All workCase study 05 / 05

Pulse

Identity, companion app and launch campaign for a recovery-first fitness wearable.

Client: Pulse
Year: 2023
Industry: Consumer health
Timeline: 8 months
Services: Brand identityProduct designCampaign

A smartwatch with a sand-colored strap resting on a linen cushion in soft daylight

(01)The challenge

The wearables market is loud: bigger numbers, brighter rings, longer streaks. Pulse's hardware measured something rarer, how ready your body actually is, but the prototype app buried that insight under a wall of metrics.

(02)Our approach

We designed the whole experience around one daily readiness score and a single sentence of plain advice. The identity is soft and tactile, closer to a training journal than a gadget, and it carries from the packaging to the watch face to the launch film.

A runner pushing through a foggy street race as spectators cheer from both sides

Fig. 01

The launch campaign was shot at real races at dawn, celebrating the runners who know when to push and when to rest.

(03)Results

48k

Preorders in launch month

71%

Of owners open the app every day

4.7

Average rating across app stores

Launching hardware is terrifying. Cinder made the brand, the app and the campaign feel like one idea, and our preorders showed it.

James WhitfieldFounder, Pulse

Next case study

Kiln

Brand and developer platform for AI infrastructure

Abstract streaks of orange and yellow light forming soft glowing loops