WHIM Brand & Experience
WHIM Brand & Experience
CASE STUDY UPDATES IN PROGRESS
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CASE STUDY UPDATES IN PROGRESS ~ ! ~
WHIM Brand & Experience
Client: WHIM
Role: Head of Brand—Creative Director, Designer
A whole new way to experience…
everything.
As the consumer facing spinoff of Videri, the groundbreaking digital out-of-home advertising and signage platform, WHIM began its life facing some challenges, most of important of which was how to answer the question “What is a WHIM and why should I care?”
“An app-controlled, networked, smartphone-thin, high resolution wall mounted smart display capable of running entertainment, gaming, personal and professional productivity, apps, displaying streaming content, integrating with your smart home, and displaying art + NFTs” was the long answer to the first part of the question, and for the second part, it turned out that to see WHIM was to love WHIM—people cared.
Defining a whole new media modality is a daunting challenge, but with such an exciting product/product category to work with, it was a challenge well worth taking.
Product
Brands are the promise of an experience—this has never been more true than it is in the digital age, where the majority of consumer interactions with a brand are digital in nature. Luckily, as is the case with a true bootstrapped tech startup, the need for people to wear many hats and to work as integrated (not siloed) teams allows a brand to move forward in lockstep towards a shared vision.
I was able to use my digital product experience to work fluently with the hardware, firmware, and app product teams to ensure that the consumer experience with the canvas, the iOS controller app, and the unboxing process were all on brand on a visual and experience level.
Canvas Experience
After users completed unboxing & mounting the canvas and onboarding through the app, the WHIM Canvas experience began—I provided design and creative direction for or directly concepted, designed, and prototyped hundreds of experiences unique to the medium—some made it to production, some were presentation magic, some are still in the queue.
Brand Communication
Getting the word out about WHIM centered around a few means of communication: digital, experiential, and business development. I was directly responsible for devising communications with a bootstrapped hybrid brand/copy/social team, aided by freelancers and product designers with a few spare cycles.
I delivered sizzle videos, installation videos, emails, social media posts, at least two consumer facing websites, exhibition booth designs, storefront designs, pop-up stores, and dozens and dozens of decks as well as the messaging and visuals therein.
The Changingbrand
As a startup intending to redefine a new way to experience digital media, WHIM has had to redefine itself to keep pace with the ever-changing moods of culture and technology (see: NFTs/crypto, AI).
I facilitated deep-dives into our brand look and messaging as our product and brand matured side-by-side, building brand equity and maintaining a strong brand identity and brand consistency despite strong pulls from a mercurial CEO and opinionated C-suite.
