REFRESHING THE BRAND
IN 2012 AND 2016, WESTERN DIGITAL ACQUIRED HGST® AND SANDISK®. BY THE START OF 2018, WESTERN DIGITAL’S MARCOM TEAM WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO REFRESH AND REVAMP THE WESTERN DIGITAL FAMILY OF PRODUCTS INCORPORATING ENTERPRISE, COMMERCIAL, AND CONSUMER-BASED PRODUCTS FROM WD, HGST AND SANDISK BRANDS.
I WAS THE LEAD DESIGNER AND TOOK PART IN AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT TO REDESIGN THE WESTERN DIGITAL PRODUCT MARKETING LABEL AND ASSIST IN REVAMPING THEIR NEW WEBSITE EXPERIENCE AND MARKETING COLLATERAL.
TO COMPLY WITH MY NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT, I HAVE OMITTED AND OBFUSCATED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION IN THIS CASE STUDY. ALL INFORMATION IN THIS CASE STUDY IS MY OWN AND DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF WESTERN DIGITAL.
IT BEGAN WITH A SQUARE
THE WESTERN DIGITAL’S ULTRASTAR® SERIES DRIVES WERE ADAPTED FROM HGST’S LEGACY BRAND, WHICH HAD VARIOUSLY SHAPED LABELS. THE LABELS HAD CLIPPED EDGES, ROUNDED EDGES, AND SQUARED EDGES. WE DETERMINED TO START THE DESIGN PROCESS WITH THE SQUARED SHAPE LABEL; ONCE FINALIZED, WE COULD THEN EXPAND THE SAME DESIGN TO THE OTHER SHAPES.
THE ORIGINAL SQUARED SHAPE LABELS (FROM START-TO-FINISH)
WD COLOR DRIVES WERE THE NEXT CHALLENGE. HOW COULD WE INCORPORATE THEM INTO THE DESIGN SYSTEM? THEY WERE ORIGINALLY DESIGNED WITH A DISTANT COUSIN RELATIONSHIP FROM THE ULTRASTAR SERIES, BUT NOW THEY NEEDED TO STILL CARRY THE BRAND AND LOOK-N-FEEL OF THE WESTERN DIGITAL PRODUCT LINE. THE WD COLOR DRIVES HAD DIFFERENT COLORS, EACH REPRESENTING THE DRIVE’S UNIQUE FUNCTIONS AND MARKET. WE BEGAN OUR IDEATIONS WITH THE WD BLACK, BECAUSE IT WAS THE HIGHEST-GRADE PRODUCT IN TERMS OF SPEED AND CAPACITY.
THE ORIGINAL SQUARED SHAPE LABELS (FROM START-TO-FINISH)
ICONS EVOLVED
THE WD COLOR DRIVES HAD A 3D HEXAGON ICON WITH DIFFERENT IMAGES WITHIN REPRESENTING ITS COLOR’S FUNCTION. WE DECIDED TO SIMPLIFY EACH DESIGN INTO A SET OF THREE HEXAGON SHAPES STACKED TOGETHER REPRESENTING A HONEYCOMB SHAPE. THIS SIMPLY MEANT YOU COULD HAVE MULTIPLE FUNCTIONING DRIVES TOGETHER FORMING A SYSTEM OR PLATFORM.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE HEXAGON ICONS
ADAPTING TO THE NEW SYSTEM
THE NEW WESTERN DIGITAL LABELS STARTED OUT FOCUSING ON JUST SIX LABELS. LATER, IT EXPANDED TO 11 AND BY THE TIME WE HIT 40, WE HAD A COMPLETE SET OF LABELS READY FOR PRODUCTION.
SIX LABELS
11 LABELS
40 LABELS
DESIGN BY GROWTH
WESTERN DIGITAL, FOR THE LONGEST TIME, WAS KNOWN FOR THEIR STORAGE SOLUTIONS THAT EXIST IN COMPUTERS AS HARD DRIVES. LITTLE DID THE MARKET KNOW HOW QUICKLY THEY GREW INTO ALL STORAGE DEVICES; FROM HARD DRIVES TO SOLID STATE DRIVES, TO SD AND MICROSD DRIVES.
TODAY, THEIR SLOGAN IS, “CREATING ENVIRONMENTS FOR DATA TO THRIVE.” MY TEAM CARRIED THIS MESSAGING THROUGHOUT OUR DAILY DIGITAL AND PRINT COLLATERAL.
THE END GOAL
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LABELING SYSTEM THAT COULD COMMUNICATE TO WDC’S CUSTOMERS AS WELL AS LAST UNTIL THE NEXT REFRESH WAS OUR TEAM’S ULTIMATE GOAL. WE WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS WHILE MANAGING PRODUCT LAUNCH DATES AND MATCHING CUSTOMERS’ ONE-TIME MESSAGING.
