New artistic-image font

a new font design from Ed Dye using the ai logo he created a bold and regular version artistic image font

Ford Screen Article

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JWT/ Retail First, and its client Ford wanted to create a standout campaign for this year’s Presidents’ Day Sale, so they returned to Artistic Image (AI), the FX/animation/production/editorial/compositing house that took last year’s highly-acclaimed “Ford Sync Universe,’ campaign from concept through completion.

The Presidents’ Day spot that featured six new Ford vehicles in a celebratory way, without incorporating predictable presidential imagery. AI assigned a collaborative team of creative problem solvers to the project.

Artistic Image designer/director/illustrator Ed Dye, developed a captivating concept. The hands-on cofounder of AI created animated footage of fireworks that exploded, shooting off red, white and blue ribbons, which created a showcase for launching the six new Fords. The commercial has three layers of cars bursting out of fireworks. AI rendered each car in each layer one at a time and composited it all together

Creative Director, Kirk Sieder, says “Fireworks was originally designed to be a Presidents’ Day campaign for Baltimore and Washington Ford Dealers, but once other markets saw it, that all changed. Several other markets, including New England, ran Fireworks as well. It was a retail campaign, for sure, but it has a “cool” factor to it that makes it visually interesting and entertaining. I can say that's true for everything AI creates. They consistently find ways to propel our ideas to a higher level, infusing them with smart details and complex design that make for a rich and sophisticated animated world. And they stay on budget!”

The “Ford Sync Universe” campaign was no less challenging. Artistic Image created, animated and produced a sequence of powerful footage touting Ford’s Bluetooth technology, which syncs up the on-board radio with smart phones to provide the driver with a hands-free tool for phone, email and text communications.

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“Our assignment was to communicate Ford’s groundbreaking feature to younger drivers,” says Dye, who also wears the hat of visual effects director at Artistic Image. “When we asked ourselves what young drivers like, video games came to mind and provided us with the genesis for the campaign.”

To bring home the spot’s message, “Sync Universe” incorporates complex animation of Fords driven by young drivers through a video game universe where deserted volcanic planets transition into sleek modern worlds.

Dye knew that Japanese style anime art would provide the texture and depth needed to take the campaign to the next level, so he explored the medium, studying the works of Takashi Murakami, the acclaimed artist credited with elevating anime to the level of fine art.

To produce the spot, Dye used a number of three-dimensional technologies. Maya was used to animate the cars, while ZBrush, an intuitive sculpting and painting application, enabled him to sculpt the drivers and create a road, which realistically cracks and releases molten lava. Shake and After Effects handled the compositing, which included 20 rendered layers and 20 more composite layers that integrated a diverse mix of visual effects and corrected colors.

When tallying up sales for the year, the client discovered that “Sync Universe” sold more cars in a month than any other Ford Dealers’ campaign during 2009.

Far Coast Theater Video Ad

This Video will play at theaters on the concession stand registers to give the awareness of the coffee's and tea's served in the theater.