Messenger

Messaging your friends is never pretty.

Our phones are 2 inches from our noses. We’re no-make-up-and-covered-in-cat-hair. No one will see us in our perfect Instagram angles. We literally do best memeing gif research while we do our “business”.

But... that’s how close we are to our friends. We’re not close, we’re *that close*.  

That was my pitch for the concept development and visual language of the “That Close” campaign for Messenger. When people use messaging platforms, whether iMessage, WhatsApp, or even Messenger, they find themselves surrounded by conversation in these perfectly imperfect moments. So we aimed to capture that for the Messenger rebrand campaign. 

The goal of Messenger's new visual language was to create a rich and flexible system that brought to life the brands new positioning as a space that facilitates genuine connections between close friends.

Aimed at a Gen-Z audience, the identity is grounded on the principal of fluidity as it reflects the dynamic ebb and flow of their communication style. The system was built to celebrate the millions of micro interactions Messenger users have every day that bring them closer to their people.

EARLY EXPLORATIONS

So how did we get to the final design? A lot of explorations. And a lot of testing.

6 months of exploration, research, testing, and strategy, I developed the campaign concept and design direction for the Messenger brand and “That Close” campaign today. 

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

• 1st POV
  
• Perfectly imperfect/authentic
  
• Surrounded by conversation
  
• Fluid + organic
  
• Friendship visual symmetry,
  the ying to your yang 

 

Credits

Head of Creative - Andy Hekimian
GCD - Abdul Wahid Ovaice
CD - Tom Francesconi
Copywriters - Euzcil Castaneto + Daniel Alveraz
ADs - Sharon Kaye
Role - Art Director, original concept development

Final Messenger redesigns produced by Toast and Mother London.