Overview
SolarWinds is a globally known IT tech company that focuses on reliable and efficient products to enable better monitoring, data management, and hybrid integration for the IT professionals of the world.
Our Initiative
We represent the solutions of our IT products in creative, groundbreaking ways. We show our customers that we are quirky AND professional, all the while leading the charge in the IT industry.
THWACK CAMP
THWACKcamp is an annual, two-day virtual event hosted by SolarWinds. The focus is to give IT users the tips and tricks to navigate and conquer the ever-expanding world of IT, packed with a bit of fun of course!
THWACKcamp 2022
Web Content
Social media and web banners promoting THWACK Camp before, during, and after the event. The banners vary in their purposes, but remain firmly connected to the campaign.
Printed Content
A promotional handout to be given to guests at events, encouraging them to register for THWACK Camp.
THWACK MISSIONS
A “THWACK mission” is a monthly virtual event hosted on the SolarWinds THWACK community forum. Each mission highlights one of our products or services and involves carefully written questions that put the challengers’ expertise to the test. As much as it is a puzzle, it is also a strong community builder, bringing THWACK users together to discuss questions, answers, and outcomes.
BRACKET BATTLE
“Bracket Battle” is an annual event hosted on THWACK, and is a nod to the ever-popular March Madness basketball bracket. Each year brings a new topic for debate, discussion, and voting.
Bracket Battle 2024
The animated logo, which I did myself!
Bracket Battle 2023
In addition to the bracket itself, here is a more fleshed-out version of Toys 4 Techies with this home page banner. This particular mission took a ’90s nostalgia route and capitalized on references to AOL-like chat rooms paired with the retro browser layout (with the notable addition of the loading bar of course).
Here’s one of my favorite features of this project: the animated version of the logo lockup. This is laid on top of the bracket battle itself.
Animation by Katie Heywood.
Blog Images
Blogs can be found on Orangematter & Geekspeak.
Print Designs
CARE + Purpose Banners
As the return to office date drew closer for SolarWinds, they sought materials to welcome employees back into the building, requesting banners among other things to greet people as they came in.
THWACK Puzzle
In the midst of refreshing our stock in the THWACK store, we designed this puzzle to be unique in a way that became a compilation of all things THWACK! This included references to past missions, podcasts, THWACKcamp, etc.
Puzzle marks shown below:
THWACK SmartPad
Available on the THWACK store, we designed this smart pad for your everyday IT Pro to house their mouse and keyboard on. The orginal design was created by Roel Macias, which was expanded upon for this project.
THWACK Socks
Also available on the THWACK store, socks!
Social Media Posts
SolarWinds likes to engage on social media and celebrate holidays, achievements, public events, and so on. Below are a few examples:
Banner Templates
As part of our rebrand, I created a few varying digital banner templates in Photoshop that see everyday use in the creative team. These banners are used as promotional tools when it comes to featuring one of our products or services.
How do they work?
Using the power of smart objects, data sets, and layer comps, I helped create a seamless system that requires nothing more than selecting a color and inputting a photo and text. Instead of manually adjusting each individual banner, the user can make one change to affect all banners.
Webcast Template
Webcasts are a form of streaming televised content, whether live or pre-recorded, to an audience. These banners help promote these events.
This banner set has 3 color variations: black, orange, and silver.
Campaign Template
This is used for any product launches or promotional campaigns we’re running.
This banner set has 3 color variations: black, orange, and silver.
Events Template
For any events that we’re hosting or will be featured at.
This banner set has 3 color variations: black, orange, and silver.
Public Sector Webinar Template
This is specific to our broadcasted events for Public Sector, similar to webcasts.
This banner set has 3 color variations: black, orange, and silver.
