Alienware: Re:Think / Re:Imagine

The brief

Find a broken brand and rebuild it. Understand why a brand is failing, then rebuild it into something more relevant, considered and visually compelling, delivered as brand guidelines and a motion-based launch film.

Why Alienware

Alienware was born with a soul in 1996, in a Miami garage. Dell bought it in 2006, the founders left and the identity went with them. Ad revenue is down 80% since 2014 and the look is stuck in the 1990s, while the hardware is world class. I grew up saving up for one of these machines, and that feeling of something from another world is what the refresh needed to bring back.

The direction

Research across eight brands showed Alienware is mostly bought by casual users and home-office workers, yet every campaign it has made only speaks to existing gamers. The answer is a refresh, not a full rebrand: Alienware exists to make you feel like the most unique person in the room. The line: “From another reality. Built for yours.”

The system

Void Black and Signal Green, with chrome and ash, set in Neue Machina. The logo is a doodle mark around the outer rings, chosen from 20 directions. A hand-built 26 character alien alphabet runs through everything and decodes on screen.

The brand moves

Motion is the identity: deliberate, atmospheric, signal-like and cinematic. Nothing rushes, and green arrives rather than departs. The motion work includes a logo reveal sting, a scramble effect where the alien language decodes, a TV wall and a launch film.

The TV wall

A stacked wall of retro TVs, each broadcasting an alien scramble message that decodes live. Built in After Effects with a mockup rendered in Blender. A QR code on one screen links to a Transmission website where visitors type a message that appears in the alien script, designed for an Outernet London activation.