LCLD Pathfinder Program Identity

Original Design · No Outside Agency · Recurring

Every year, a fresh identity built entirely in-house—anchored in Pathfinder’s signature purple, with a new visual direction.

The Project

Pathfinder is LCLD's leadership program for early-career attorneys, three to eight years into practice, identified as future leaders in the legal profession. Like Fellows, Pathfinder runs on a yearly cycle with in-person meetings at the start and end of the program year.

Pathfinder and Fellows meetings are held consecutively or simultaneously, which means the design system Jamie and team create serves both programs at once. One system, two palettes. Every deliverable produced for Fellows has a Pathfinder counterpart in the same design, different palette.

Because these events don't carry a formal theme, Jamie sometimes draws inspiration from the host city, giving each cycle a sense of place that feels intentional rather than generic. For the 2026 Spring Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, the design leaned into the Southwest: bold geometric shapes, warm earthy tones layered against Pathfinder's purple, and a pattern language that evoked the landscape without becoming literal.

For most meetings, Jamie conducts an advance site visit to assess the space and map branding placement, determining where environmental elements will have the most impact before a single piece goes to production.

The Pathfinder palette is purple—always—but how that purple shows up changes entirely from year to year. No two cycles look the same.

Scope & Details

Audience: Early-career attorneys (3-8 years), nominated by organizational leadership

Design Origin: 100% original, no external agency. Concept, system, and all deliverables by Jamie and team.

Palette: Purple, consistent program identifier; visual direction changes each year

Relationship to Fellows: Pathfinder and Fellows share one design system each year, Pathfinder in purple, Fellows in orange

Environmental Deliverables: Column wraps, entry walls, banner stands, stage signage, badge systems, printed programs, wayfinding, window clings, bar design, all event collateral

Cadence: Spring kickoff and Fall closing meetings, annually