Turning the art world upside down with radical brand and product design
DeviantArt, the world’s largest online social network for art, approached Moving Brands to undertake a massive rebranding and the design of a revolutionary new app.
An internet institution, DeviantArt had grown from a niche platform for sharing original Winamp skins to a digital art juggernaut with 32 million registered members, making it one of the largest social media sites in the world. They brought us in to support their drive for new partnerships and aggressive expansion goals, working with senior leaders on branding, experience design and communications.
We worked with DeviantArt on a program of community definition and engagement to help the business connect with a new audience. Persona mapping, audience surveys and interviews all helped shape our approach.
At the heart of our design work was a compelling narrative, ‘bleed and breed art’, while the key idea for the logo itself was turning art upside down and inside out.
These learnings underpinned the launch campaign of the new brand and app. The app saw one million downloads within the first three months without any marketing beyond the community. User numbers kept growing by thousands daily as DeviantArt continued its upward trajectory – today (2023), there are over 75 million registered members worldwide.
‘We’ve always had a strong community and sense of purpose. Moving Brands collaborated with us to create an amazing new mobile experience that elevates our art, and a brand that articulates the story that we have been trying to tell the world for years.’Angelo Sotira CEO, Deviant Art