Mailchimp | Richard Garrett Smith

Mailchimp
/Relaunch

In 2018, Mailchimp came to R/GA with a problem. They started in 2001 as an email marketing platform, but had since expanded to become a complete marketing platform, offering websites, digital ads, audience management and so much more. They needed to shake up a customer base that was sleeping on all the great stuff Mailchimp now had to offer and get them to take another look.

The first thing we did was completely redesign the website. We restructured it from the ground up, created a modular design system and brought it to life using a new brand developed by Collins. Then we created a full scale brand campaign to get the word out.

I was responsible for co-leading the design of the website, art directing 114 illustrations, designing 34 billboards, creating a bevy of digital ads, and leading the design of R/GA’s internal and external communications around the work.

Details

2018
Design Director
R/GA New York

Work

Systematic design
Art direction

Team

Bethany Kennedy
Lucia Orlandi
Chelsea McLemore
Megan Trinidad
Rachel Wright
Kit Coyne
Brigit Hickey
Youngbum Kim
Simon Gibson
Dan White
Chris Parker
James Schumacher
Aidan Guitarri

Awards

ACD Silver Cube for Art Direction
Clio Silver for Product Design

Mailchimp is a leader in one of the fastest growing, and evolving, digital industries. We created a design system that was simple and flexible enough to accommodate nearly constant modification, yet was unique enough to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

The experience was brought to life by a suite of handcrafted illustrations that were fun, quirky, and quite unexpected. I helped oversee 6 illustrators (in 4 countries), and the concepting and art direction of 114 illustrations to ensure we created a cohesive system. The briefs were kept intentionally vague to let the artists run wild. The results? Absurd perfection.

But we didn’t stop there. To let the world know that Mailchimp was now More Than Mail, we created a fully integrated brand campaign. I designed out-of-home placements, print ads, and a bevy of digital banner and custom ad units.

One of the billboards could be seen from space (probably). I have mixed feelings about that.