Independent Bank

Independent Bank came to us when they realized that they weren't reaching the young adult audience. We took this challenge as a great opportunity to look back to our old-school 8-bit video game roots. After a bit of extensive research we discovered that 8-bit games are still among the most widely played games within the target audience. Part of the campaign is aimed at the parents of the young adults. These 8-bit style graphics would bring a sense of nostalgia to those who might have played or seen these games growing up.

We help uncover what is truly unique about your organization and define it through carefully crafted messaging, visual identity and branded elements.

Branding is what we do, day in and day out. We help uncover what is truly unique about your organization and define it through carefully crafted messaging, visual identity and branded elements.

Branding and Graphic Design

The involvement of each key stakeholder is critical to uncovering the perceptions, and mis-perceptions of your company and/or products. Internal employees will usually have a different idea of your company than your executive team or board of directors. Your customers will also offer a very different impression. Hearing from everyone, and collecting every side of the story will help develop a well-rounded perspective.

Getting internal buy-in on your company’s brand position and key differentiators will build a firm foundation for crafting outward-facing messaging moving forward.

In this phase we will connect the messaging platform to a powerful visual brand. We will define the logo, color palette, typography, and visual elements.

Once the visual brand identity is clearly defined and signed off on, we will move into the design phase for necessary collateral and touch points. All output from the previous phases will be implemented to create an aesthetic that will connect with the consumer through a refined and sophisticated look and feel.

From concept to completion, Keen Studio will help you dream up an immersive way to tell your story or introduce your brand or product. 

Motion has become one of our favorite ways to tell the brand story. Custom animation, video production, and polished musical compositions come together to truly inspire, motivate and connect.

Video & Animation

Engaging motion production always starts with a great concept. We want the idea to speak for itself—a powerful visual representation of your brand story.

There are no prepackaged ideas at Keen—every production is custom crafted to the brand it represents. Once the concept is fleshed out, the script is written to deliver a clear, impactful message that cohesively flows with the visual style. The script will be meticulously fused into the storyboard, which will layout the production in representative cells.

Here is where we implement the results of our exploration into a custom motion production. Whether kicking o a 50-person film set or crafting the first (of hundreds) of individual visual assets for an animation, this is where the rubber meets the road.

After filming and animating, it is time to refine it down to a finished product. This is the make or break of the production—a proper edit will help the message resonate with the intended audience and make the production flow smoothly. Graphics, visual movement and a strong call-to-action (CTA) are all used to help conclude the story.

Boxed Water

Working with the Boxed Water team is an absolute pleasure, and this project has been no different. We were asked to design the packaging for their latest movie collaboration with Paramount Pictures. We were very excited to explore the whimsical possibilities that surround a film like IF. A movie that is all about imagination and creativity. We hope you enjoy these as much as we do.

Boxed Water + Paramount

HomFlats

Gro Childcare Academy

We worked with Magnus Capital Partners and HōmFlats on an entire naming, branding and web development assignment for their new on-site childcare academy. 

Gro Childcare Academy Logo

Gro Childcare Website Design

Grō Childcare Academy

We use a tried and true method to express your vision in a web environment. Broken out into phases, this structure will ensure the project stays on time and on budget. 

With over 20 years of creating intuitive and immersive web experiences, we are able to help architect, design, and develop nearly any digital project that might come our way.

Web Development

With over 15 years of creating immersive, intuitive digital experiences, we can help architect, design, and develop nearly any interactive project that might come our way.

Defining requirements as clearly as possible upfront saves time later when you’re in the thick of design and development. Here we will determine what CMS to use and if current hosting is appropriate. We’ll also discuss things like integration of an ecommerce platform to enable online purchasing or developing a user account backend or blog component.

Here, we’ll aim to take what we’ve learned in the Requirements sprint and put it into tangible assets. We’ll build a comprehensive sitemap and wireframe out the structure and layout of the site. Things like headers and navigation are defined and placed by the content within them - not by what type styles and colors they look best in.

In the design phase, we’ll craft a contemporary visual style that enhances the readability and hierarchy of the structure defined in the wireframes. Elements ranging from page headers to primary and secondary button styles will all be defined. Site comps will be produced for each necessary page template at multiple screen sizes, which will setup for the following Development sprint.

Our development approach is a bit more holistic than what might be found elsewhere. We believe in minimizing unnecessary plugins and libraries to keep page load time and security vulnerabilities to an absolute minimum. We’ll build the project locally and push to a development environment daily so that you can track progress in real-time.

Corktown Pizza Co.

A tasty visual experience that covers everything from naming and branding to web and signage.

The Corktown Pizza Company brand embodies a whimsical charm through hand-drawn, historic illustrations, paired with a striking monochromatic color scheme that underscores the brand's rich Detroit heritage and artisanal pizza craftsmanship. The original logo concept was created as an homage to the signage found in the historic Corktown neighborhood in Detroit. 

Paramount Coffee Roasters

The team from Paramount Coffee Roasters out of Lansing, Michigan came to us to help out with a really cool project. They wanted to launch a new brand, but it had a twist. They wanted this new brand to be more geared towards the outdoors and outdoor activities. We took the concept and ran with it. After hundreds of name ideas, design and style concepts we landed on Pathfinder Coffee. This was the perfect blend of outdoor exploration aesthetic and clean  stylized design that the client was looking for.

Pathfinder Coffee

Boxed Water brought us in to help bring this collaboration to life. Together working with Universal Studios as well as Illumination, we have created a new collectable series of cartons. This series of three Minions cartons along with the 6-pack case design  are an eye-catching addition to any collection.

Boxed Water invited us to team up on one of their latest collaborations with Universal Studios. We worked directly with Universal and Amblin entertainment on everything from packaging and POP materials to park signage and swag. 

Universal + Boxed Water Digital Ads

Boxed Water + Universal

Revolution Farms

Revolution Farm came to us on behalf of the Lettuce Eat More Greens organization that aims to educate people on the benefits of hydroponic farming. We were brought in to create an educational explainer video about hydroponic farming aimed toward Michigan children. The Keen team created custom illustrations and bright eye-catching colors and scenes to keep the attention of the viewers.We also created an interactive quiz based on the information learned in the video. This quiz is accessible through the custom website that you can access at LettuceEatMoreGreens.com.

Payload CMS

Payload is an industry leading headless CMS that we have had the pleasure of working with since its conception.  The Payload team  came to us for  a number of promotional videos as well as animation for their website.

Caterpillar

Rockford Contruction

A fresh look for the Rockford Construction site, creating a unique hub for crafting new neighborhoods and managing properties.

Bold typography paired with a subtle, yet dynamic blueprint pattern creates a special branded look for the site.

Rockford Construction

Crafting an effective digital campaign in today's environment takes a unique approach. We strive to communicate your brand in a way that will engage, inform and entertain. 

Digital Advertising

Here is where we implement the results of our exploration into a custom motion production. Whether kicking off a 50-person film set or crafting the first (of hundreds) of individual visual assets for an animation, this is where the rubber meets the road.

Keen collaborated with Klarna’s team in Stockholm, Sweden to revamp their entire U.S. web presence. Helping the largest bank in Europe to bring their brand stateside was a truly unique experience.

From concept to code, Keen was able to help the largest bank in Sweden find their U.S. audience on the web.

Work

Banking In 8-bit

Imagine IF...

Little Buds

Pizza Time

Find Your Own Path

Universal Hydration

Lettuce Eat More Greens

Going Headless

Process Illustrations

Built from the ground up

"I’ve got a fin on my head."