Decon’s spots cover three green tips—switching to energy efficient light bulbs, carpooling, and using reusable mugs. Decon worked with director Christopher Eades and a team of skilled 3D artists to create three distinct and elegantly detailed worlds. The spots have a DIY, handmade-quality.

Learn more about NBC Universal’s green initiatives here.

See more of Decon’s work here.

Thornberg & Forester develop a digital billboard for ING Direct’s newest marketing campaign. The LED billboard in Times Square promotes the financial institution’s latest offering, MONEY, a debit card/online banking account for teenagers. The billboard is part of a broad campaign that also includes a Facebook page, a series of online ads and kiosks in malls in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Paramus, NJ. Fans that sign up are entered for a chance to win MacBooks, iPods, and cash.

Thornberg & Forester collaborated with Berlin Cameron United on the billboard. The campaign’s tagline “That’s So MONEY” is featured as well as uploads from ING Direct’s MONEY Facebook page. Fans can upload pictures of themselves within the ING Direct dollar model that will then appear on a loop on the billboard.

See more of Thornberg & Forester’s branded projects here.

Client: ING Direct
Agency: Berlin Cameron United
Talent: Thornberg & Forester

Chrysler is revamping their Dodge brand with a new ad campaign, “Never Neutral.” The campaign is aimed at people who simply enjoy driving cars and aren’t worried about brand reputations. Serial Cut collaborated with Ars Thanea to create imagery of the new 2011 Dodge Durango to launch the campaign.

Serial Cut used CGI to create several slick black on black images of the Durango.  Chrysler wanted strong and graphic images that played to the toughness in Dodge cars.  The images are of the car at different angles to show off the refined exterior. Serial Cut considered adding black smoke in the background or playing with different textures around the car. In the end, they opted to keep it simple and focus the attention on the car.

See Serial Cut’s full portfolio here.

Client: Dodge Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Portland CGI: Serial Cut CGI: Ars Thanea

Am I Collective worked closely with Wieden + Kennedy creatives to concept the storyline and animation and bring to life the essence of the brand. Star Chevron comes with a tradition steeped in urban sport, hip-hop and street fun, all of which are conveyed in the video. The one-minute stop-frame video features 3 Chinese youths running through the streets of Shanghai irreverently putting up posters announcing the party to the city. The video was shot on location in Shanghai.

See more of of Am I Collective’s portfolio here.

Client: Converse
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai
Wieden + Kennedy Creatives: Julie Liu, Matthew Carey, Peter Zheng
Production House: Uno Digital
Artist: Am I Collective

12foot6 created the five characters by first photographing the real animals. Then the team layered and animated them with real clothes and props. A few extra characters were also added to the background. BSSP wrote the scripts and then collaborated with 12foot6 on the voice over and sound effects. Susan Crimley of BSSP says that 12foot6′s unique style of animation “was exactly what we were looking for. Their creative genius, technical knowledge and hop-to-it-ness helped get us to the finish line without a hitch.” She especially praised how well the group worked given the short deadline.

12foot6 also created the YouTube video that is featured in the commercial.

Client: Radio Shack
Animation: 12foot6
Agency: Butler Shine Stern & Partners
Prodcuer: Susan Crimley, BSSP
Art Direction: Justin Bucktrout, BSSP
Creative Director/Writer: Erik Enberg, BSSP

Thornberg & Forester created three spots featuring three different green tips—buying local produce, using re-usable bags, and energy-saving techniques. Each spot features continuous line animation, a technique that drew NBCU to Thornberg & Forester. The animation, done in a 3D/2D combination, is clean and simple and made to look hand-drawn. To create the effect, Thornberg & Forester applied textures to the animation. Several versions of the ads were created so that NBCU could air them as stand-alone ads or at the beginning or end of sponsor ads.

To learn more about the “Green is Universal” initiative visit www.greenisuniversal.com.

See more of Thornberg & Forester’s work here.

Fugu Mobile designs a mobile app for Mercedes-AMG, now available on the iPhone and iTouch. It is the first complete AMG app to cover the 8 AMG models available in China. AMG is a subsidiary of Mercedes that specializes in high-performance luxury cars. The app provides a comprehensive overview of each AMG model as well as 360-degree views, high-res photos and videos. The app acts as a tool for users interested in purchasing an AMG car or as a must-have for car enthusiasts. Fans can also register with AMG through the app and sign up for exclusive events and test-drives in China.

Fugu Mobile worked closely with the AMG China marketing team to conceptualize and design the app. Fugu Mobile kept in mind AMG’s brand guidelines as well as existing visual themes on their online properties. The end result is an effect extension of the brand on a mobile platform.

The app is available for free on the Apple iTunes App Store. It is available in English and Chinese.

Last week Nike launched its Athletics West microsite to honor the original Athletics West Running Club. Founded in the 1970s, it comprised of a dozen runners that trained in Eugene, Oregon under the sponsorship of Blue Ribbon Sports, known simply today as Nike. With their unorthodox methods, the Athletics West would establish the groundwork for track and field performance in America.

Nathan Fox worked with agency Opolis, creating the illustrations for the Athletics West microsite. The illustrations were then animated for the website and the teaser trailer. Fox’s images capture the intensity and passion of the athletes. The full story of the Athletics West can be found here.

Client: Nike
Agency: Opolis
Producer Pam Siffert
Creative: Lael Tyler
Artwork: Nathan Fox

If you can’t get enough of Roy and Rexley, watch every single episode here.

In case you missed it, read the interview with Roy here.

See more from 12foot6.

Starting today through October 16th, 2010, the Society of Illustrators will exhibit “Blow Up” featuring Yuko Shimizu, Sam Weber, and Tomer Hanuka. Each artist comes from a distinct cultural background – Japan, Canada, and Israel, respectively. The show explores how their identities get “remixed” through meeting at an American crossroad.

Shimizu creates 3 new works specifically for the show (Blow Up No.0 and No.1 pictured above). She says, “I wanted to show my creative process. I normally create loose sketches first, blow up the sketch to the size I want to draw, cut the watercolor paper, very loosely trace the sketch onto the paper using light box, then spend long hours (sometimes days) drawing with a Japanese brush that is specifically designed to write sutra as part of Buddhist practice. I try to figure out the details of the images as I create to make the long drawing process interesting and refreshing.”

L: Blow Up No.2, R: Blow Up No.3

The finished drawing is then scanned and digitally colored. Color proofs are done to ensure consistency and to check details. Of the four works shown in the upstairs gallery, three are created specifically for the show.

Shimizu explains, “‘Blow Up No.0′ was an actual recent assignment where the AD gave me a lot of freedom so I was able to play around and experiment with coloring, composition and imagery itself. Using this image as a starting point, I decided to create new pieces that play around with the definition of word ‘blow up’: bubble, storm blowing and explosion.”

The opening reception is September 10th at 6:30pm at the Society of Illustrators on 128 E. 63rd st, New York, NY. Hope to see you there.

Original Art by Yuko Shimizu:
1) Blow Up No.0: prelude (color corrected version)
Originally published in PLANADVISER Magazine, AD: SooJin Buzelli
Original drawing: ink on watercolor paper 17″ x 22″, colored on Adobe
Photoshop
2010

2) Blow Up No.1: The Bubble
Created specifically for this show
Original drawing: ink on watercolor paper 22″ x 30″, colored on Adobe
Photoshop
2010

3) Blow Up No.2: Storm Forming
Created specifically for this show
Original drawing: ink on watercolor paper 22″ x 30″, colored on Adobe
Photoshop
2010

4) Blow Up No.3: The Big Bang
Created specifically for this show
Original drawing: ink on watercolor paper 22″ x 30″, colored on Adobe
Photoshop
2010

Links:
Society of Illustrators
Yuko Shimizu
Yuko Shimizu at Drawger

Zerofractal worked with Young & Rubicam and Tool of North America. While Tool handled art direction and the website layout, Zerofractal developed the Flash website, animated Smart, created 3D assets, and integrated the Augmented Reality capability. The Zerofractal team spent hours of research creating the look and feel of the clay character Smart, modeling the landmarks of each city, working with AR, and developing using Papervision – the 3D engine of choice for Flash.

Each city is unique, built carefully and represented by its most iconic buildings and structures. In order for the city to pop out and look believable, Zerofractal used a variety of tools and methods. First, each city was modeled in high-res in Autodesk Maya 3D, and then remodeled in low-res for optimum performance in Papervision. In order to retain details of the high-res version, Zerofractal used Illuminate Labs Turtle render engine to “bake” textures onto the low-res model.

After the low-res city was completed with the baked-in textures, the model was exported as a COLLADA file to utilize it within Papervision and Augmented Reality. Additional animations such as flying airplanes, turning Ferris wheels, and moving clouds were then added (that were also built in Maya). Further manipulation of certain objects were built in with code. For example, clicking upon clouds or sun would bring up the weather.

After mastering one city, Zerofractal was able to duplicate the process for the others, making adjustments as necessary. However, the complexity of the code and different media types posed challenges to the Zerofractal team when trying to get the different technology to work smoothly in tandem. Paul Kühne of Zerofractal explains “We had to do many trial and errors to have the best optimal experience for the user. We had to dig really deep into ActionScript 3 in order to get the results that we wanted.”

The end result is a website that engages users and allows room for personalization and fun. Reflects Kühne, “It was a challenge for us but together we all pulled through. In this project we used many different media types to create an engaging interactive augmented reality experience which really reflects what Zerofractal is all about.”

For an Augmented Reality vacation, visit virtualvacay.com to get a closer look at the 3D world built by Zerofractal.

Stills below:

The video was filmed in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Am I Collective artist Chris Hewitt created the mascot that runs through the cities like a virus infecting the urban environment. The mascot changes colors throughout this journey, each color reflecting the mascot’s personality. Says Mark van Nierkerk of Am I Collective, “Black represents the darker competitive side of sport, yellow – speed and endurance and green – growth and development.”

Stills from the video:

Read more about it at Nike

Credits:
Agency: Trigger Johannesburg
Client: Nike
Animation:  Am I Collective
Director: Christiaan Venter, Am I Collective
Editing: Ruan Vermeulen, Am I Collective
Design/Illustration: Chris Hewitt, Nathan Fourie, Edwin de Swart, Am I Collective
Sound: Coenie Sutton, Trigger

Check out the poster that Am I Collective designed for the kick-off concert for the World Cup.

This post amended 5/14/2010 10:00am.

KTV Media International works with the Brooklyn Brothers to create the new iPhone app “IamaDalek” for BBC America. The app converts any recorded message into the voice of a Dalek, a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the cult British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The new era of Dr. Who premieres Saturday at 9pm on BBC America. Originally created by Terry Nation, the grating voice of a Dalek is ingrained in many a heart of science fictions fans. Thanks to the “IamaDalek” app, now anyone can become their very own Dalek. The iPhone app is available for download at the iTunes app store for free.

As a child, creative director Stephen Rutterford was terrified of Daleks and their “creepy” voices. When it came to choosing a collaborator for the project, Rutterford knew immediately who to approach. After a conference call with Josh Kimberg of KTVMi last year, Rutterford recalls, “[Josh] sounded like a Dalek, so naturally he was the man for the job.”

Dr. Who may be familiar to the British, but for many Americans, the show is as foreign as a Dalek. When asked how the app could connect the Dr. Who audience to America, Rutterford responded, “Our audience in the US are primarily urban influencers and early adopters of the latest gadgets, so we felt the Doctor Who brand should reach them through the latest technology.”

Download the “IamaDalek” iPhone app for free at the iTunes store and start playing with the world of Dr. Who!
Watch a video of the demonstration.

Credits:
Agency: The Brooklyn Brothers
Creative Director: Stephen Rutterford
Producer: Tina Lam
Account Handler: Shana Bellot
Development: KTV Media International

12f00t6 worked with design agency GBH to produce, animate, and direct a video that demonstrate all of the new features of the Puma mobile phone. The video appears online, in-store, and at exhibitions to promote the new phone. One half of the 12foot6 management team makes a special cameo in the video as a weatherman. Watch the video to learn all about the Puma Phone, as demonstrated by 12foot6′s entertaining animations.

The Puma Phone is currently only set for release in Europe. So far it’s garnered positive reviews. Manufacturedd by Sagem, it is a quad-band GSM device that includes Bluetooth, 3G, A-GPS, and a 3.2 megapixel camera.

Credits:
Design agency: GBH
Animation, direction, production: 12foot6

Links:
Puma Phone official site
12foot6

Says creative director Kesime Bernard, “With Centric’s 5-9 positioned to be our signature primetime block, we thought it made sense to capitalize on the networks logo and it’s underlying visual story. The Centric logo is essentially a Venn Diagram of color in which the overlapping hues come overlap to create the color brown. It’s a subtle nod to our audience and the culture that we celebrate.” Centric TV is owned by BET, a division of Viacom, and launched last fall/winter of 2009. The new channel targets upscale and sophisticated multicultural adults with aspirational values. Watch for Tatiana Arocha’s animated spots on air now!

Creative Director: Kesime Bernard
Producer: Gary Encarnacion, Pamela Esposito
Creative Direction, Design and Animation: Tatiana Arocha
Design & Animation: Bran Dougherty-Johnson
Typographical Treatments: Tatiana Arocha and Melissa Gorman