Joel Mills

One research-backed design language for every Truist digital experience — a year-plus effort, now in finalization.

Role & context
Design lead. I led a team of four designers reimagining the digital design language behind Truist.com — work I kicked off side-of-desk in 2025 and have driven from research through a documented system (v2.2), now in its final stage.

The challenge
Across six digital platforms, Truist's experiences had drifted apart. Competing type scales, inconsistent color use, and one-off component patterns made things hard to find, harder to scan, and visually incoherent. There was no shared foundation teams could build on.

The approach
I grounded the work in evidence before design: researched 1,000+ live screens to map the real state of the system, then explored 20 concept directions before converging on one. From there I defined the foundations end to end — themes, web and iOS typography, light and dark color palettes, rules for applying color, borders, corner radius, spacing, and elevation — and pressure-tested them against real product surfaces, from account dashboards to mobile flows.

Key design decisions
Making the Truist brand color show up better was a priority of the evolution, and a few deliberate moves got us there. I introduced a more vibrant, brand-forward interactive color plus a secondary blue interactive color, sharpening findability and visual hierarchy by making actions unmistakable. I also shifted the page background from a cool grey to a warm off-white, a complementary base that pushes elements forward and lets the Truist purple read far more powerfully across the site.

The outcome
Truist Design Language v2.2, now finalizing: a single documented system that gives every team a shared, accessible foundation and tightens visual and content hierarchy, findability, and usability across platforms.

Skills: Design systems · Design leadership · UX research · Color & interaction design · Visual & content hierarchy · Cross-platform (web + iOS) · Accessibility (light/dark)

Bringing the new design language to life across Truist.com's most visible experiences — marketing pages, the online banking dashboard, and mobile.

Role & context
Design director over Truist.com. I adopted the new design language to Truist.com — designing the new homepage and Truist One Checking product pages, and redesigning the Online Banking dashboard as a proof of concept. These were the flagship examples chosen to pitch Design Language 2.2 to executives.

The challenge
A design system only earns adoption when leaders can see it working on the experiences that matter most — from the highest-traffic marketing pages to the authenticated dashboard customers use every day. DL 2.2 had to prove it could carry brand, clarity, and conversion across both, on desktop and mobile.

The approach
I translated DL 2.2's foundations — typography, color, spacing, elevation, and a disciplined content hierarchy — into concrete, responsive designs. The homepage reorganizes around "What can we help you with?" for findability; the Truist One Checking pages turn dense product and disclosure content into a scannable, trustworthy story; and the Online Banking dashboard proof of concept carries the same system into the logged-in experience, across desktop and mobile. Together they became the proof points in the executive pitch.

The outcome
These pages became the centerpiece of the executive pitch for Design Language 2.2 — the tangible evidence that moved the system from concept toward rollout.

Skills: Design direction · Design systems in practice · Marketing + authenticated UX · Responsive web & mobile · Content & information hierarchy · Executive storytelling · Financial UX

Now two years post launch of Truist.com, my team is in the process of optimizing the components within our authoring platform that support Truist.com and our affiliate sites.

As the design director over Truist.com, my job is to optimize the site to drive revenue and offer an accessible and easy user experience for our potential and current customers.

My process is fairly straight forward for this - track performance analytics, adjust designs and leverage our research team to test concepts. Ideally, these optimizations fall in two camps; user experience optimzation and revenue driving optimization.

Through the use of analytics and user research, I use the data to help inform the design decisions and support any recommended optimization changes I’m looking to implement.

I’m sharing a small sample of design patterns and layouts that I was directly involved in the direction, concepting and/or execution of.

Initial template design concepts for Truist.com. Begining in August 2020 through October 2021, my team was tasked with designing, testing, and building out the Truist.com user experience. This includes Truist.com and segment homepages, product pages, financial wellness experience, search and help center and marketing strategies.

Click here for the full prototype for these patterns

This project was for a redesign for Ally's current homepage. Ally financial has a variety of products that currently have no presence on it's homepage. The point of this project was to bring those products to the front page while maintaining a strong brand presence.

I was responsible for art direction, iconography and prototyping while collaborating with another designer and content strategist on design direction.

Click to view the Axure Prototype for this project.

Ally Money Mindfulness is a financial learning hub concept that will be used to aggregate Ally’s financial learning portfolio. The site will give users access to videos, tools, blog posts and articles that will be categorized by topic.

I was responsible for the aesthetic for the design, UI work and all illustrations throughout. I assisted in the IA as well as created Axure prototypes through the design process.

Click to view the Axure portfolio for this design

This project was to create a storefront page for an Ally Invest product, Managed Portfolios, a robo-advisor for customers looking to invest with little effort. The goal of the project was to create a tool that can help customers chose an investment plan and visualize what investing with Ally could do for them. We used a questionnaire to help narrow down what the customer was wanting to accomplish with their investing goals.

I was responsible for art direction, iconography and design while working with an IA and content strategist for this project. I also was responsible for building the site using Adobe Experience Manager.

Live Site

This project was to create a on-boarding experience for a new Ally Auto Finance customer. I worked with an IA and a content writer to produce a variety of materials, including physical collateral, email blasts and an app experience to help get customers quickly signed up to make their car payments. 

I was responsible for the design of all illustrations, digital renderings, the collateral layout and design, iconography and design aesthetic. 

This project was a complete redesign of the Ally Auto storefront page, making it responsive adding new mobile products that were recently completed.

I was responsible for the aesthetic of the redesign as well as all illustrations and iconography.

I also collaborated with an IA and a content writer on page layout and page content.

Click to view the live site

This project was to create a mobile app experience for Ally Auto financial customer to be able to make their car payments, check account status and contact the Ally help centers.

I was responsible for the design and layout of the app.

This project was to create a on-boarding  experience for a new Ally Auto Finance customer. I worked with an IA and a content writer to produce a variety of materials, including physical collateral, email blasts and an app experience to help get customers quickly signed up to make their car payments. 

I was responsible for the design of all illustrations, digital renderings, collateral layout and design, iconography and design aesthetic. 

Ally Wallet Wise is a financial learning website that helps teach the basics of various financial topics, including: spending essentials, buying a car, credit management, investing and retirement. Ally currently has a very basic version of the site and wanted a more robust solution that can be responsive and support games, videos, course pages and other learning experiences.

I was responsible for the aesthetic for the redesign, UI design, all illustrations throughout the site as well as the branding for Wallet Wise. I assisted in IA work as well as created Axure prototypes through the design process.

Click to view a Axure Prototype for the Auto Course

Click to view an Axure Prototype for the Money Essentials Course

This was a rebranding initiative for my wife’s leather goods company, Choice Cuts Industries. She wanted to bring a softer feel to the brand which included a name change and brand redesign.

I was responsible for brand research, logo and brand element designs.

Website design for my personal business.

I was responsible for all design decisions, including photography, branding and iconography.

Link to the live site.

This project was to rebrand and redesign the Roughneck line packaging. Roughneck is a legacy item for Rubbermaid, having been around for 30+ years. The Roughneck products are considered a premium product in it's category and markets to customers looking for a product that is going to last. With increasing competitors in the container and trashcan market, the objective was to try and standout at point of purchase by looking more premium while staying at a manageable production cost.

I was responsible for the art direction, label design and illustrations. 

This project was to rebrand and redesign the Roughneck line of products. Roughneck is a legacy item for Rubbermaid, having been around for 30+ years. With increasing competitors in the container and trashcan market, the objective was to try and standout at point of purchase while trying to stay at a manageable production cost.

This design was to be used across the Roughneck line of products, which include trash cans, storage totes and other storage solutions.

I was responsible for the art direction, label design and illustrations. 

This projects was to create packaging design for 5 new cleaning products and multiple accessories. Products ranged from cleaning scrub brushes to replaceable pads, creating a total cleaning system. During this time, Rubbermaid was going through a rebranding and I was given first crack at creating a new design style.

For this project, I was responsible for the package design, art direction, illustrations and photography art direction.

This projects was to create packaging design for 5 new cleaning products and multiple accessories. Products ranged from cleaning scrub brushes to replaceable pads, creating a total cleaning system. During this time, Rubbermaid was going through a rebranding and I was given first crack at a new design style.

For this project, I was responsible for the package design, art direction, illustrations and photography art direction.

This project was an in store point of purchase concept for a new recycling product Rubbermaid was releasing. The objective was to create a banner and backdrop for the shelving the products would be sitting to to help call attention to why we need to recycle.

I was responsible for the design and renderings for the concept.