Visuals by Impulse

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Visuals by Impulse
Subsidiary
IndustryTechnology
Founded2015; 9 years ago (2015)
FoundersCaleb Leigh
Headquarters
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Services
  • Graphic Design
  • Animation
  • Illustration
  • Branding
OwnerCorsair Gaming
Number of employees
50
Websitevisualsbyimpulse.com

Visuals by Impulse (VBI) is a creative platform for gaming broadcasters and Online streamer. It specializes in graphic design, Brand, animation, illustration, and programming. Founded in 2015 by Caleb Leigh.[1], the company has worked with over 400,000 digital creators on Twitch (service), YouTube, and Facebook Gaming. In February 2021, the platform was acquired by Corsair Gaming[2] and made a product line of the Elgato brand[3], which specializes in hardware and software for content creators.

Visuals by Impulse is the largest design studio catering exclusively to live streamers. The team is entirely remote, employing over 50 artists from around the world[4].

Some of its most notable clients include CouRageJD, Valkyrae, Nadeshot, Pokimane, T-Pain, Marshmello, and Scump. Its brand partners include 100 Thieves, Elgato, Streamlabs[5], Stream Elements[6], and Pipeline[7]. The team's staff have been featured in content from Restream, Rasmussen College[8], Nvidia, Envato[9], and 99designs.

The team's charitable partners have included the World Central Kitchen and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society[10]. In April 2020, VBI helped internet personality CourajeJD raise $500,000 for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In July 2020, Visuals by Impulse was publicly criticized by a number of former clients. The backlash prompted an overhaul of its custom design program.

In August 2020, Visuals by Impulse was nominated as a finalist for the 2020 Esports Awards: Creative Team of the Year[11].

History

Visuals by Impulse was founded in 2015 by Caleb Leigh, a former cyber security analyst for Nike, Inc., Capital One, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation[12]. A fan of the live streaming platform Twitch, Leigh noticed most broadcasters lacked basic branding and graphic design on their channels. An amateur artist himself, Leigh began designing for streamers in his off-time, and witnessed the industry's high demand for artists. Shortly after, he formed Visuals by Impulse and hired his first few employees.

The company's name originates from Leigh's original design alias and screen name; "Impulse". According to Leigh, the name balances the organization's creative roots, "Visuals" and its technological resources, "Impulse".

The Visuals by Impulse mission is to enable every broadcaster, no matter their size, to obtain high-quality livestream designs[13]. Previously, professional stream design had been a luxury usually reserved for famous or wealthy creators. Visuals by Impulse aims to change all that, offering a wide range of products and services at varying price points.

Since its foundation, Visuals by Impulse has been a 100% remote team, without an official headquarters or office. Its employees and contractors come from over a dozen countries, including: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Sweden, and Russia. The team currently employs over 50 staff.

Scope and clientele

Visuals by Impulse does work in graphic design, Corporate identity, animation, illustration, and programming. The business is divided into three main parts: premade graphics, custom design, and specialty Internet celebrity.

The company's online store includes a library of downloadable stream graphics, offered at prices from free to $30. Its premade products include live overlays, stream alerts, stinger transitions, interactive widgets, Twitch panels, and social media art. As of September 2020, its online store surpassed 400,000 customers and 600,000 downloads[14].

The team also offers custom design services for streamers with larger budgets. Potential clients must submit a detailed application form explaining their goals and creative vision. If accepted, clients are matched with a project manager and artist on the VBI Client Portal, the company's in-house Software as a service. To date, it has completed over 8,000 custom design projects.

Visuals by Impulse also has a special task force for large brands and online celebrities. While not much is known about this task force, the team has been commissioned by some of the biggest names in esports and live streaming. The company is known to have strong ties to gaming talent agencies like Ader Gaming, Click Management, and N3RDFUSION.

Visuals by Impulse caters exclusively to live streamers. The majority of its customers broadcast on Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook Gaming. Previously, the team focused primarily on gaming creators, but over time that scope has expanded to include non-gaming content.

Charity

In April 2020 Visuals by Impulse teamed up with popular YouTube creator CouRageJD to support his "CouRageous vs. Coronavirus" broadcast[15]. The team provided specialty graphics, animations, and widgets for the charity stream. The campaign's original goal of $250,000 was doubled, with over $500,000 raised for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In May 2020 Visuals by Impulse teamed up with the World Central Kitchen to support affected families and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic[16]. The company donated 20% of its May earnings to the #ChefsForAmerica campaign, while also accepting direct donations from its community. In total, $6,000 was raised.

In June 2020 the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Engine Shop, together with Visuals by Impulse, announced a new initiative to fight blood cancer[17]. Visuals by Impulse would create a livestream toolkit for streamers to raise money for cancer research and prevention. The campaign's donation goal was $200,000.

Visuals by Impulse is a long-time sponsor of the Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Project[18], donating thousands of dollars to support the development of live streaming software.

Acquisition by Corsair

In February 2021, gaming technology company Corsair announced it was purchasing Visuals by Impulse for an undisclosed amount[19]. The company joined Corsair's Elgato brand to bolster its support of content creators around the world[20]. According to Leigh, the acquisition allows Visuals by Impulse to add new Elgato integrations for streamers, increase R&D around interactive widgets and online tools, bring new opportunities to digital artists[21].

Awards and recognition

Visuals by Impulse was fan-nominated for an Esports Awards in August 2020. They were announced as a finalist for the first-ever Creative Team of the Year, along with other top artists in the industry[22].

As of December 2020, the company has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot, with over 1,000 5-star reviews[23]

Visuals by Impulse has drawn much industry praise, and its staff have been quoted by Nvidia, Adobe Inc., Restream, Envato, and Rasmussen College.

Criticism

In July 2020 Visuals by Impulse was the target of accusations by professional World of Warcraft player Zmok. His complaints, posted publicly on social media, were echoed by a number of former VBI custom design clients. They argued that their projects had not been managed properly, citing poor communication and lack of creativity.

In response, Visuals by Impulse announced a complete overhaul of their custom design process. Their planned changes[24], which went into effect one month later, aimed at improving transparency and communication between designer and client.

Notable clients

  • Nadeshot
  • CouRageJD
  • Pokimane
  • T-Pain
  • SypherPK
  • Lachlan
  • Myth (streamer)
  • Valkyrae
  • JGhosty
  • Mini Ladd
  • Tyler TeeP
  • Scump
  • Sacriel
  • DansGaming
  • Marshmello
  • Jordan Fisher
  • JoshOG
  • Shotz
  • Typical Gamer
  • Lord Kebun

References

  1. "Introducing Visuals by Impulse x Pipeline ft. VBI Founder & CEO – Pipeline". Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  2. Stephen, Bijan (2021-02-16). "Corsair grows its roster of streaming brands with Visuals by Impulse". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  3. "Corsair Purchases Streaming Visuals Company To Grow Elgato". GameSpot. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  4. "Why We Love Deel: A Customer Testimonial". www.letsdeel.com. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  5. Impulse, Visuals By (2018-11-13). "The Stream Design Revolution Is Here". Medium. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  6. Yosilewitz, Adam (2019-12-04). "StreamElements now Offers Amazing Graphic Designs from Visuals by Impulse". Medium. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  7. "Partners – Pipeline". Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  8. "Everything You Need to Know About Becoming a Motion Graphics Designer". Rasmussen College.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. "Esports Branding". Envato. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  10. policarp (2020-05-28). "#TILTCANCER". www.lls.org. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  11. "Creative Vote". Esports Awards 2020 | 5 Years of Recognising Excellence in Global Esports. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  12. KolbrenerDecember 16, Charlie; 2020. "Inside the Screen with VBI Caleb | Ep. 9". www.one37pm.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. "🥇 The Best Twitch Overlays Ranked! - Free & Premium 2020". StreamScheme. 2020-01-29. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  14. "About VBI: Our Story". visualsbyimpulse.com. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  15. "CouRageous vs. Coronavirus stream raises $500,000 for CDC Foundation". Daily Esports. 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  16. "Gamers Against Hunger: Join the Fight with #ChefsForAmerica". visualsbyimpulse.com. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  17. kinga (2020-06-12). "Engine Shop Announces New Fundraising Program Connecting Gaming Community with LLS". www.lls.org. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  18. "Contribute | OBS". obsproject.com. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  19. "Great Content by Design – CORSAIR Acquires Visuals by Impulse | Corsair Gaming, Inc". ir.corsair.com. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  20. "Corsair Further Invests into the Live Streaming Market, Acquires Visuals by Impulse". The Esports Observer. 2021-02-16. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  21. "Visuals by Impulse join Elgato under CORSAIR ownership to help content creators". Dexerto. 2021-02-16. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  22. Jones, Alison (2020-08-28). "The Esports Awards Reveals The Third Wave if Finalists". Invision Game Community. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  23. "Visuals by Impulse is rated "Excellent" with 4.7 / 5 on Trustpilot". Trustpilot. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  24. "What We're Doing Next | Visuals By Impulse". visualsbyimpulse.com. Retrieved 2020-09-15.

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