Chef Software, Inc. is an American corporation headquartered in Seattle, Washington, which produces software allowing information technology departments to automate the process of configuring, deploying and scaling servers and applications.
About the Project: The creation of Chef’s new voice and visual style was the first step in an upcoming rebrand
About the Project: The creation of Chef’s new voice and visual style was the first step in an upcoming rebrand
Challenge: Chef had a scattered and inconsistent visual language, which was difficult to recognize as a single brand. From web pages to social media presence, they used inconsistent materials and focused too heavily on explaining the details of technology. This focus made it difficult for non-technical stakeholders in client companies to understand how Chef’s products would benefit their organizations and make informed decisions accordingly.
Solution: I led an effort to create a consistent brand through which Chef could effectively communicate where our products solved our clients’ needs and increase the cohesion of the brand. I gathered feedback on what worked and what did not in the past projects from clients and colleagues. I presented new solutions to internal stakeholders and a small focus group of clients, and incorporated their feedback to create a cohesive visual language that Chef could apply across its web properties. We piloted the new visual style with a new marketing video, called ‘Building the Coded Enterprise’, which was tailored to non-technical stakeholders in client organizations.
Impact: Customers and community members felt the new styles were intuitive, elegant, and that the brand was more unified. The new video raised advertised website visits by 20% alone, and increased social media interactions with Chef’s accounts by 40%. The Chef Sales team expressed that the video was highly effective at explaining Chef’s product line to less technical folks, such as project managers and executives, which had previously been a significant challenge for them.
Prototype
Illustrations, and Iconography
video storyboard
video screenshots
