This was one of the more widely publicized teaching series of the year, called "Free Upgrade". The series was all about how we can be the people we really desire to be. The Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) were a central focus.
There were really two ideas I had that came into play. The first was the idea of an "Upgrade Button" - sort of like Staples' "Easy Button". Wouldn't it be nice if we could "upgrade" our attitude with the touch of a button whenever we became angry, frustrated, self-absorbed, apathetic, etc.?
The second idea was to use an animated sequence as a promotional video to illustrate the everyday things that tend to challenge a good attitude. Following a 'day in the life' of a central character. I thought it would be cool to have that character transform into the 'Upgrade Button' at the end of the sequence.
I developed a logo based on the idea of this kind of 'upgrade button', while sketching out some ideas for a central character. I knew I wanted the character to transform into the 'upgrade button' at the end of the animation, so he had to have the general shape of the button.
All of the elements below were drawn in Illustrator. In creating the animation, I developed a story board of scenes and settled on a flat animation style. I created each scene in Illustrator, drawing anything I knew I'd need later in After Effects (background elements, characters, facial expressions, props, etc.). I then sequenced and animated everything in After Effects, added some sound effects, music, and voila.
We contracted local food trucks to come out on the weekend of the series launch to create more buzz. Other print materials I had to create for this project included: lawn signs, movie-style posters, voucher tickets for free food, invitations, mass mailers, and advertising in the Washington Post Express newspapers.
The series was advertised widely in print, and included: mass mailers, postcard-sized invitations, ads in the Washington Post Express newspaper, and large movie-style posters displayed in the auditorium lobby.
The series launch weekend was coupled with our recurring "Food Truck Sunday" event, where we contract several local food trucks to serve lunch outside.
Some preliminary sketches and scratch-work.
Character development.
Each scene and all elements in a scene were drawn in Illustrator on separate layers, so they could easily be animated in After Effects later.