Smoothie
Where great web3 products get discovered
2022
Ongoing
Smoothie
Smoothie is a web3 discovery protocol that helps products grow. With Smoothie, web3 startups are able to continuously build awareness of their product by engaging and connecting with their potential users. Post-review by the Smoothie team, startups add their product to Smoothie and fellow community members vote for their favorites. Smoothie makes it simple to exchange valuable feedback, while building trust and relationships. A single reliable source of truth, Smoothie is where great web3 products become discoverable and where anyone can discover the best of web3.
CEO
Matt Kim
CTO
Kaiser Kim
Co-founded with
Founding story
The web2 mechanisms that historically allowed businesses to connect with users and peers simply don’t exist for web3. In founding Smoothie, Matt Kim, Kaiser Kim and Enes Paker, began a mission to enable web3 startups to bypass the barriers between them and their peers and potential users. They sought to create a platform that would help great products to be discovered and grow, while aiding passionate members of the web3 community to cut through the noise and discover the very best of web3. We are proud to have been involved in Smoothie’s story from the beginning, operating as a founding design team and helping them bring their vision to fruition.
The challenge
When it comes to marketing your product and connecting to users and communities, web3 is a locked box – restricted to crypto wallet users. To compound the issue, legacy web2 channels for gaining traction and growing as a business don’t exist for web3: ads, email, data, push notifications – you name it. Pseudonymity is a crucial pillar, but with it comes further complexity. How do you reach your target audience when you know so little about them?
With Smoothie, startups can navigate the constraints of web3, gain awareness and grow their business. Web3 communities have gained the ability to discover the best of web3 quickly. Zypsy worked in partnership with Smoothie through the incubation and branding stages of their development and continues to support every facet of their business. Our role is to provide consultancy services to aid them on their journey, while continuing to develop a brand platform that mirrors the passion and excitement held by Smoothie, web3 creators and communities.
With Smoothie, startups can navigate the constraints of web3, gain awareness and grow their business. Web3 communities have gained the ability to discover the best of web3 quickly. Zypsy worked in partnership with Smoothie through the incubation and branding stages of their development and continues to support every facet of their business. Our role is to provide consultancy services to aid them on their journey, while continuing to develop a brand platform that mirrors the passion and excitement held by Smoothie, web3 creators and communities.
The solution
We worked with the Smoothie team to create a communications strategy and brand platform that would expertly relate the value of their product and mission.
Simplifying the complexity that revolves around web3 is at the heart of Smoothie.
We needed to find a way to communicate their message at scale and to provide continuing value to their target audience. To achieve this, we employed visual storytelling to distill the latest Smoothie and web3-related news. Content, such as the newest web3 trends, is broken down into sets of visuals and text bubbles. Eye-catching and punchy, each graphic draws from influences such as video games and comics. Smoothie’s popular newsletter and Twitter are used to distribute content like clockwork.
Web3 communities and creators are not boring, and neither is Smoothie. We developed a visual identity that reflects their excitement about web3 products and advancements.
Simplifying the complexity that revolves around web3 is at the heart of Smoothie.
We needed to find a way to communicate their message at scale and to provide continuing value to their target audience. To achieve this, we employed visual storytelling to distill the latest Smoothie and web3-related news. Content, such as the newest web3 trends, is broken down into sets of visuals and text bubbles. Eye-catching and punchy, each graphic draws from influences such as video games and comics. Smoothie’s popular newsletter and Twitter are used to distribute content like clockwork.
Web3 communities and creators are not boring, and neither is Smoothie. We developed a visual identity that reflects their excitement about web3 products and advancements.
A bright and bold color palette was chosen to distinguish Smoothie from the typically dry aesthetic of other web3 products and services. Clean, three-dimensional renders, motion graphics and animations are used to bring the branding to life. The logo was designed to represent the unification of web3 creators, communities and knowledge.
From a product design perspective, Smoothie needed to be simple to navigate and to make sharing your product and discovering exciting new offerings as easy as possible.
The Zypsy team created a UX and UI that makes onboarding and engaging fast. Visitors are instantly met by the latest range of top web3 products. Voting, following and commenting take only a click. It was essential that we created a space where the web3 community is front and center, and new relationships can instantly spark to life.
From a product design perspective, Smoothie needed to be simple to navigate and to make sharing your product and discovering exciting new offerings as easy as possible.
The Zypsy team created a UX and UI that makes onboarding and engaging fast. Visitors are instantly met by the latest range of top web3 products. Voting, following and commenting take only a click. It was essential that we created a space where the web3 community is front and center, and new relationships can instantly spark to life.
Impact
The Smoothie ecosystem has rapidly grown, with over 300 web3 startups joining the community since its launch. Community members are highly-engaged, meaning web3 creators' products are gaining awareness and traction in a way that was not previously possible. Smoothie is also growing – providing a more varied and deeper range of services and increasing headcount as it scales. The Smoothie newsletter has earned a following of over 10,000 subscribers and is an invaluable source of insight and news for its readership.
“Zypsy seriously has the best designs. With their strategic thinking and support for founders, they have been an incredible partner in bringing Smoothie from 0 to 1.”
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