GCD: Hector Muelas
Creative Directors: Chris Northam, Eric Jannon
Art Direction: Kit Antone
Copywriter: Rachel Jensen
EPISODIC TEASERS
My creative partner and I would brief our vendors on social-first ideas, activations, and content series. One of the first Apple Originals I was lucky enough to touch was “Amazing Stories”, The anthology of tales that range from camp to science-fantasy, created by Steven Spielberg in the mid-1980s! We used hero photography and a comic illustrator to recreate these episodic teasers in the form of retro comic books, along with VHS and television static, to get the throwback vibes just right. All motion was done by your’s truly!
“DEAR…”
My other favorite content series was "Dear…" presented as letters written by those whose lives have been changed by the work of iconic trailblazers.
Each episode profiles acclaimed leaders including Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Spike Lee, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Yara Shahidi, Stevie Wonder, Aly Raisman, Misty Copeland, Jane Goodall, and even Big Bird.
TV+ EXCLUSIVES
Anthony Mackie as "Bernard Garrett" in the Apple Original Movie, The Banker
Apple TV being the all-in-one platform, the social team had a responsibility to help promote all 3rd party content, create awareness, or buzz around the launch of a new series. My creative partner and I would send questions to studios ahead release dates to get exclusive content from talent, paired with teaser clips and b-roll. CBS, Peacock, Disney/Pixar, Starz, and FX on Hulu were among the many partners we promoted.
FRAGGLE ROCK: ROCK ON!
Fraggle Rock: Rock On! One of my favorite feel-good exclusive interviews to work on was the relaunch of, Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock. Featuring puppeteer work from John Tartaglia as “Gobo”, and Donna Kimball as “Mokey'“, and a cast of special guests and musical artists.
In this exclusive, we wanted to highlight the steps taken for at-home content capture at the beginning of the pandemic. We paired the responses with b-roll of the cast working safely from home.
APPLE TV+ ORIGINALS: EMMY E-BOOK
In the year 2020, I was tasked with leading the design exploration of the first ever Apple TV+ Originals Emmy e-Booklet. This was in coordination with Ralph and Co. UK creative agency. Originally slated to include a printed hard copy booklet, but unfortunately due to time constraints the booklet was never printed.
Direction 01: Interactive ‘tab’ element for an online interactive flip-book experience. Users being required to read through a series of prompts, felt like ‘a lot of work’. Vendor simplified the UI but the experience still had too many prompts.
Direction 02: ‘Swipe down’ for flip-book experience. This idea was mobile-user friendly, but hero image placement was small and limiting. Vendor wanted to embed video selects and audio sound bites. For the short timeline and scope, this was not the best approach.
IN-HOUSE EXPLORATIONS
At this time, ATV+ leadership decided to bring this project in-house. Led by yours truly, and Jr. art director support, I looked at how the ATV+ social playbook leaned heavily on a grid system of rounded ‘chiclets’ and hard edges. I wanted to juxtapose negative space with images and minimal copy.
Explorations: The design was less UI driven, no prompts, and was much easier to navigate. I even played with translucent color which was a bit too much, but that’s what an exploration is!
Final Delivery: The timeline was very short for design and approvals, but we had a plan. We handed off FPO images to the in-house dev team and had them create a mobile/desktop hybrid testing site while we worked to receive final approval from the executive team. We were able to deliver final assets within a week, from initial design to final microsite launch.