Handball Earth
Handball Earth (HBE) is one of the projects I am most proud of. What started in 2020 as a passion project quickly grew into one of the largest independent handball-focused social media communities in the world.
My goal was simple: promote handball to a global audience. To achieve this, I curated and shared the best moments from handball matches around the world, publishing daily highlight content and staying constantly updated on player transfers, statistics, competitions, and industry news. I followed teams, leagues, federations, and media outlets across multiple countries to ensure the content remained relevant and engaging.
The project began with the creation of an Instagram account called Handball Earth. As the brand evolved, I designed a custom logo featuring a silhouette of world-class handball player Dika Mem in mid-air preparing to shoot—a visual representation of the excitement and athleticism that defines the sport.
Growth was initially gradual, which never discouraged me, as the project was driven entirely by passion and appreciation for the game. Consistent daily publishing, player tagging, and community engagement helped establish credibility within the handball ecosystem. A major turning point came during the 2020 Summer Olympics, when handball highlights gained significant traction. During this period, the audience rapidly expanded from 10,000 followers to over 30,000, eventually reaching millions of viewers worldwide.
As the platform grew, professional players began recognizing and engaging with the content, leading to collaborations and direct communication with athletes competing at the highest level of the sport. Following the success on Instagram, I expanded the brand to TikTok, where the audience grew to approximately 140,000 followers, while Instagram reached 167,000 followers.
Social media
Handball Earth
Project deliverables
Branding & Identity
Graphic Design
Networking and communication
Beyond content creation, HBE became a valuable networking platform. Through the relationships built within the handball community, I connected with world champions, Olympic gold medalists, European champions, and some of the sport’s most iconic players. One memorable milestone was celebrating 100,000 followers with a custom international video featuring well-known handball players saying one hundred thousand in their native languages.
The project also created opportunities for others. Through connections established via HBE, I helped an emerging Estonian handball talent secure a partnership with Kempa, resulting in sponsorship equipment for the upcoming season.
One of the project's most remarkable achievements was setting a personal record of over 92 million views on a single Instagram Reel, demonstrating the global reach and engagement that the platform had achieved.
Unfortunately, as copyright enforcement and content licensing regulations became increasingly restrictive, Handball Earth eventually faced copyright claims that led to the permanent removal of the Instagram account. Despite efforts to recover it, the account could not be restored, bringing an end to a project that had been built entirely through passion and dedication.
Although the account was lost, the impact remains. Handball Earth successfully introduced the sport to new audiences worldwide, built a thriving international community, and created meaningful connections across the global handball landscape. The project generated no revenue and was never intended to—it was driven purely by enthusiasm for the sport and a desire to help it grow.
Looking back, Handball Earth stands as a testament to what can be achieved through consistency, community building, branding, and genuine passion. It was an incredible journey, and one that I remain proud of today.
Celebrating followers
One of the aspects I enjoyed most about building Handball Earth was celebrating community milestones and recognizing the people who made the project's growth possible.
In the early stages, I marked every additional 100 followers with a dedicated story post to thank supporters for their engagement. As the audience expanded, milestones became increasingly frequent, evolving from hundreds to thousands and eventually tens of thousands of followers. What began as a simple gesture developed into a consistent community engagement tradition.
Over the lifetime of the project, I designed and published 124 custom milestone banners, each created to acknowledge the continued loyalty and support of the audience. Rather than relying on generic templates, I often incorporated thoughtful details that reflected the milestone itself. For example, when reaching 10,000 followers, I would feature a player wearing jersey number 10. Having extensive knowledge of players, teams, and competitions across the handball world allowed me to make these connections naturally and create content that felt authentic to the community.
These small details helped strengthen the relationship between the brand and its audience. The milestone campaigns became more than follower-count announcements—they were opportunities to celebrate the growth of a passionate global handball community and demonstrate the care and attention invested in every piece of content.
