KISS-inspired Google Live case designs
Be together. Not the same.
Good news, rock fans! There’s another way to show your love for your favorite band. Inspired by the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, Google partnered with KISS frontmen Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to design and market Google Live Cases with KISS-inspired cover art. The Graphic Element was honored when Epic Rights approached us with this unique opportunity to design all 12 of the cases plus interactive wallpapers.
With an intriguing name such as Live Case, Google pushes the boundaries of smart phone customization by offering owners of Pixel, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X the ability to custom skin their smart phone both inside and out. With the rising popularity of smart phone use, it was only a matter of time when marketers would offer item-level customization to entice new users.
When you order your Google Live Case, you can choose from available artwork, location data or upload your own artwork. The KISS-inspired designs are found under the artwork category and feature some of the most iconic rock & roll imagery associated with KISS.
Working closely with Sophie Simmons’ vision of the project, case designs were targeted at Millennials with a focus toward the female customer. She chose iconic imagery from Epic Rights’ Kiss archives and we made them come alive on the cases. Since retro band art is so popular right now, we infused some of the cases with that vibe, as well as designing a custom case that reflects each band member’s persona.
Google provided the specs for both the printed cases and the their accompanying wallpapers. Our design challenge was the large camera eye in the middle of the back of the case. We wanted to make sure that the customer could take full advantage of the live customization, and scale the design to their liking, but we had to be careful that a large “hole” didn’t end up right in the middle of someone’s face!
We had the most fun creating the animated companion wallpapers that are available with four of the case designs. Making the KISS logo and other elements of the design pop with animation was one of our favorite parts of the project.
For years we’ve read that personalization was the next level in consumer marketing. Given their tagline “Be together. Not the same,” it was no surprise that Google first tried this concept with Skrillex on a handful of customized phone cases back in 2015. While the concept was good at the time, the execution left some users seriously underwhelmed.
Today’s model is a vast improvement over the Skrillex with improved design and functionality. Now, instead of the old retail model of one size fits most, owning a Google Live Case is like having your own personality in your back pocket. According to the Google interview, Simmons thinks Live Cases may be a new form of the classic concert t-shirt in giving fans a way to show their love for the band.
Our love for concert rock lives on in consumer-focused products such as these!
