IBM Chef Watson can generate thousands of recipes thanks to the power of cognitive. To create a challenge for Watson, we added a restraint – to create recipes with only four main ingredients starting with the letters E, A, T & S. We used a typographic solution to make each recipe unique and compelling, even with the same name.

Once the recipes were done, we could share the typographic designs on social media, where people could see the recipes and be encouraged to try cognitive cooking for themselves, with their own set of constraints for Chef Watson.

Because of our constraint, all of our recipes were named the same – EATS. But with the help of design and typography, each one was unique and bespoke.

To achieve this, we worked with artists, photographers and food stylists; we worked directly with them from rough sketches to final image.

An important part of the design was to make sure that the recipes were readable, appetizing and eye-catching. All of the typography was animated to catch the eye of the viewer. Because we wanted people to try out the recipes, and at the same time understand something more complicated, which is cognitive technology. The animated GIFs appeared on FaceBook and IBMblr, where viewers were treated to a unique “intro” to Watson.

The campaign with Chef Watson has seen a bigger success than campaigns for just IBM.

Some results:

80% of the videos/gifs have a 100 % completion rate on social media.

CTR raised at each new EATS post.