Beatchain
When I met Beatchain, they were right at the start of something big. They wanted to speak directly to independent music artists and give them all the tools to release their work without signing to a record label. But first, they needed guidance to help build their voice from the ground up. They needed to get their message clear, and make moves to be heard by the musicians who needed them the most. You can also read this and see more video examples on Behance.
I worked with Beatchain for an entire rebrand, guiding them through the process using research about their market from an agency, Space Doctors, who I suggested they commission to help us define the to-market strategy. The Beatchain team’s strategy and approach completely transformed as a result.
The rebrand included everything you'd expect: logo, workmark, brand guildlines; typography, colour, layout, moodboards and so on.
After the rebrand
I continued to work closely with the Beatchain brand for the first two years of their launch supporting them whilst they built their in-house team. I was across everything for them, from podcast videos to social media posts; sub-branding and a micro-site for the Beatchain 'Pro' offering called DSCVRD; we made animated explainer videos for the Fan Builder product launch, and a step-by-step guide explaining how to distribute your music; Short promos to highlight features, or to announce the new mobile app. You get the idea. The scope of work endlessly varied, and very rewarding, both as a creative and to be in a position to help independent artists grow as part of the growing Beatchain brand.
Same stock images, different approach
It's not a filter. A disruptive campaign needs disruptive imagery. But to keep social media platforms running needs a lot of images.
To make sure Beatchain could keep up with the demand for images without spending an unreasonable amount of money, I applied a bit of creativity to the process of image-making itself.
I used a process to convert the data from stock images into sound files, then edited the image as if it were sound, just like a music producer would. What does an image sound like? I ran everyday stock images through music programs to find out. If you've ever searched 'musician' on Unsplash, you might [be able to just about still] recognise these images.
This process transformed the images, creating something beautifully glitchy. Not only visually striking, but perfect as a visual for Beatchain’s whole approach – the images were disrupted and disruptive. It was the same old stock imagery used across the internet, made new by some creative thinking. A bit of proper creativity can make a small budget go a very long way.
Brand content
The three pillars of the brand were to empower musicians to launch their career using Beatchain technology, to educate those artists on how best to get their music heard and to provide 'social proof' by way of showcasing talent through the brand channels.
Any startup is launching new products fairly regularly, pretty much constantly in fact, so I was making content to launch, showcase or explain these products, pretty much constantly.
I was always meeting, interviewing and building creative around exciting new musicians. CerVon Campbell, Eliza Shaddad and Zharmila were a few of favourites, both to work with and musically, you can see examples of the creative we made with their participation.
