Social Hardware (before that was a thing)

Fully envisioned and designed by John Whaley, Instacube was a dedicated IOT device for streaming Instagrams that shipped thousands of units globally. The concept pre-dates the Facebook acquisition.

Incredible Response: 6,000 Units in 30 Days

A Kickstarter success story, Instacube raised $623,000 in 30 days and was featured in every major national tech publication including Mashable, Uncrate, Engadget and Fast Company (Online and Print.)

How it Worked

Instacube was the perfect gift for people looking to stay in touch. Give it to Grandma, set up an account for her, and simply have her follow the grandkids. Any time any of them uploads a photo, it would appear on her frame. This really was the modern-day version of the connected photo frame — only this time it was truly social.

Hardware buttons allowed users to enter specific usernames or hashtags (like ‘cats,’ for example), toggle through popular content, or simply stream their curated Instagram feed.

Featured in Fast Company (Print)

Instacube was the first to bring a tactile layer to social, and the press went wild for it, resulting in worldwide coverage from some of the biggest publications including Engadget, Uncrate, Mashable, the New York Times and countless others. Even more impressively, Fast Company included Instacube in its Holiday Shopping feature as a nearly full-page spread to feature innovation in the digital-meets-hardware space.

Custom Instacubes for Jamie Oliver

Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver’s team got in touch requesting 40 custom Instacubes to be fashioned as an installation in their studio. John flew to London for a design session with Jamie to individually design each unit. Below are renderings John prepared for Jamie as part of the planning process for the display.