Whisky Vibes: Storytelling, Ritual, and Building a Brand Around a Feeling

A case study on building an aesthetic-first lifestyle experiment for social spaces

TL;DR

Whisky Vibes was my personal experiment to understand how storytelling, ritual, and design could blend into a brand that feels like a mood. It wasn’t about selling a product — it was about crafting an identity. I built visuals, cards, prompts, content funnels, and aesthetic language to explore how people engage with “vibes” in digital communities.

Background

Most lifestyle brands are built to sell. I wanted to flip the script and ask:

What if we built a brand to feel something first, and only sell later?

Inspired by social rituals like late-night conversations, warm lighting, ambient music, and of course — shared drinks — Whisky Vibes emerged as a digital storytelling experiment around moments, mood, and bonding.

The Problem

• People crave experiences more than products, but brands still lead with features

• Group hangouts are stuck in “cards or Uno” cycles — people want new rituals

• Storytelling online is often loud and salesy — few brands feel like a vibe

• I wanted to explore: Can a brand be calm, sensual, slow — and still spread?

The Idea

Whisky Vibes is a lifestyle card + content experiment. It mixes:

• Aesthetically designed cards (mood prompts, deep questions, “slow games”)

• Visual storytelling on social media

• A brand narrative rooted in warmth, ritual, intimacy, and subtle rebellion

It’s not about whisky. It’s about what whisky nights feel like.

What I Built

🎨 Brand Visual Language

• Designed with a deep, moody color palette (charcoal, amber, navy)

• Typography that evokes calm, craft, and elegance

• Used visuals inspired by Japanese bars, vinyl sleeves, flickering candlelight

🃏 Card Game Prototype

• Developed 3 card categories:

  • “Unfiltered” (deep conversations)

  • “Burn Slow” (rituals & moods)

  • “Flip the Mood” (micro-games and dares)

• Created mockups in Figma for Instagram + prototyping deck

📲 Content Funnel

• Posted swipe cards on Instagram: “What vibe are you tonight?”

• Created tap-to-reveal stories with ambience and music

• Experimented with caption copy psychology (short, open-ended, poetic)

Experiments & Results

• Ran 2 A/B tests: warm color palette vs grayscale

• Tracked saves & shares on content to test resonance

• Created mock landing page for pre-orders (no marketing budget)

What Worked:

• Emotional storytelling + slow pacing = high engagement

• People shared content without knowing it was a brand

• Reels with ambience + prompts > static cards

What I Learned

• Brands are not logos — they’re moods

• If you create something that people feel seen by, they’ll carry it

• Minimal can be powerful — I avoided loud CTAs and still drove traffic

• Storytelling and commerce don’t have to fight — they can dance

What’s Next

I’m evolving Whisky Vibes into:

• A small-batch physical card deck for urban audiences

• A social ritual toolkit — games, playlists, drink recipes, shared experiences

• Possibly integrating it into Foreplay as a “night mood” extension pack

Final Thoughts

Whisky Vibes was never about whisky. It was about creating something soft, real, and slow in a world that moves fast. It taught me how to design not just for users — but for atmosphere, emotion, and memory.

See the moodboard: amishsri.framer.website
Follow the energy: wiskeyvibes