I created Nox technology as a response to a two-part university brief. First, I had to create a brand and a product that they would be selling. For the second part, I had to create an advertisement for this product.
The biggest challenge was working for a very specific and demanding target audience. Because IT professionals, particularly hackers, have in-depth knowledge of computers and system technology, my designs must address the specific needs of advanced users. Understanding the niche topic and learning their vocabulary was essential to building the customer's trust in the brand.
Inspired by a famous puzzle, Cicada 3301 (2012–2014), I decided to create an online recruitment puzzle, a strategy sometimes used by special forces and big security companies to recruit skilled hackers and IT professionals to join their teams. At the end of the puzzle, the players would receive a Nox product as a prize.
Nox is a company strongly connected to its community. Large corporations frequently sacrifice their customers' relationships and well-being for profit, whereas Nox fights against this. Nox aims to bring well-built technology closer to younger generations with the help of old veterans and create a community that helps each other learn and cooperate to create the programmers of the future.
Inspired by the Cicada, I decided to create a marketing puzzle that would attract my customers by promising a limited-edition Nox product as a prize. The puzzle would utilize all sorts of social outlets, including social media (Reddit, 4chan, Twitter; frequently used by my target audience), as well as radio, TV, and streaming services (Netflix, Spotify, YouTube), to create a complex multistage puzzle of encrypted messages, which would lead to the Nox Puzzle Website. It's a place where players can register and obtain access to a hacking tournament, where they will collect points by playing games to win prizes.
