Mascot worldbuilding for the experts in email

What happens when a client arrives on your doorstep with a beloved, playful character already at their disposal? You have no other choice but to unleash the beast. In rebranding Inbox Monster, Verve birthed a green, hairy, and mascot-led brand universe that is simply unforgettable.

Shake the sending scaries

Hardcore email marketing teams need to build campaigns that stick the landing into tens of thousands of inboxes. But clicking the send button on this colossal scale can cause sweat-inducing levels of stress. We call these the sending scaries. And Inbox Monster is here to help nip them in the bud.

An email newsletter is infinitely more complex than its design alone. You need meticulous inbox placement and click through rates. Plus deliverability analytics, creative rendering tools and dark mode compatibility on demand. These product features have already helped North Carolina-based Inbox Monster build a cult following of email marketers. Now, tongue-in-cheek messaging frameworks and brand guidelines ensure that all their communications resonate with this unique audience.

Our horniest custom typeface ever

More than a logo, Monstie is an internal and external mascot, popping up across all brand touchpoints. Our custom Monstie Sans typeface transplants horns and tufts of hair into the design of each character. Type nerds will take extra delight in special ligatures, like the zigging and zagging “ww”s you’ll catch in Monstie’s signature rawwr.

Your emotional support monster

Every aspect of Inbox Monster’s world building reflects their user community of email marketers. For them, Monstie’s omnipresence helps demystify and de-scarify the process of large-scale email campaigning. The integration of this lovable mascot – in all its color iterations, each with their own distinct character design – informs UX and UI design, and every way this brand speaks to the world.

These friendly digital interactions serve as a constant invitation for users to join the community of Monsties. Our designs help drive home that Inbox Monster is here always here to extend a green, furry paw to anyone who needs it.

An epic brand impact

Verve was able to create a whole world for Monstie without sacrificing Inbox Monster’s ability to clearly communicate the unmatched value and impact that their tools bring to high-performance, highly-technical email teams.

Now this product’s impactful ROI feels epic, while remaining rooted in a playful sense of community. It’s the kind of result you can only reach with a meaningfully collaborative process and playful relationship between key creatives and client. In this project, we’ve felt very lucky to have both.

Laura Sullivan, Head of Brand & Marketing at Inbox Monster

“Verve has far exceeded my expectations, acting as a true creative partner throughout our rebranding process and brought so much creative pizzazz to the project. We’re walking away with a brand that is truly unique in the marketplace.”

Client
Inbox Monster

Services

Brand Strategy
Brand Identity
Digital Design
Custom Typeface

Collaboration

Photography by Mark David Weverling
Icon animations by Patswerk
3D swag designed by Matthew Gilbert
Typeface designed with Blast Foundary
Monstie hands stitched by Walewijn den Boer

Scheduling emails to tens of thousands of customers is enough to give anyone the “sending scaries”. Inbox Monster’s suite of expert tools make sure email marketers feel confident when they do get to smash that send button.

Now, armed with our mascot-led rebrand, US-based Inbox Monster has a playful new brand to help them share this messaging with the world. By introducing Monstie across all touchpoints, in all his green and hairy glory, Verve has made sure this brand stands out vividly from the crowd.