1stAveMachine Launches Design Division
May 6, 2025
The first spot in Wieden+Kennedy’s Smellegendary campaign for Old Spice combines a fun script (see below), French actor/heart-throb Axel Kiener, and beat-perfect supporting VFX from The Mill – all pulled together by Biscuit director Steve Rogers. [Watch]
Ton Meijdam, Thom Snels and Béla Zsigmond (aka Studio Smack in the Netherlands), who brought us this piece of low-budget magic, are back with an in-house animated short to ask what would happen if brands could place their advertising in our dreams. [Watch]
Following on the heels of Giant Ant’s fabulous 1930’s animation update, Slack pivots 180 degrees in tone and technique for this frenetic :60, opting for a cast of collaborative CG animals from the masters of such things, Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes, thru TBWA \ CHIAT \ DAY. [Watch]
Roof directors Guto Terni, Sam Mason, and Vinicius Costa unleash a massive, vibrant fantasy world for this Honda spot called “The Dreamer,” realized in obsessive detail and full of unexpected and delightful moments. [Watch]
The popularity of CG acting as stop-motion paper has grown over the last five years because the analog handcraft associated with origami and the apparent low-poly modeling both provide a warmer counterpoint to the too-shiny, machine-made perfection often associated with 3D. [Watch]
High concept and striking CG execution from the all-Amsterdam team of design/production studio Onesize and ad agency TBWA\NEBOKO in this quick 20-second spot for the 100% electric Nissan Leaf called “New Year’s Resolution.” [Watch]
Vancouver narrative masters Giant Ant mix traditional animation and 3D in this updated take on 1930’s cartoons for Slack powered by the song “Count Your Blessings And Smile” written by legendary English actor, singer-songwriter George Formby and re-recorded by Toronto’s Danny Simmons. [Watch]
Bay Area freelance director, designer, and animator Elliot Lim turns his obsession with HBO’s “The Wire” into a beautifully drafted, animated homage piece that will no doubt garner attention from show runners, title designers and networks worldwide. [Watch]
Creative director Pablo Gostanian and the crew at Buenos Aires design and motion studio 2veinte unleash their talents for extreme characters and colors in these 31 short blasts of holiday fun for Disney XD. [Watch]
Director Matt Smithson and his Man vs Magnet mini-crew help UNESCO deliver an important message about the agency’s global education goals with this engaging motion work accented by a lovely muted palette and clever transitions. [Watch]
Hey, no pressure – it’s just the entire Beatles’ catalog finally available online for the first time. LA creative director Clarice Chin and the Mill+ team handles design, animation and editorial in this vivid flurry of updated iconography for BBH and Google Play. [Watch]
In March 2015, Framestore LA creative director Ben West released his phenomenal buddy-film sushi comedy “FUGU & TAKO” exploring the perils and unexpected perks of eating live puffer fish. The film and perfectly realized VFX were created while West was a director and VFX super at Robot in Sydney. [Watch]
Take a peek at four months of intensely detailed work by Oscar-nominated stop-motion star PES and his team of animators and illustrators as they recreate the evolution of Honda products with thousands of hand-rendered drawings on real live paper with pre-vis and VFX/finishing by a52. [Watch]
Dutch director Matthijs Van Heijningen hit superstar status in 2011 via his brilliant Canal+ “The Bear” spot with Mikros Image supplying the beat-perfect VFX. In early 2015, Van Heijningen and the Mikros crew re-teamed for another smart, funny, animal-centric Canal+ effort called “Unicorns.” [Watch]
