Elgato
Neo

As a long-term creative partner of Elgato, SMAL had the privilege to support the launch of their latest product line — Neo — consisting of a microphone, webcam, light, capture card and a customizable control panel. 

The project required a wide range of capabilities; from understanding and analyzing the new target group, to tailoring the fitting branding and communication strategy and creating visual assets — and finally translating these in six newly designed and developed web pages.

Early in the process it became prominent that an important first step would prove to become the determining factor for everything later on in the process: Understanding the use cases and the audience these new products were intended for and how they differentiate from typical core users.
Elgato, who mainly targeted experienced professionals within the content creation industry in the past, now strives to reach a broader market by making a more accessible product line.

Before creating digital experiences and visual assets we needed to tailor a communication strategy that would translate the essence of the Neo line. 
A storytelling strategy that would invite and encourage experienced and new users equally to streamline their workflows by making the products feel accessible and un-intimidating.

One of the main challenges of the project was to define the relation between the established Elgato brand and the new Neo product line; where it would place on a scale of the current look and feel, and a completely new brand.

The goal was to connect the Neo line to the Elgato brand, already possessing trust and market credibility, while still having its own identity. It should live on the existing website but be distinctive by its accessible content and approachable look and feel. 
Together with Elgato, we set the stage for coherent storytelling and appealing communication assets through the carefully crafted brand vision and multidisciplinary visuals.

The visual result was keeping the familiar blue tones but making them lighter and more muted for a friendly yet professional look and feel. The font family was kept but the treatment changed to be more approachable. Corner radiuses were further rounded, layouts more airy, and information displayed was condensed to the essentials. 

A similar treatment was applied to audiovisual content created for Neo; clean and minimalistic renderings and photography, neutral and friendly lighting, and soft and smooth animations, rounding up the approachable experience.

An essential part of the process that spanned over multiple weeks was the audiovisual content creation. As previously defined, our main focus was on presenting the products in an approachable, natural way that would showcase their usability and how easily they integrate in all sorts of setups. 

In collaboration with Elgato, we made it a goal to convey every feature with the content to fit, and populated the product pages with a variety of assets; a mix of photography, videography, renderings, animations and a product trailer. 
 

Developing a launch with six pages requires a lot of structure and apart from refining the brand itself, we also considered the growth and future-proofing of the brand. 

To achieve this, we produced components with a range of variants that could be re-used and cover an array of use-cases. This also facilitated consistency throughout the pages and would make it easier to produce pages for potential new products in the future.

We believe that a close collaborative environment fosters the best results - this is true for the work with our clients, but also for the collaboration within SMAL. 

As a multidisciplinary agency, one of the main benefits is our communicative workflow to fully optimize the product. Each department is aware of the next steps in the process and collaborates on a daily basis, resulting in a shared understanding of the projects’ goals, a streamlined workflow and quick turnarounds.