New Ways to Save with Clim Studio
By Alixandra Rutnik on Sep 25, 2022
"Drink up those savings"
Countless credit cards will give you rewards for spending money, and we've all got our faves. And now there’s a new way to save on groceries through Amazon Alexa’s App. All you have to do is scan your grocery receipt and receive immediate cash back in the form of an Amazon gift card. You want that new cheese grater? Well next time you buy cheese at the supermarket, you just might have accumulated just the right amount of money to find it at your door the next day.
This campaign is colorful; its vibrant; it’s magically turning oranges into coins, and it’s directed by the Barcelona-based Young Guns 11 winner and Founder of Clim Studio, himself, Clim. We talked to Clim to get his take on working with animation for Amazon’s Alexa Team.
This was your first time working with the Amazon Alexa team– how did it go?
Working with the team at Amazon was an absolute delight. We truly got together and worked towards the same goal: advertise the new ‘tap on their shopping list service’ in the smartest and most beautiful way possible.
The brief was clear, but they were totally open to my suggestions and ideas. They had an initial art direction mood board and two references made entirely in live action. During the pitch phase, I convinced them that we could use CG to achieve a higher animation quality, making everything smoother and more fluid. I was convinced that mixed media could serve them better, so I focused my attention on that to make it happen.
Love the moment when the fruits and grocery items poof into coins! As a designer, how do you stay true to who you are while also making your clients happy?
Who you are is within yourself, so listen to your gut and make things as you really think they should be made. There will always be time for adjustments, amends, and feedback, etc. So try to push things as much as you can from the beginning.
"Who you are is within yourself, so listen to your gut and make things as you really think they should be made."
I’ve always been clear that I am a designer at the core, not an artist. That means I am offering a service to a client and all I want is to excel in that role. Clients need to be your allies– they know so much about the product, the brand, their needs, and their concerns. You must listen to them and try to find ways to incorporate all of their thoughts. But don’t forget, you are the expert. That’s why they hired you. They know everything about their brand, that is true, but you know a lot about animation and design (or whatever your expertise is), and they need to accept that and let you work.
It is always a nice beautiful dance between clients, producers, and creatives. And I love dancing so, no problem!
What is the most challenging aspect of creating a 30-sec educational spot?
The main challenge is to include an educational message, while keeping it light and easy to digest at the same time.
30 seconds is like nothing, especially when you need to introduce a new product, explain slightly how it works, and catch the viewers' attention. It is definitely not an easy task.
It is about focusing on every single aspect of it, starting from the core message and infusing it with humor and flair.
The starting points:
Universe: Everyone buys groceries
Problem: Coupons are so outdated
Solution: Look at the money you can save with Alexa Shopping List!
It was clear in my mind that I wanted to present the coupons' problem in a fun, fast way, almost like a music track. We needed to have a clear contrast between the problem and the solution (Alexa), and varying the pace and introducing a more digital / UI world was a perfect solution.
The client also brought in the idea of the juice so we made sure we had a proper closing with that scene. It served us as a perfect link to tighten the story.
Working closely with the Amazon team and the copywriter was crucial to finding the right balance between marketing, creativity, visuals, and the message.
As a design driven Animation House, what are three key ingredients to making show-stopping animation work?
There is no unique formula that sets up for success, but I will say that having a strong idea is probably the most important ingredient. Strong concepts are the core of what we do, creating intentions, messages, and metaphors that infuse our work with meaning.
Then there is the aesthetics and the design part. We ensure our visuals are perfectly crafted, paying attention to colors, compositions, shapes, etc.
The third key point I will say is managing time, expectations, and budget, and making sure we offer outstanding creative solutions while staying on budget. We make sure we offer the smoothest production process to our clients. I think this stability and confidence are shown in the final result.
What are the noticeable differences between your work in 2010 and now in 2022?
12 years have passed since I won the Young Guns ADC award.
My work at that time had the same spirit: a design approach. The difference is my projects at that time were simpler and smaller. I used to work on 2D animations. It was the beginning of motion graphics and the language was almost new to all of us. Now the language has evolved, more techniques have been incorporated into our pipeline, and I have gained so much more expertise. And we are obviously working with bigger brands, teams, and budgets, now.
Our industry will continue evolving and incorporating more and more techniques and languages. AR and VR are for sure something we are looking at moving forward. Feels like everyone is willing to catch that train and we might buy ourselves a ticket.
Since winning Young Guns in 2010, how has the YG community encouraged, inspired, and opened doors for you?
For sure winning YG in 2010 put me in the international spotlight. My career has skyrocketed since then and YG for sure played a big part in it.
Becoming a jury member for YG20 means the world to me. It feels incredible that a decade after winning this award, I am on the other side judging incredible talent and helping them move forward.
What are you looking forward to seeing while judging YG20 work this season?
The jury process has already started, and I can assure you that what I am seeing is exceeding my expectations so far. I was looking forward to seeing outstanding brilliant work and I am seeing it in lots of candidates. Brilliant ideas, amazing concepts, and lots of humor, sensibility, and flair.
"The jury process has already started, and I can assure you that what I am seeing is exceeding my expectations so far. I was looking forward to seeing outstanding, brilliant work, and I am seeing it in lots of candidates."
It is incredible the talent that young creatives have and it is not an easy task to be one of those who decide who is making the cut. That’s why I want to launch a comforting message to everyone that will not be awarded this year: Please, do not let this stop you from creating and pushing boundaries. The key is not to be awarded, but to create a solid path for your career. Perseverance, hard work, and consistency are what will make your career a strong supporting asset in your life. Do not lose your passion. Do not lose your purpose. You have so many years ahead of you, so use them wisely.
And that message works for the ones who win too. Enjoy the award– it is yours to take, you earned it! But, do not let the award fool you, becasue you’ll need to continue working just as hard if not harder to keep the bar high.
"But, do not let the award fool you, becasue you’ll need to continue working just as hard if not harder to keep the bar high."
What are you and your studio working on now?
I am focused on continuing to create a strong core at the studio, and at the same time learning how to nurture our relationships with our representatives and clients.
I am also working on figuring out what will be my next personal project as I always try to produce and create non-commercial work that helps me open new doors for the studio.
One Club for Creativity Members get featured here on the One Club website and across our social media channels. Have a new project you'd love to share? An upcoming exhibition and you'd like us to help spread the word? We always love to know what our One Club Members have been up to, so don’t forget to send us your cool work!
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