Mailchimp started out as an email marketing platform, but today they offer services like landing pages, social ads, CRM, and more. Their biggest challenge was getting customers to understand that Mailchimp did more than email. The other challenge? Marketing terms can be confusing and super boring for people not in the industry. We needed to tell the story of Mailchimp’s expanded offering in a way that captured and held the attention of their primary customer—small business owners.

Mailchimp started out as an email marketing platform, but today offer services like landing pages, social ads, CRM, and more. Their biggest challenge was getting customers to understand that Mailchimp did more than email. The other challenge? Marketing terms can be confusing and super boring for people not in the industry. We needed to tell the story of Mailchimp’s expanded offering in a way that captured and held the attention of their primary customer—small business owners.

Our goal was to promote the expanded offering while keeping things “Mailchimp-y.” Instead of designing a bunch of charts with arrows going up, up, up, we worked with illustrators to reinterpret textbook marketing terms. Ten emerging artists developed a suite of 200+ illustrations that told the story of Mailchimp. Each artist brought their own perspective and style to the table. Together, they created a diverse world of voices and ideas capturing the Mailchimp ethos.

Mailchimp is a tech product in a category rife with clichés. Our system breaks through the “blanding” by celebrating individual expression over perfection—a nod to Mailchimp’s small business target. We chose a diverse range of illustrators to reinterpret textbook marketing terms in ways that were true to each artist’s process. Complex topics like multivariate testing were broken down into simple prompts, resulting in metaphors that are offbeat yet relatable and clear.

Mailchimp is a tech product in a category rife with clichés. Our system breaks through the “blanding” by celebrating individual expression over perfection—a nod to Mailchimp’s small business base. We chose a diverse range of illustrators to reinterpret textbook marketing terms in ways that were true to each artist’s process. Complex topics like multivariate testing were broken down into simple prompts, resulting in metaphors that are offbeat yet relatable and clear.

In total, 200+ illustrations were developed over the course of two months. We commissioned 11 illustrators from all over the world to add their voice to the system. We intentionally chose illustrators from diverse backgrounds, sourcing many from our own Instagram feeds. Nine of the eleven illustrators were women and many had never sold their work commercially before the project.

Each artist was encouraged to utilized the brushes and materials that best expressed their unique style. We kept the palette to pure black to provide consistency in the system while still allowing for maximum variety of creative approach. When final illustrations were selected, the images were scanned and only minimally retouched. The goal was to keep as much imperfection within the design as possible

The illustrations were an integral part of the relaunch of Mailchimp in September of 2018. They provided the backbone for almost all graphic moments within the website experience as well as being featured prominently in all marketing moments, from print to out-of-home, to digital media and beyond.

The new design system, tone of voice, and navigation make it easier for prospective customers to find what they are looking for, understand the Mailchimp offering, and convert to sign up. In the 90 days following the September 26 launch, signups totaled 1,018,061—a 13% lift over the previous 90 days. During the same period, 29% more customers upgraded their free accounts to paid—a priority conversion for the brand. Site activity also improved, with +14% page views and a -26% bounce rate.