Role

Creative direction | Research | Experience design | Illustration | Icon design | Prototyping | Brand strategy & development

Concept

I wanted to celebrate Twilio’s contribution to modern communications, inform Twilions and their visitors of the history of communications, while creating a space for the researchers serving the development of the future of communications.

A museum just happens to fulfill those goals so my team and I proposed it as the conceptual lens in our approach as we designed the new office space.

Process

Once we got the approval to design the Museum of Communications, we kicked off the project with a full day of museum visits! Our goal was to identify what made museums feel like museums, and if there were any easy things we could implement to help make Twilio’s new office feel like one too.

There were a lot of factors that factor into the museum atmosphere like lighting and space which we might not have as much control over. But there were things that we could definitely replicate in the office, like floor marker to keep museum goers from getting too close to the art, maps, and our favorite – the gift shop.

Planning

We got floor plans of the space designed walking tours around the office, dividing sections of the space into different “wings” which then informed the artifacts and murals we would display.

Celebrating our successes

We curated installations that showed off our accomplishments, and showcased lots of artifacts that we collected since the company’s founding.

Most installations are focused, highlighting themes like our annual conferences with banners. We have a banner starting from 2012 with our conference was called TwilioCon.

Some of these installations feature a wider mix of artifacts, but are presented with a phone number that you can text to learn more about the items on display.

Wayfinding pictograms

I decided to design a collection of 37 pictograms that featured Twilio’s unofficial mascot. And whenever I had the chance I snuck in a little morse code too!

Localization

In the midst of designing Twilio’s HQ as the Museum of Communications, we were presented with the opportunity to redesign all of Twilio’s 26 office across 17 countries.

Whilst we were able to repurpose some installations and murals in different offices, we wanted each office and its local twilion community’s voice to shine through. So each office would get a localized and unique mural.

I wanted to make sure that every Twilio office felt cohesive so every lobby had a modular installation with displaying some artifacts of communications like bugles, messages in bottles, and telephones – and soup can telephones.

I also took the opportunity to chat with twilions from the location to learn more about the local culture which I could incorporate into the design.