A content system that puts
the creator first
Most brand social puts the brand at the centre. The content is about the company — its products, its values, its voice. For VSCO, that approach was exactly wrong.
VSCO's audience aren't passive consumers, they're makers. A platform that talks about itself to a community of creators isn't a brand — it's a landlord. The strategy had to invert the usual logic: VSCO's social presence should disappear into the community's work, not sit on top of it.
Working with a creative strategist, I built a content architecture around four pillars — each one a different way of centering the creator rather than the brand.
Creator Sessions gave working photographers the editorial treatment usually reserved for magazine features. In one, photographer Jason Travis walks through his kit: an Instax for behind-the-scenes surprises, a DJI drone for aerial perspective, a Canon R5 as his main workhorse, a 35mm L35AF from the eighties, an iPhone because it's always in his pocket. The brand's job was to make that feel worth watching — nothing more.
Preset Launches used community members' own photographs as the demonstration canvas. The High Beam series launch built its before-and-after around VSCO user shamaal's work — not a stock image, not a brand-controlled shot. The slider showing the effect's weight was also showing that the preset belonged to the community.
Pro Spotlights gave members' professional practice the space it deserved. Photographer Will Milne's spotlight led with his own language for his own work: "vibrant minimalism." Aerial shots of parking lots and tennis courts, hard light, bold colour, the AU5 preset pulling out the pink and blue tones he was looking for. The brand's role was to find someone worth spotlighting and get out of the way.
Selects ran as monthly showcases: community photographs animated in VSCO's visual style, each creator's handle called out as their image appeared. No editorial voice. Just curation.
The four pillars map directly onto the motion system from VSCO 2.0 — each After Effects template rebuilt so the output felt distinct while the visual language stayed coherent. That's the design challenge the system solved: holding a consistent identity across content that was, by definition, someone else's.
Role: Art Director / Motion Designer
Agency: Wpromote
VSCO's audience aren't passive consumers, they're makers. A platform that talks about itself to a community of creators isn't a brand — it's a landlord. The strategy had to invert the usual logic: VSCO's social presence should disappear into the community's work, not sit on top of it.
Working with a creative strategist, I built a content architecture around four pillars — each one a different way of centering the creator rather than the brand.
Creator Sessions gave working photographers the editorial treatment usually reserved for magazine features. In one, photographer Jason Travis walks through his kit: an Instax for behind-the-scenes surprises, a DJI drone for aerial perspective, a Canon R5 as his main workhorse, a 35mm L35AF from the eighties, an iPhone because it's always in his pocket. The brand's job was to make that feel worth watching — nothing more.
Preset Launches used community members' own photographs as the demonstration canvas. The High Beam series launch built its before-and-after around VSCO user shamaal's work — not a stock image, not a brand-controlled shot. The slider showing the effect's weight was also showing that the preset belonged to the community.
Pro Spotlights gave members' professional practice the space it deserved. Photographer Will Milne's spotlight led with his own language for his own work: "vibrant minimalism." Aerial shots of parking lots and tennis courts, hard light, bold colour, the AU5 preset pulling out the pink and blue tones he was looking for. The brand's role was to find someone worth spotlighting and get out of the way.
Selects ran as monthly showcases: community photographs animated in VSCO's visual style, each creator's handle called out as their image appeared. No editorial voice. Just curation.
The four pillars map directly onto the motion system from VSCO 2.0 — each After Effects template rebuilt so the output felt distinct while the visual language stayed coherent. That's the design challenge the system solved: holding a consistent identity across content that was, by definition, someone else's.
Role: Art Director / Motion Designer
Agency: Wpromote
CREATOR SESSIONS
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PRESETS
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PRO SPOTLIGHT
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SELECTS
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