Redefining a swedish car audio hero - Brand, strategy and product development

Our mission was to build a brand with values and content that inspires, and after that to create new product lines that the customers will desire.

New "bang for the buck" brands would always be a threat to GAS.   To combat this we needed to boost customer loyalty by further building the brand. GAS needed to stand for a way of life. It needed to be expressive, over the top and hardcore, but also honest and passionate - not taking them selves to serious.

Who should "GAS" be as a brand? They should be the no bullshit brand, not the cheap componets brand. They should be the passionate brand, passion build our customers sound systems, not heaps of money. The passion for over the top audio unites our customers, not the size of thier wallets.

We needed to create a clear product ladder, together with good product information. How you choose to compose your system is a big thing, some customers want to find the exact sound balance for them, others want to know that they got the best bang for the buck. By combining the existing categories into groups we made the product ladder easier to follow. We ended up with a main block with three steps, complimented by specialized categories.

Once we had defined the general brand we needed to give life to the different steps in the product ladder. In order to do this we needed to answer many new questions, E.g - What qualities defines a "MAD" product? Who is the targeted customer? How can we visually differentiate the MAD, MAX and CMP-series from each other, and what binds them together?

later in the process we often start working together with our customers internal teams, the idea is that the internal teams should be able to take over the development over time. Here for example we have created package guidles that the internal team will finalize with our guidence.

We aided GAS in the transition from depending on "off the shelves products and parts, to becoming a company that can design and develop their own products from scratch when desired. We created new product lines with several example products to get the new internal product development going. We leave nothing to chance, we create everthing needed to produce the finished products - We do ideation, conceptualization, product design and production materials.

Sketches of a future GAS-web to visualize how the new brand & categories will feel and function.

Shaky is derived from the classic smiley. The same smiley nirvana adapted into their classic icon, and that we use today to communicate our feelings while texting. The icon shaky works as a bridge to the brand. You dont need a gas system in your car to wear the shaky icon, it speaks to all people that are radical, hardcore, and play it loud.

A fun and expressive animation that can be added to digital media. Shaky can also shake to a songs beat!

MAD-SERIES delivers a lot of sound to a great price. It is over the top, expressive and youthful

Raw and simplistic forms with bold graphics

The graphics gives off an animal pattern vibe, as well as a military camouflage feel. It is meant to be a fun tool to be creative with. It can for example be used in graphical layouts or as a pattern on the actual products.

The bold graphics stands out from the rest of the crowd. Something most speakers struggles with, especially online. We can get extra crazy with the speakers backsides sins they will usually not be visible once installed in the cars.

An iconic aluminium extrusion design, that is true to the "MAD" vibe.

Exciting form does not have to be more expensive when doing tooling for new products.

Made to be recognized and heard from afar

Max-series represents the mid-range products. It is dark and uses orange only as an accent. It is more mature and has a mysterios feel.

Max-series moodboard

In the Max-series we up the ante and use more custom design parts, more raw material finishes sush as anodized aluminum and add more expensive details.

The orange tinted see trough side panels shows off the lit internal components and is a guaranteed eye catcher.

The best of the best, for those who play to win. This line of products uses an extensive amount of custom designed parts and elements. Raw sandblasted aluminum is the stand out material troughout the series.

Initial work creating guidelines for the physical spaces of brand.