Surreal optical illusions and dream-like visual metaphors became the tentpoles of this promo. The team dream-stormed a list of ideas to explore: Fantastical transitions from day to night, human figures diving underwater and running along the Milky Way. After scripting, we refined these ideas and selected the ones that would captivate the audience’s attention quickly.
ChasingSleep — iHeartMedia Podcast Promo
With agency partner Banter, we developed a visual story to promote a new podcast from iHeartRadio and Mattress Firm called Chasing Sleep. The task was to evoke the themes of sleep and relaxation while avoiding tired clichés.
At the time, Mattress Firm was sponsoring a separate but similar podcast. This presented an interesting challenge of needing to create something with matching color schemes, but a completely fresh style.
The visual story for Chasing Sleep is an imaginative exploration of sleep and relaxation that invites viewers to tuck in and discover the wonders of the sleep universe.
Our agency partners provided a high-level guideline, a helpful list of dos and don’ts and let us dream up the rest. The focus was on crafting a visual experience that not only portrayed the essence of sleep but also evoked a sense of tranquility and wonder.
Story Development
Style frames and a detailed, black and white storyboard were created to help the client choose the direction. From there, the illustration process was like a dream. And for the animation, the team landed on a mixed-media technique. Key scenes, like the sun pulsating and the liquid man running on the Milky Way were crafted in Photoshop using frame-by-frame editing. Other moments were brought to life with stop-motion, opting for 15 frames per second to create a dreamy vibe, balancing psychedelic and realistic elements.
