Brand Evolution
UI/UX
Design System
Advertising
Materials
Packaging
Events

Violin Memory approached me for a UI/UX project which grew into a beautiful 5-year partnership. They gave me enormous freedom to rebuild their visual identity and find new ways to elevate their brand and product lines.


Helped creatively position their brand for popular appeal and ultimately a $162M IPO


Developed international ad campaigns recognized by business week and others.


Prior to Violin Memory’s IPO, I was brought in to develop the visual aesthetics of Violin memory’s corporate web presence as well as an integrated brand image. The brand aesthetic was used to set Violin apart from their enterprise level competition and garner a futuristic and forward thinking message.

Challenge.

The entire memory market lacked a sense of differentiation and vision. Violin also fell into this "me too" trap. They acknowledged a need to tell a different story, bust down some walls, and announce breakthrough advances. They just didn't know the best way to do it.

Solution.

Violin reached out to me as a multi-disciplined creative director to try to tell a new story. Their buyers were classic male engineers who liked Star Trek, power, and beauty. We rebuilt their visual identity and quickly set them apart from their competition. While their competitors were all saying the same thing, we pushed forward into futurism and visual appeal. We shrouded futuristic themes with Violin classic electric green. We integrated this look into all marketing elements, including websites, software, lots of materials, packaging, and booths.


I developed a series of strong visuals and messages to reflect the Violin product line attributes and speak to their audience’s love language; beauty and science fiction.

This campaign was showcased by Bloomberg Businessweek, The Inscrutable Mad Men of Silicon Valley, September 22, 2011.

The challenge of this campaign was to create an impactful visual campaign that would turn heads and heighten brand awareness without apology. The goal of the campaign was to directly catch the attention of Larry Ellison and create a groundswell around “Violin Memory” and their rising name in the industry. The campaign, named Insanely Powerful, camped around the idea of superheroes and the power of kryptonite and employed the talents of famed entertainment photographer Dave Hill, directed by VDI and its partners to bring the campaign concept to life. In a quote about the campaign buzz and build Violin Memory’s CEO Don Basile during a Bloomberg Business Week interview, commented, “Our demographic is people in their late 30s to early 50s,” Basile says. “They grew up on Star Trek, Star Wars, and comic books. They respond to three basic things: power, visions of the future, and sex.” Versatyle Design Inc and its principal partners developed three stunning headlining images that unabashedly reinforced the idea of Power, Beauty, and Speed as lay claim to by Violin’s CEO, Don Basile, the media campaign hit all major International Airports and major broadcast Bay Area Bill Boards, impossible to overlook. The campaign was deployed across the full spectrum of print and electronic media, initially intended for a three-six month campaign run. The campaign in its success was extended for additional 6-8 plus months, with some billboards still residing in international airports today.

Packaged with kryptonite. Violin's packaging helped deliver upon the brand promise of speed, power, and appeal.

I was brought into Violin Memory to develop an extensive suite of marketing materials and campaign-driven tools to help corporate communications and sales teams capture market share. Not just fiddle around. (get it, fiddle?)

Violin Memory enables businesses to achieve real-time access to information by closing the compute storage gap and delivering memory-based storage solutions.