![]() ![]() The team worked closely with Kim, identifying which icons should be part of the first push, what sort of style the cartoonish designs should take, and precisely the look and feel of the pack. The following months were spent executing the intense work of designing the pack. It didn’t take long for their team to realize that yes, Kimoji was a genius idea - a “duh” idea, really - and yes, the company would compose the next chapter in the story of her growing cultural dominance. I suspect that the infamous Vogue cover is lurking somewhere.īefore Kimoji, Whalerock had done icon and emoji work for clients, but nothing on the scale that Kardashian West was imagining. A photo of Kanye West cut out of a magazine is pinned above one desk a copy of Khloé Kardashian’s Strong Looks Better Naked sits on another. “I’ll go to her with an idea on marketing Kimoji and say, ‘Kim, this is how we’re thinking about doing this.’ I’ll plant the seed, and then she’ll come back to me with something better.” Dashes of Kardashian ephemera pepper the Whalerock offices her aura acts as a kind of muse. ![]() “Kim’s the best marketer I’ve ever met,” says Heinke. (Kardashian West declined to comment for this story.) Kimoji designers and product managers routinely meet with Kardashian West at her home and their offices, and constantly email about what images should be included in the next pack. Now, Kimoji has the creative brainpower of Whalerock, with more than a dozen people working directly on the app, and various members of the company’s hundred-plus employees touching the project on a regular basis. And it came directly from the mind of Kardashian West: Kimoji. But the next idea - this one broader and more forward-thinking - would radically change the face of digital branding. For most companies, conquering the App Store would be a peak. “It felt really good,” Heinke says, beaming with pride. 1, 2, 3, and 4 spots on the Entertainment section of Apple’s App Store chart. When he awoke the next morning, Whalerock and the Kardashians (and Jenners) held the nos. Head of digital operations Jared Heinke can still remember the night of September 14, 2015, when he finally crashed after more than 30 hours in the office developing the product. Within hours, it transformed the company. The rechristened Whalerock’s splashy first collaboration with the ubiquitous sisters was a set of subscription lifestyle apps, featuring fashion advice, looks inside their homes, and other personal bits and pieces about the famous family. The company - formerly known as BermanBraun - officially renamed in 2014, just as a partnership was formed with the Kardashian clan to construct its mobile empire. But Kardashian West couldn’t have done it without the occupants of this office. In less than a year, she’s come to redefine how we communicate. Today, Kim Kardashian West’s emoji pack - featuring various illustrated images of the Calabasas queen - dominates thousands of text conversations. This labyrinthine, Ex Machina–esque set leads to the bustling workspace of Whalerock, the home of Kimoji. The security guard has to swipe his badge at the next row of elevators leading up to the offices - but not before a third lobby, this one more beautiful and pristine than the last and full of dozens of very busy people. ![]() This one is bigger, bathed in white, and manned by a single security guard. Before entering the offices of Whalerock Industries, you’ve got to walk through a crystalline, oval-shaped, empty lobby and take an elevator up to a second lobby. ![]()
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