2020 brought unexpected challenges for all small businesses owners. For founder and CEO of ArtJamz Michael Clements, it meant closing the doors to his award-winning paint-and-sip brick-and-mortar studios, pivoting into an all-virtual environment.
To help navigate his business pivot to an e-commerce virtual events company, ArtJamz partnered with Brllnt on brand development, product design, and business strategy leading to a new chapter in fulfilling ArtJamz’s mission – making the world a more creative place.
Best of DC award-winner, from 2012 to 2020, ArtJamz operated three paint-and-sip locations in Washington, DC’S Dupont Circle and Brookland neighborhoods, and in Arlington, Virginia. During that time, nearly 200,000 people unleashed their inner artists with ArtJamz and their team of creative enablers.
ArtJamz® lives its mission of making the world a more creative place by hiring local artists who teach virtual painting sessions where people get to unleash their inner artists through virtual art experiences and ArtJamz’s ArtBox paint kits.
This wasn’t the first time ArtJamz collaborated with Brllnt – in 2014, we designed ArtJamz’s brand identity including the logo and landing page. Now, our collaboration was centered on solving one fundamental challenge for the brand - How can you bring the in-person art studio experience to customers at home?
Our first task was to distill the core essence of ArtJamz’s company values of play, creativity, and quality into product design.
When walking into the physical studio, guests would be given art supplies, a smock, and canvas, instantly making them feel like artists. We wanted to keep that same sentiment from the first experience with the physical product, so we kept the signature logo and emphasized the brand tagline “Unleash your Inner Artist” prominently in several areas.
Educating guests on art fundamentals in a fun way is also key with in-person instruction, so we incorporated a color mixing guide on the inside of the box itself, along with detailed instructions for setting up in a separate flyer in the brand’s engaging tone. To continue to bring the element of play fundamental to the paint-and-sip experience, we added fun illustrations of famous artists with fun quotes and areas to paint within the box itself.
Central to the box design was the creation of the trademarked E-Z Canvas, conceptualized by Michael to make the ArtBox an all-in-one product where customers could use the box itself as an easel stand to paint. After testing several boxes and variations, we were able to develop the all-on-one E-Z Stand design, complete with instructions printed on the box making it a more sustainable product design.
The product shoot created an opportunity to show brand consistency between the in-person and virtual art experience. Inspired by the former studio walls that were covered with designs from ArtJammers through the years; we shot the product against the tables in the new warehouse and filming studios, covered in paint splashes created by instructors during online courses. Created specifically to stand out in the competitive Instagram e-commerce market, art direction centered on showing the ArtBox primed for creating social content.
Throughout the brand pivot process, we provided ongoing business coaching to support Michael in roadmapping the future of ArtJamz’z brand development.
With the launch of the At-Home Paint Kits and the and ArtJamz Virtual Experiences, ArtJamz has been able to weather the storm and look forward to continuing to ArtJamz in person once businesses can operate at pre-pandemic safety levels. What seemed like the end of the business actually presented the opportunity for ArtJamz to better achieve its primary mission - making the world a more creative place.
