Hootsuite is the world's largest social media management platform. The Social Trends is an annual leadership campaign. While the content team researches and writes, the creative team designs the company report that projects social media trends for the following year.
In 2022, as the design lead for this campaign, I was responsible for brainstorming, conceptualizing, and creating its visual identity. We produced toolkits, videos, playbooks, sales enablement materials, blog articles, social cards, webinars, emails, and an informative microsite
Role: Design Lead
Timeline: 2 months
Team: Marketing Director, Creative Director, Content Manager, Project Manager, Copywriter, 2 Graphic Designers, Production Designer, Motion Designer, Video Producer, Social Marketing Team, Web Design Agency, and myself.
Timeline: 2 months
Team: Marketing Director, Creative Director, Content Manager, Project Manager, Copywriter, 2 Graphic Designers, Production Designer, Motion Designer, Video Producer, Social Marketing Team, Web Design Agency, and myself.
Brainstorming and Conceptualization
Working alongside a copywriter, I initiated this campaign by analyzing developments from previous years. I researched other online reports and brainstormed a variety of exciting ideas. After several presentations to the marketing leaders, we settled on a theme: "A Departure from the Future."
Visual Inspirations and Design Elements
Movies and Pop Culture: For designing the campaign title, I drew inspiration from movies such as "Back to the Future" and the angled text from the "Star Wars" intro.
B&W with Vector Elements: Combined black and white images with vectors for contrast.
Objects: Flowers, mugs, and planets were used to add familiarity and interest.
Colourful Circles: Colourful circles were used to add depth and movement.
Social Media Elements: Incorporated speech bubbles and social media motifs for a modern touch.
Key Visual
I crafted a visual identity for this campaign that blends elements of space, technology, and vintage aesthetics with inviting colours. My goal was to make the customer the show's star, placing them at the center of the universe.
The "Main Collage" graphic served as the central visual element, unifying the campaign's aesthetic and highlighting the key messages.
Color Palette and Colour combinations
Inspired by planets, the sun, and space rocks, this vivid and bright colour palette features blue, yellow, and brown as the main colours. Orange is the accent colour, while grey and Light Yellow tones are used for muted backgrounds.
This palette offers multiple colour combinations, helping the campaign stand out on social media and create a lasting visual memory for users.
Typeface and accessible text
The typeface chosen was Futura PT, whose geometric and modern design aligned well with the campaign's theme and visuals. This typeface, combined with the colours, ensured all the messages conveyed were bold and strong.
Below are examples of the typeface applied on coloured backgrounds, all of which passed comprehensive contrast checks to ensure accessibility.
Microsite
I coordinated the development of a microsite with an external agency, designing the user experience, including information architecture, wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, and UI Design. I guided the agency to ensure the final output was high-quality, user-friendly, and aligned with the campaign's visual identity and company goals.
The microsite aims to inform users about the 5 featured trends and encourage them to download the complete guide report.
Online Report: What to Expect on Social
The 2022 report featured excellent information design throughout its 43 pages, resulting in a 30% increase in guide downloads compared to the previous year's campaign and a significant boost in conversions.
Motion Design and Videos
I collaborated with the Creative Director, Motion Designer, Video Editor, and Copywriters to create the video for this campaign. I designed vector graphic elements to effectively illustrate the content.
During the video shoot, I collaborated with the recording team to ensure that the models, their wardrobes, and the setting aligned with the campaign's visual identity.
The videos were filmed at the Bloedel Conservatory in the vibrant city of Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Social Media Images
Leading with the 'Main Collage' graphic, I designed social media cards, carousels, and ads in various sizes for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Campaign Results
In addition to overwhelming positive sentiments on social channels, the campaign achieved the following results:
Guide Downloads: 30% increase in guide downloads.
Microsite Performance: In the first 60 days the microsite received 30,000 unique page views with an average of 5:28 spent on the page.
Website Traffic: In the first 60 days after launch, +100k users visited Hootsuite's site for the Trends campaign.
The campaign successfully highlighted 2022's social media trends, providing valuable insights and tools for Hootsuite's audience. The visual identity and comprehensive materials helped elevate the campaign's impact, demonstrating Hootsuite's leadership in social media management.
