Challenge
When Alibaba Group went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, the brand needed to show up differently on the global stage. Each business unit had been running its own version of stationery with no shared standards, which made the overall brand feel fragmented at exactly the moment it needed to feel unified and credible. The goal was to bring everything under one cohesive system, covering multiple business units across international offices, without losing the individual identity of each brand.
Overview
Following Alibaba Group’s US IPO in 2014, I designed a unified corporate stationery system to standardize brand materials across multiple business units and international offices. Working with business leaders and administrative teams, I developed templates for business cards, letterheads, envelopes, notecards, and visitor materials, built for consistent production across different countries. The system was built between 2014 and 2018 and remains in use across international offices today.
Timeline
- 2014 – present
Role
- Visual Design
- Brand System Design
- Template Development
- Cross Team Collaboration
Team
- Business Unit Leaders
- Admin Manager
- Pan Lau (Sole Designer)
Business Cards
Each business unit received its own business card design within a shared visual framework. The system covered Alibaba Group, Alibaba.com, Alipay, Aliyun, Tmall, and Alibaba Cloud, keeping each brand visually distinct while maintaining consistency across the group. Templates were built for easy production across international offices without requiring redesign for each location.
Stationery and Office Materials
Beyond business cards, the system extended to letterheads, envelopes, notecards, and visitor badges, covering the full range of materials needed for professional correspondence and office use. Each piece followed the same structural framework, ensuring the brand felt cohesive whether it appeared in a client letter or on a visitor’s desk.
Impact
The stationery system gave Alibaba Group a consistent, professional brand presence across English-speaking offices in Europe and the Americas at a pivotal moment in the company’s global expansion. By building a shared framework flexible enough to accommodate five distinct business units, the system scaled naturally over four years without needing to be rebuilt from scratch. When Alipay and Aliyun rebranded to Ant Finance and Alibaba Cloud, the templates were updated and rolled out without disrupting the broader system, and the stationery continues to be used across offices today.