How do you give someone music? Sure, you can hit the share button and text them a song or playlist, but what if it's not just the music you want to give; what if it's a feeling, an intention?
My solution; reintroduce a physical aspect to digital music. I adapted the cassette tape, a form that already exists and carries its own significance and meaning, and added NFC functionality to it. By combining these two existing technologies it created something simultaneously new and old. Simply hold your phone to a Post Tape, and the playlist opens, like magic. It allows for you to not just curate a playlist with intention, but to share it with intention too.
The music can express a feeling, but the tape becomes a memento that expresses a sentiment. A big part of that sentiment is in the physical packaging, the artwork, and the feeling of holding it in your hand and hearing the cassette rattle against the jewel case. Combining those elements with the "magic" of simply holding your phone to it and music instantly appears is a peanut butter and chocolate combo that receiving a link to a playlist can't come close to.
As with all Fiction projects, building out the brand was a compelling challenge; specially since this time there wasn't a satirical angle to the project. The original spark of the concept was to use greeting cards, so the name Post Tape carries dual meaning of being sent through the mail but also being post, as in after, traditional physical media.
Even though it is a product built around audio, I wanted to continue that dual meaning forward visually as well. Everything, from the language to the colors to the videos, are aiming for the middle between past and present. The goal was to create a feeling and identity around the product and the concept, without losing sight of the purpose and the function.
Coming from a music background, I initially was hoping that musicians and bands would take it and run with it, but I quickly found that marketers, brands, and event planners were the natural first adopters. I've had a blast working on projects for businesses from marketing agencies, to national beverage brands, to wedding planners.
Post Tape is endlessly adaptable, it's continually inspiring to have new avenues to explore.
Head on over to playposttape.com to learn more!