend five minutes on the old site and still not be sure what Generate Upcycle actually does, who it's for, or why it matters to them specifically. That's a hard problem when your audiences include food waste customers, renewable energy buyers, facility partners, and investors — and none of them are looking for the same thing.The specific challenges we were working through:

  • The core offering — anaerobic digestion and renewable natural gas — needed plain-language explanation, not just a mission statement
  • Broad sustainability messaging was getting in the way of customer-centered clarity
  • The site didn't yet project the operational maturity the company had earned
  • The visual system hadn't kept pace with where the business was headed

MY ROLE

Embedded Design Partner + Communication Systems Lead

‍I was in the room for most of the strategic conversations, which made a real difference. When direction shifted, I could translate it into page structure and design decisions in real time — instead of waiting for a brief. In practice, that meant: co-running project management with the marketing lead, facilitating stakeholder meetings, organizing input into Asana, and constantly moving things from "we should figure this out" to "here's a strawman — react to this."On the design side, I led Figma prototyping, visual direction, information architecture, customer flow, design system development, and dev handoff. I also contributed to messaging and brand framework — and helped the copywriting partner shape language that worked for multiple audiences at once.The goal throughout was a system, not a set of pages.

SOLUTION

Early on it became clear this wasn't really a website project — it was a communication strategy project that happened to live on a website. The strategic shift was from mission-led sustainability storytelling to customer-centered operational clarity, while still honoring what Generate Upcycle genuinely stands for environmentally. Those two things aren't in conflict; they just needed to be sequenced differently.
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From there, the work was about building structure that could hold everything:

  • A rebuilt information architecture with clear pathways for each audience
  • Scalable Figma systems and reusable page patterns so content could grow without breaking
  • Real facility imagery throughout — nothing signals operational credibility like showing the actual infrastructure
  • Structured layouts and visual storytelling to make anaerobic digestion legible to a non-expert
  • Consistent coordination across copy, design, development, and stakeholder feedback so nothing got lost between handoffs

IMPACT

The site that launched looks and functions like a different company — because in a lot of ways, it is one.

  • Grew from 12 pages to 40+, with each section organized around a specific audience. Customers, partners, investors, and acquisition-stage stakeholders each have a clear path in — instead of all competing for attention in the same copy.
  • Passes the trunk test. Drop a first-time visitor anywhere on the site and they can quickly understand what Generate Upcycle does, who it serves, and why the platform matters. That's not a small thing when the product involves biogas infrastructure.
  • The visual brand now matches the business.
    Facility-focused imagery, tighter information hierarchy, and a more disciplined design system send the right signals: modern infrastructure, real operational expertise, experienced leadership.
  • Complex technical concepts. Anaerobic digestion, food waste recycling, renewable natural gas — explained in language that doesn't require an engineering degree.
  • A platform that's ready for the next chapter: growth, investor visibility, and acquisition-stage conversations.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Generate Upcycle didn't need a new logo or a visual refresh. They needed a clearer way to talk about what they'd built — to the right people, in the right language, at the right moment in their growth. That's what this project was really about.

SEE VIDEO

"John has a highly collaborative approach to branding that includes ensuring the client is integrated throughout the process…patient and is always willing to refine designs to ensure the client is fully satisfied with the final product."
–Meghan Hughes, Generate Upcycle