Layers of your time : Celebrating the time spent with Toss (opens in new tab)
The article argues that effective internal branding is not about making attractive company merchandise, but about designing meaningful experiences around employees’ time and contributions. Through an eight-month redesign of Toss’s work-anniversary gift, the designer created a layered light that visually represents accumulated years, protected quality despite production delays, and carefully designed the delivery experience. The project concludes that strong internal branding requires a clear reason, end-to-end experience design, and unwavering standards. ## From Merchandise to a Celebration of Time - Toss celebrates employees’ work anniversaries with annual gifts such as medals, wine, and cubes. - Over time, some employees began giving the gifts away, suggesting they had become clutter rather than meaningful keepsakes. - The redesign aimed to: - Sincerely celebrate each employee’s time at the company. - Show appreciation for the six-month gap while the gift was being redesigned. ## Three Criteria for the New Gift The new product had to: - Avoid being immediately stored away in a drawer. - Physically show the accumulation of time. - Remain beautiful whether celebrating one year or ten years. A layered lamp was chosen because employees could add one disk for each anniversary. As the disks accumulated, the layers of light became deeper, making the passage of time visible through the object’s structure. ## Hardware Development and Quality Control - The designer had no previous hardware or lighting-production experience. - The team repeatedly tested: - Disk thickness, including differences as small as 0.5 mm. - The spacing between the lamp body and disks. - Light intensity as more disks were added. - The product was divided into two versions: - White for years 1–10. - Black from year 11 onward, symbolizing the beginning of a new period. - Dozens of defects appeared during final factory inspection. - Rather than compromise quality to meet the schedule, distribution was delayed. - Approximately 5,000 lamps were individually inspected and improved. ## Giving the Product a Warm Voice - The lamp was named **Layered Lighting**. - The phrase **“Layers of your time at toss”** was engraved on the lamp and packaging. - The communication emphasized remembrance and celebration rather than corporate motivation. - Serif typography, carefully matched packaging, and handwritten name cards created a warmer, more personal experience. ## Designing the Moment of Delivery - Instead of asking employees to pick up their gifts, the team placed them directly at employees’ desks. - The redesigned process gave employees the correct number of disks for their accumulated tenure. - The intended experience was: - Discovering the gift on a Monday morning. - Opening the box and reacting with surprise. - Taking photos and sharing the moment with colleagues. - Over one weekend, the team placed gifts at 2,500 desks among approximately 3,900 employees. - The operation took 26 hours. - Employee photos and reactions spread across Slack and Instagram, including one memorable comment: “I now have a reason to stay another year.” ## Principles of Good Internal Branding - **Start with the reason:** Every object or graphic should clearly communicate why it exists. - **Design the experience, not just the object:** The interaction begins before the product is opened and includes how it is received and shared. - **Protect the standard until the end:** Internal projects are easy to compromise because their results may not be immediately visible, making a clear standard essential. Good internal branding helps employees feel that they belong to a good team. That sense of belonging can strengthen engagement and ultimately improve the quality of the work they create.
