Hunting Cryptids Online: A Design Journey for Wendigoon
Wendigoon is a famous Youtube creator known for exploring the supernatural and conspiracies. The “Year of Cryptids” campaign celebrates the fascination with cryptid lore through storytelling-driven e-commerce. The website showcase showcases exclusive merch and brings cryptid hunting to life through engaging visuals and lore-rich content.
Challenge
Wendigoon’s audience, deeply invested in his horror and cryptid story telling, demanded an e-commerce experience that felt like an extension of his content - not just a transaction store. The site needed to balance his eerie brand identity with intuitive usability, while transforming niche merchandise into “must-have” collectibles.
Solution
Use lore-rich content, visually cohesive cryptid aesthetics, and thoughtfully curated product pages to captive Wendigoon’s audience. The design featured bold and thematic imagery, and concise story telling, ensuring the site remained simple, immersive, and easy to navigate for users.
Discover
The Discovery stage began with deep dive into Wendigoon’s brand and audience. Through community polls, Yotube comments, and fan interviews, it became clear his audience craved story immersion - not just products. A competitor audit revealed most horror-themed stores relied on clichéd tropes, missing opportunities to tie merch to specific lore. This phase defined the core design pillars: mystery, community, and adventure.
Key Takeaways
- Fans want to participate in Wendigoon’s world, not just buy from it. This shift the focus from showcasing products to designing interactive story telling moments.
- Generic horror aesthetics wouldn’t resonate. Instead, leaning into Wendigoon’s niche references creates authenticity and insider appeal.
Define
With insights from the Discovery phase, the next step was to clarify the project’s objectives and align them with Wendigoon’s brand and audience expectations. The goal was to create an e-commerce experience that felt less like a store and more like a cryptid-hunting expedition.
Key Activities
- Defining clear personas and journeys ensured every design decision served the audience’s needs.
- Positioning the site as a cryptid-hunting guide transformed the shopping experience into an immersive narrative.
- Define three core principles to guide the project: Mystery, Community, and Adventure.
Design
The Design stage focused on bringing the cryptid-hunting narrative to life through immersive visuals and interactive story telling. Leveraging insights from the previous stage, the goal was to create a cohesive experience that felt like an extension of Wendigoon’s Youtube universe.
Key Takeaways
- Details Drive Immersion: Small touches deepened the “field guide” aesthetic.
- Performance matters: Lightweight animations ensured fast load times, critical for mobile users.
- Lore as a Sales Tool: Integrating cryptid facts directly into product pages boosted engagement and perceived value.
Solution
The final design transformed Wendigoon’s e-commerce site into an immersive cryptid-hunting experience, blending storytelling, interactivity, and community-driven features.
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@2025
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