Laila Grainawi • VP of Design, Global Design Director

Clime

VP of Design / Global Design Director | 2022–2024

Designing the Forecast

Clime had a strong foothold as a top-performing weather app—but its identity was still rooted in transactional utility. My charge was to help reimagine it as something more expansive: a trusted companion during extreme weather events and a daily tool powered by real-time community intelligence.



The Challenge

Clime performed exceptionally well during peak season events like hurricanes—but we wanted to drive value year-round. That meant shifting from episodic usage to habitual daily engagement. As VP of Design, I led the vision for repositioning Clime as a people-first, data-rich, and community-supported weather app—think Waze for weather.



The Strategy

To future-proof the brand, I helped define three strategic pillars:
  1. Own Severe Weather – Solidify our reputation as the go-to source during life-critical moments.
  2. Find the Community Hook – Explore crowdsourcing and engagement loops to embed Clime into people’s routines.
  3. Crack Daily Use – Redesign UX and visual identity to support long-term engagement and personalization.

We introduced more human-centric creative—real people, real weather moments—to build emotional resonance. Educational campaigns helped us “own the storm” through timely, empathetic content designed to prepare and inform. Simultaneously, my team conducted deep competitive analysis and developed brand concepts that reflected a more modern, holistic vision of Clime’s role in users’ lives.



Creative Execution

  • Refreshed brand tone and visual language to support long-term product expansion
  • Introduced narrative-driven campaign concepts for awareness and education
  • Partnered with Product to visualize future-state brand identity across UX and marketing
  • Created internal brand presentations to align leadership on vision and positioning
  • Guided foundational concepting for community features and data personalization



Outcomes


  • Clime became the #1 paid weather app in the Apple App Store
  • Brand evolution positioned the company for deeper engagement and social feature rollout
  • Stakeholder buy-in secured for long-term product vision and investment roadmap
  • Brand strategy supported year-round marketing performance, not just seasonal spikes


Explore the app ->

Team


LEADERSHIP
Kathleen Barrett, CEO
Mark Lavoritano, CPO
Mike Vannucci, CMO
Giulia Porter, VP, Marketing
Laila Grainawi, VP, Design

PRODUCT
Julian Bossiere, UX Design Lead
Carlos Oliveria, Sr. Director, PM

BRAND
Thomas Cranston, Brand Director
Zlatko Klemenic, Lead Brand Designer
Crissy Milazzo, Lead Brand Strategist

CAMPAIGNS
Thomas Greenhalgh, ACD
Michael Oxendine, Sr. Art Director


PRODUCTION
Stanislau Baukinvoch, Lead Motion Designer
Alexsandra Makovara, Lead Marketing Designer
Mikakali Kapachou, Sr. Motion Designer
Dzianis Karpovich, Sr. Motion Designer
Yuliya Gromenkova, Sr. Motion Designer

Clime Picnic TV Spot 15s

Clime Winter Weather TV Spot 30s