yahoo mail
Sticky Situation
Have you ever started a free trial with the intention of cancelling before getting billed, only to have it turn into an expensive long term relationship? Yea, us too 💸
Thankfully Yahoo is here to help save the day (and some cash) with free trial alerts — a service that reminds you to cancel your free trial accounts before getting billed. We partnered with Yahoo to bring this problem to life in the form of a hulking, scribbly, sticky note monster!
MAKING A MESS
Self reminders start innocently enough. One note here, one note there. No biggie, right? Yea, but if you aren’t careful — it could grow 10 feet tall and sprout arms and legs and charge you $11.99 a month for a service you don’t use.
ANIMATION PROCESS
During the editorial process our main goal was to create drama and intrigue while building this beast, one sticky note at a time. Doing so was essential to the “payoff” moment of the reveal, and the sweet relief of blowing her away into a million CG simulated pieces.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
As we began to design this beast, we were inspired by the classic visual of a busy and overgrown sticky note spread one might find on the wall of their office space.
It was important for us and the client to strike balance with this monster. She needed to feel unhinged and chaotic, but also orderly enough to be an easy read. In addition, Sticki needed to be big and intimidating to communicate the brand message, but also remain appealing! The combination of sticky note placement and writing/doodle selection allowed for near endless possibilities.
STICK EM’ UP
You might be thinking that creating a monster out of hundreds of sticky notes sounds like a technical challenge. Well, you’d be right — but it’s also a lot of fun!
We created a custom sticky note rig that facilitated art direction of sticky note placement, but also allowed for intuitive control of how the stickies flop, curl, bob, and blow away!
CREDITS
Client
Yahoo Mail
Executive Producer
Jeff Bybee
Producer
Cloie Leger Watson
Creative Director
Matt Darnall
STORYBOARDS
Matt Darnall
DESIGN
Lauren Detling
Trish Janovic
Matt Darnall
3D ARTISTS
Travis Schmidt
Ren Chen
Steve Beck
2D ANIMATION
Adam Henderson