A brand bold enough to share and stable enough to build on.
HowdyBox is an encrypted messaging protocol that moves messages between blockchains, aimed at young crypto users. We delivered the name, identity, illustration, game design, interface and pitch deck, and the project reached prototype.
- Naming
- Brand identity
- Illustration
- UI design
- Pitch deck
The challenge
The product carries encrypted messages between chains that do not otherwise talk, with spam and harassment designed out and token rewards for taking part. The audience distrusts anything that looks like marketing. The brief asked for weird, psychedelic and fun.
The real tension was structural. The brand had to be shareable enough to spread on its own, and orderly enough that future apps could sit on top of it without a redesign. Those goals usually pull apart.
What we did
Find the one idea
We built the brand around a box that is home to a mischievous cat, a traveler between worlds. The box stands for the protocol's reach and for passage between blockchain projects. The mark describes how the product works.
Make the mark move
The logo is interactive. The box stays fixed while its contents change: empty, a message, a cat in a cowboy hat climbing out. Encrypted curves around the rim never change.
Keep the interface plain
Under a loud visual world, the interface is a message box and a send button. We tested the system on light and dark grounds to confirm the characters held up, which is what scaling the brand actually requires.
The result
We delivered naming, brand, illustration, game design, UI and a pitch deck. Our published account describes the product as a prototype. There was no launch, no users and no figures, and we claim none here.
What this means for your business
A specific brief is a gift, and it is worth asking a client for one. Before producing volume, find the single idea that carries the meaning, then test it in the conditions where it will actually be used.
This project was delivered by the Innovation Theory team, the Denver firm behind InTheory, before InTheory existed as its AI practice.
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