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

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

Most lifestyle brands are built to sell. I wanted to flip the script entirely.

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

That question became Whisky Vibes. Not a product. Not a campaign. A mood.

The Problem

People crave experiences more than products — but brands still lead with features. Group hangouts cycle through the same rituals — cards, Uno, nothing new. Storytelling online is loud and transactional. Few brands feel like a genuine vibe.

I wanted to explore a specific question: can a brand be calm, sensual, and slow — and still spread?

The Mood

A full-bleed mood board — charcoal, amber, navy tones. Japanese bar aesthetics, vinyl sleeves, candlelight. Set the atmosphere before showing any product.

The Idea

Whisky Vibes is a lifestyle card and content experiment. It mixes aesthetically designed mood cards, visual storytelling on social media, and a brand narrative rooted in warmth, ritual, intimacy, and subtle rebellion.

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

That distinction — between the product and the feeling it produces — became the entire design brief.

What I Built

Brand Visual Language A deep, moody colour palette — charcoal, amber, navy — inspired by Japanese bars, vinyl record sleeves, and flickering candlelight. Typography that evokes calm, craft, and quiet elegance. Every visual decision was filtered through one question: does this feel like a vibe or just a design?

Card Game Prototype Three card categories designed with distinct emotional tones:

• Unfiltered — deep conversation prompts

• Burn Slow — rituals and mood-setting moments

• Flip the Mood — micro-games and light dares

Card mockups were built in Figma for Instagram content and prototype deck testing.

Content Funnel Swipe cards on Instagram asking "What vibe are you tonight?" Tap-to-reveal stories with ambient audio and music. Caption copy written with psychology in mind — short, open-ended, poetic. No loud CTAs.

Card Designs

Experiments & What I Found

A/B Test — Warm palette vs. grayscale Warm palette consistently outperformed on saves and shares. Warmth isn't just aesthetic — it's emotional permission. People save content that makes them feel something, not content that looks technically impressive.

Reels with ambience + prompts outperformed static cards significantly Motion and atmosphere together created a stronger emotional pull than either alone. The best performing content didn't explain the brand — it demonstrated the feeling.

People shared content without knowing it was a brand This was the most interesting result. When the storytelling is right, the audience becomes the distribution channel. Nobody was sharing a logo — they were sharing a feeling they wanted their friends to experience.

Content & Analytics

Design Principles I Discovered

Brands are not logos — they're moods. Every visual, every caption, every interaction either builds the mood or breaks it. There's no neutral.

Minimal can be powerful. I avoided loud CTAs throughout the experiment and still drove traffic and engagement. Restraint signals confidence. Loud signals desperation.

Slow storytelling spreads. In a world of fast content, content that asks you to pause — to sit with something — stands out precisely because it's rare.

If people feel seen by something, they'll carry it. The highest form of brand design isn't awareness — it's identity. When someone shares your content, they're saying something about themselves. Design for that moment.

📸 Image 4 — Brand System

What's Next

Whisky Vibes is evolving into:

• A small-batch physical card deck for urban audiences

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

• A potential "night mood" extension pack integrated with Foreplay

Reflection: Designing for Atmosphere

Whisky Vibes was the most purely creative thing I've built. No stakeholders, no sprint deadlines, no user stories. Just a feeling I wanted to create and a set of design decisions about how to get there.

It taught me something I apply to every product I work on now: the most powerful design doesn't tell you what to think — it creates the conditions for you to feel something on your own.

That's harder than any UI problem I've solved. And more rewarding.

Whisky Vibes — a brand built around a feeling, not a product. See the moodboard: amishsri.framer.website

Designed by Amish Srivastava — UX & Product Designer amishsri.framer.website