KSBL SiMERGE
Three editions of visual identity and marketing for Pakistan's largest student-run business symposium, where I went from carrying the design load as a member to leading it as Head of Graphic Design.
Client / Organisation
KSBL SiMERGE
My Role
Head of Graphic Design ('25 & '26) · Member ('24)
Timeline
Nov 2023 – Feb 2026
Deliverables
Identity system, print, digital, event signage
The Brief
Pakistan's largest student-run business symposium needed a visual identity with genuine corporate authority, strong enough to hold its own across print, digital, and large-scale event signage in front of 2,500+ attendees and 50+ sponsors. The hard part: it had to work for three consecutive years, feel fresh each edition while staying instantly recognisable, and survive a student design team that turns over every year.
SiMERGE is a three-day business competition where academia meets the corporate world: case study rounds, real-world simulations, panel discussions with industry professionals, an entrepreneurial challenge, and a closing networking dinner and concert. Every visual element had to resonate strategically and elevate the event's prestige, for 2,500+ attendees and 50+ corporate sponsors including Red Bull.
The Approach
2024 — Member, Heavy Lifting
Joined as a design team member of seven and ended up producing much of the collateral. It was the year I learned the event inside out, and saw exactly where the existing visual system was holding the brand back.
2025 — Winning the Redesign
After making the case again and again, I was made Head of Graphic Design and finally got the mandate: overhaul the colour system and rework how the team produced collateral. The identity became a real system instead of a pile of one-off posts.
Adapting Mid-Stream
Then Instagram moved its feed from 1:1 squares to taller portrait ratios. Every template and layout had to be recomposed quickly, so I rebuilt the system around the new format without losing the look we had established.
2026 — More With Less
The team shrank from seven to five to three. The system earned its keep here: a smaller team held the same standard across print, digital, and event signage because the rules and templates carried the load.
Brand System
One identity, every surface
The mark and palette, built as a system, so a rotating team could hold three editions on-brand across print, digital, and large-scale event signage.
SiMERGETap any swatch to copy its hex.
Showcase
social impressions across three editions
Outcomes
Pushed for and shipped a full colour-system and workflow overhaul as Head in 2025
Held 100% brand consistency across print, digital, and large-scale event signage
Rebuilt the whole system when Instagram shifted from 1:1 to portrait, with no drop in output
1M+ social impressions and 2,500+ attendees across the three editions
A system lean enough for a 3-person team to run, adopted as the standard for future editions
What I Learned
Being right wasn't enough. I spent the first edition certain the colour system had to change and getting nowhere; the skill I actually built was making the case until I had the mandate to do it.
A design system is only as strong as the team that maintains it: when Instagram switched from square to portrait overnight, the systemised work adapted in a day while the one-off pieces all had to be rebuilt.
Leading a team that shrank from seven to three taught me that good rules beat more hands; the smaller the team, the more the system has to carry.