During my time at CHI&Partners, I worked solely on R. J. Reynolds’ brand, Vuse - the first vapour cigarette to market in the U.S.

From day 1, our approach was to cause disruption in the vapour category, launching the product with a multi-channel approach. We promoted Vuse with print, direct mail, and TV advertising, which was unusual for tobacco products in the U.S at the time.

I was lucky to be exposed to every aspect of the account, which started my journey to becoming the integrated designer I am today. From storyboarding a flavour-based television commercial, leaning on my Industrial Design degree to work on creating new products, working on the UI of their first app, through to producing the first set of brand guidelines.

Whilst in the role, I helped Vuse become the biggest vapour product offering in the U.S within 12 months of its national launch, with an annual turnover of over $500 million.

A large amount of my time working on Vuse was spent on new product development. Leaning on my degree in Industrial Design, I worked closely with dedicated Product Designers to come up with new products which went in to testing.
I was the only designer to go on a 12-day co-creation business trip across America. This involved presenting my designs to consumers in workshops, receiving feedback, and making changes on the fly.

When Vuse launched, cartridges came in two flavours - original (tobacco) and menthol. After gaining traction in the market, R. J. Reynolds designed four new flavours.
We were briefed to create the TVC to launch these. Working with the Creative Director, we established a look and feel for each flavour (the challenge being that it had to be an abstract representation as we couldn’t be literal and show a selection of berries for Berry).

We were briefed to design the app for Reynolds’ newly launched product – an updated version of their entry product, now containing bluetooth technology.
This smartphone connected app would convey information from the Vuse product, allowing the user real-time status updates for cartridge and battery levels, ensuring worry-free vaping.

It was built from my visuals and was available to download nine months after receiving the brief.

Due to the brand being built from scratch, the first iteration of the brand guidelines was hugely important to nail down rules around how all areas of the brand was implemented.

Client: R. J. Reynolds
Category: Integrated Case Study
Involvement: Art Direction  |  Design
Agency: CHI&Partners   •   Year: 2013 - 2015
Market Region: U.S
Software: Photoshop