Blind and DIRECTV Sculpt a New Way to Watch TV

DIRECTV’s In-house creative team approached Blind with a unique opportunity to help develop and conceptualize a series of TV spots to promote DTV’s Channel Mix. Their ultimate task come up with a unique visual metaphor to demonstrate the difference between watching television with and without DIRECTV’s Channel Mix.

Jesse James is a Dead Man

Each week Jesse James is a Dead Man will feature Jesse James preparing for and then taking place in death-defying events, such as competing in the Baja 500 off-road race, speeding at more than 200 mph on a nitro-charged motorcycle or driving a monster truck over a house.

Check out the 30 second launch promo, the original tease promo and some network ID’s featuring Jesse attacking the Spike logo here and then tune into Spike on Sunday, May 31st for the premier of the show.

Green With Envy

Last Saturday, 5 teams gathered at Blind for their shot at claiming the Halo 3 Championship title. After some intense gameplay, screaming and trash talking, Team Legz (Reza, Casey, Greg and Dylan) fell a little short of their dream of getting a ‘Perfection’, and instead, was the first team eliminated from round robin play. The bracket was set: it would be Team Blind (Chris D., Thai, Aaron and Anthony) vs. Team Neo (Mitch, Sunni, James and Brian), with Team FTW a.k.a For The Win (Brian, Erik, Riel and Chris P.) vs. Team Born (Matthew, Jiaren, Joseph and Gus). In bracket one, Team Blind took advantage of the newly formed Team Neo and won straight sets to advance into the semi-finals. In bracket two, Team FTW quickly dispatched Team Born, sending them into contention against Team Neo for the Bronze. A crowd formed to watch the ensuing battle. After the smoke cleared, it was Team Neo that snatched 3rd place.

The House That Walgreens Built

In a recent feat of speed, skill and creativity, the Blind team created a charming spot for Walgreen’s in a remarkably short period of time! With just 9 days in the production schedule to design, build-out and animate the spot, CD Vanessa Marzaroli led her team to victory, shattering the previous records for abbreviated production schedules held by “Crazy” for Gnarls Barkeley and “LoveStoned” for Justin Timberlake.

Blind Gets Gold and Bronze ADDY® Award.

Congrats to the Blind team for picking up a Gold and Bronze ADDY Award for their work on Gap: Sound of Color and Oppenheimer in the category of Animation/Special Effects. With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition.

“Top Model” Gets Ready To Walk The Runway

Just before years end, the CW network approached us to create the promos for the new season of their hit show, America’s Next Top Model. The network had come with a photo shoot of the models already complete, looking to see what could be done. This season’s image campaign explored the idea of “folds” as a conceptual hook and aesthetic.

A Test Drive Like No Other.

Web Agency, Organic, Inc. approached us with an interesting challenge of creating an interactive web experience for the 2009 Jeep Patriot international campaign. The task was to create eight :10 second animations which could be interchangeably strung together, forming a “choose your own adventure” test drive. But, this wasn’t your typical day behind the wheel. Conceptually, this was drawn from the imagination of one driver’s recollection of the most amazing test drive experience. Ever see Sasquatch, a giant octopus, hundreds of colored frogs, and a cloud of singing locusts while on the road?

Blind gets feminine.

Blind paints a pretty picture in a soothing new spot for Vagisil. Intricate, hand-drawn textures were painted onto live action footage, seamlessly integrating the talent into the watercolored storybook world of the spot. Uncomfortable, intrusive symptoms are swiftly transformed into beautiful, fresh landscapes in these lovely spots created in conjunction with agency Combe, Incorporated. Take a look!

Skate 2

The Skate revolution continues with Skate2. Jump back on the sticks and skate it your way. Bro, you should do some nollie 5-0s.

In this episode of The Take Back Squad, Blind provides titles and character ID’s to help the crack team of hoodlumz Eric Koston, Terry Kennedy, and Bob Dyrdek take back the streets of San Vanelona in a retro inspired mash up of old school skate and 70’s/80’s action shows. Check it out.

See also: Blind’s previous work, logo and box art design exploration, for the original EA Skate.

Crips and Bloods: Made in America

We’re happy to announce that Crips and Bloods: Made in America opens at the IFC Theater in New York this Friday 23 January and then in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Sunset 5 on February 6. The film has been shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar. This marks the third theatrical collaboration between Creative Director, Tom Koh and filmmaker Stacy Peralta (Dogtown and Z-Boys, Riding Giants). It’s been some time since we worked on the film, so we’re excited to see it on the big screen.