Redefining social media: from passive scrolling to active earning.
BRAND NAMING
BRAND IDENTITY
BRAND STRATEGY
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
COMMUNICATION DESIGN
UI/UX DESIGN
The Challenge
In an overcrowded social media landscape where a handful of creators monopolize fame and financial rewards, GoBazzinga set out to flip the script. Their vision was to build HotOrNot — a challenge-driven short-video platform that rewards every user’s time, attention, and effort, not just the top influencers.
Our challenge was to translate this bold, disruptive idea into a brand and product experience that felt authentic to Gen Z, instantly engaging, and unmistakably different from the existing social ecosystem.
Fresh, fearless,
and fiercely Gen Z
We began by crafting a powerful brand identity that captured the platform’s dual nature — the thrill of going hot 🔥 and the sting of going not 💀. The final mark fused a flaming heart, symbolizing passion, popularity, and heat, with a flaming skull, representing rejection, risk, and edge — an emblem of the high-stakes, high-reward culture HotOrNot promised to build.
Next, we shaped a bold and irreverent communication design system that spoke the language of Gen Z: playful and designed to be shared. Every tagline, tone choice, and micro-interaction leaned into the culture of participation and the adrenaline rush of competition.
Thumb-stopping UI/UX
Finally, we designed a seamless, thumb-stopping UI/UX that made jumping into challenges effortless, voting addictive, and engagement deeply rewarding. The interface was built around speed, clarity, and community — ensuring that every action, from creating to competing, felt intuitive and gratifying. This wasn’t just another social platform. It was a rebellion against passive consumption — and we were tasked with bringing that rebellion to life through identity, language, and experience.
The Impact
The launch of HotOrNot transformed GoBazzinga’s vision into a living, breathing social ecosystem — one that empowered users to become creators, challengers, and earners from day one. The bold identity and irreverent voice instantly struck a chord with Gen Z, helping the platform stand out in a saturated short-video space.
Ultimately, HotOrNot didn’t just enter the social video market — it rewrote the rules.
