littleBits Brand
Client
littleBits
Role
Art Director
Team
Joe Shouldice (CD), Ryan Mather (Sr. Designer), Jorge Chuquihuanca (Designer), Jongwoo Gan (Designer)
littleBits was on a mission to democratize invention. As Art Director, I was responsible for establishing and maintaining a high visual design standard across all products, packaging, collateral, merchandise and imagery. I also managed a small team of designers, photographers and freelancers. littleBits has since been acquired by Sphero.
Design Principles
As littleBits grew its design operations we felt it was necessary to establish a set of design principles that established a shared vision for great products. We held brainstorming sessions with the Design Communications, Marketing, Product Design and Executive teams to collaboratively generate ideas, gather feedback and ultimately reach a consensus.
Packaging System
Prior to my arrival, each littleBits product’s packaging was designed as an isolated project. In order to establish consistency and increase economic efficiency across the product portfolio, I led the effort to establish a cohesive design system of reusable boxes, sleeves and collateral.
Invention Guides
Invention guides were a critical part of the littleBits product experience. Each kit would come with a printed booklet that contained instructions and other forms of educational content. Invention guides would be tested with kids and iterated upon prior to production to ensure our target audience could understand them.
Printed Collateral
littleBits attended several trade show per year, which were critical to building brand awareness and connecting with potential business leads. This cohesive set of five trifold cards was designed to quickly appeal to different audiences and could be updated as needed.
Editorial Illustration
This set of illustrations accompanied CEO & founder Ayah Bdeir’s editorial piece titled From Droid Farmers to Gamer Therapists: Why We Can’t Prepare Students Today for the Careers of 2030.
Social Media Campaigns
As part of a larger marketing campaign I worked with photographer Rob Chron to experiment with methods of visually relating product photography to product packaging.
Creative Agency Collaboration
As Art Director I collaborated with creative agencies at all stages of the production process to ensure final media would be true to the littleBits brand. This included advising on video concepts, casting, voiceover scripts, music selection and product representation.
Art Direction: Photography
Art directing photoshoots for product campaigns would often involve assembling mood boards, mockups and shot lists, scouting talent, holding auditions, hiring photographers and production crews, giving direction on set and making selects. Sometimes we would put together quick and scrappy photoshoots with friends from the office like the posters shown here.
Art Direction: Website
As Art Director I worked with an external web design agency to structure the site in a way that effectively communicated our product’s value and felt consistent with the littleBits brand.