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I’m a Miami-based photographer + brand strategist focused on defying the odds and telling the dopest stories for clients who are interested in doing the same.
I believe stories are the vehicles that move culture forward and there’s nothing more important today than strengthening cultural integrity across the arts, urban environments, fashion, and hospitality.
Curiosity: How Did Phantom Do It? Category: Strategy
Innovation is the currency of progress and Solana’s coffers are filling up nicely thanks in part to the brand overhaul Phantom Wallet made almost a year ago.
In 2023, the narrative around Solana began to shift. Partnerships with Visa and Shopify proved the blockchain’s value as a lightning-fast transaction vehicle that scales well while keeping low fees. On top of that, the increase in infrastructure attracted a growing community of developers, investors, and creators eager to harness the blockchain’s potential. Even though other crypto wallets provided safe and secure onramps to the blockchain, Phantom Wallet remained the heart of Solana’s ecosystem thanks in part to it being the only one to go through a major brand overhaul like the chain itself.
THE NEED FOR CHANGE
Like most wallets initially, the Phantom Wallet was a sleek and intuitive interface designed to simplify the user experience while providing powerful capabilities for managing Solana through its desktop platform and mobile app. Differentiating itself as a product became a challenge as the ecosystem grew and more wallets competed to house the interactions between users and various blockchains. Outside of Ledger with its physical products, crypto wallets were barely distinguishable and all boasted the same things as category features:
Private & Public Keys to interact on the blockchain
High-security measures to protect users’ assets
Price availability to monitor value movement
A browser to engage with webpages and your crypto assets simultaneously.
Just as Solana needed a narrative pivot to distinguish itself as a blockchain, the team at Phantom had to pivot from focusing on features to competing where it had the most advantage, branding. With the help of the design studio Bakken & Baek, the Phantom Wallet brand became the new standard by which all others in the ecosystem will be judged.
Phantom’s brand identity refresh aimed at making the crypto ecosystem “more approachable and enjoyable for all” according to their blog post. The updated brand identity came with a new logo, and new color palettes that include more vibrant colors — a stark contrast to what you see from known wallets like Solflare, Metamask, and Backpack. The investment was also made into developing a custom font with F37 Foundry to provide a visual language unique to the brand experience Phantom gives users and ecosystem partners. The most impressive update, however, came to the “phantom” ghost character, making it more dynamic, expressive, and positioned to be a companion akin to the Duolingo owl “duo”(and we see how well that’s playing out for Duolingo).
THE POWER OF A STRONG BRAND IDENTITY
Making deep investments into your brand identity gives you the benefit of iconic elements that help you to tell stories to your target market that stand out and break through the feature efficiency monotony. This differentiation can attract attention from consumers seeking something fresh and innovative, giving the brand a competitive edge. A unique brand identity makes a lasting impression on consumers, increasing brand recall and recognition. When faced with numerous options, consumers are more likely to remember and gravitate towards a brand with a memorable identity, fostering brand loyalty and repeat business or engagement.
As Solana elevated its brand narrative to solidify itself as a category leader in the blockchain ecosystem, Phantom was in lockstep with a brand refresh that showed NFTs aren’t the only vehicle to pay attention to when considering Web3’s path to mass adoption.