Creating The Future
Chicago, IL
Working For Good
Strategy
Orange County, CA
Impact
Art Annual
C R E AT I V E
OX Creative
WELCOME — PAGE 5 DESIGN FILM
CHAPTER TWO
LIFE AT OX MUSIC
CHAPTER ONE
— PAGE 7
— PAGE 31
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
— PAGE 45
— PAGE 53
WORKING FOR GOOD
TO SERVE & TO CREATE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
WELCOME
Grander Visions
OX Creative
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WELCOME Grander visions require grander visuals. The problem with pictures is that people don’t always like what they see. The future can be unfamiliar and people’s blink reaction to new things is generally skeptical. Like a new pair of shoes, a new vision can be painful at first. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need new ones. There are things that have gone wrong in our world that need to be put right. For whatever reason, people don’t always do good on their own and sometimes require someone to lead them in the right direction. At OX, we partner with individuals and organizations working to do GOOD in the world. Great and difficult work that has nobility, courage, and brings a lasting and needed change. Everyday our team’s number one task is to create inspiring metaphors. A picture of the future that will produce passion in someone who is focused on something else. We do this through music, design, film, branding, and creative direction. We like to
think of ourselves as the “special forces” of story-telling. A team of small giants you can call on for your most critical missions. Many times our best work goes un-announced. Over the past year we’ve been working hard all over the world on projects seen and unseen. This ART ANNUAL is our way of sharing some of our finest work in branding, design, film, and music. Many of our projects include integrated campaigns featuring a common metaphor and art direction which is implemented across multiple platforms. The impact of a campaign like this is keenly felt in the weight of a combined experience, but is difficult to quantitatively express on paper. This ART ANNUAL is our first attempt at that. Our hope is that by seeing this you will be inspired and take heart in the projects you are working on. There are great things our world needs you to do. We’re here to help.
Jesse Oxford Creative Director & Principal OX Creative
oxcreates.com
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6 OX Creative Designer
Katie Kick
POWERFUL IMPACT. BY A GOOD CAUSE HAS A DESIGNED FOR. DESIGN FUELED I TRULY CARED ABOUT WHO I UNTIL WORKING WITH OX THAT DESIGN. BUT IT WASN’T WHAT I DO. CARED ABOUT I’VE ALWAYS CARED ABOUT To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit: it is to add value and meaning , to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse. To design is to transform prose into poetry. PAUL RAND
Design Fueled
By A Good Cause Has A
1 DESIGN OX CREATIVE
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Powerful Impact
8 STYLE IS IMPORTANT / SO IS DOING GOOD
WHEN A GOOD BEARD JUST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH. DESIGN
STYLE IS IMPORTANT / SO IS DOING GOOD
RIGHTEOUS BEARD is a grooming and lifestyle start-up specializing in facial hair care (beard oils, mustache wax, etc.). For Matt, founder of Righteous Beard, it’s not just about the product. Instead, it is about “providing economic
opportunity for those living in global poverty”. He plans on sourcing ingredients from developing countries around the globe. At OX Creative, style is important, it’s what we do; but we also want to work with companies passionate about doing good. When we came across a company as enthusiastic about both things it lit a special fire under our feet.
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A SPECIAL FIRE UNDER OUR FEET
GROOMING AND LIFESTYLE STARTUP
RIGHTEOUS BEARD BRANDING
DIGITAL
PROCESS
ANALOG
CAMPAIGN DESIGN We think of every campaign in terms of where it will live in both a DIGITAL and ANALOG space. Instead of starting the process in the digital world as a logo created on a computer, often it can be helpful to create a physical object like an art installation or a film set to inspire your campaign logo.
DESIGN
Enjoy a glimpse into the OX design process.
BEFORE ALL THINGS Imagine a moving sculpture made of individual panes of glass (plexiglass). The panes are suspended from a track system so you can adjust the space between them by manually sliding them along the track. Similar to how huge rugs are displayed in stores. The foremost pane says “BEFORE ALL THINGS” and each pane behind is would represent something that needs to be put into perspective...
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ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES
INSTALLATION CONCEPT
Each of those “obstacle” panes would have a monotone image painted onto it — semi transparent. When you view everything from the front, you read BEFORE ALL THINGS and the secondary panes just look like a colorful backdrop…they are obscured and are secondary to pane 1. When you walk between the panes, and move them, you can see each obstacle individually. When you look at them this way, they seem large. Overwhelming. But viewing from the front, all of the secondary panes are calmed by the massive text on pane 1. Panes could be visually tied to each week of the campaign or a product feature.
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DESIGN
DATA ANALYSIS FOR SOCIAL GOOD THE 2015 DO GOOD DATA CONFERENCE
What do unicorns, monkeys in New York City and data nerds working for good have in common? All are elements of a recent OX branding, marketing and strategy campaign, and all added unique color to a unique event. The Do Good Data conference is a yearly event serving data analysts working to do good with numbers. The conference serves a unique set in the world of statistics and analysis those working to interpret these numbers to enhance the efficacy of organizations working to serve the greater good.
Taking into account the unique demographic the conference serves, OX developed a unique angle. Specially illustrated figures to appeal to this a special set - data nerds who don’t take themselves too seriously and like a little fun. The characters filled everything from the promo video to the Google ad words campaign to the event graphics, giving life to a subject that can sometimes be dry and humorless. But pretty visuals were not all that was needed to make this event work. OX also provided a comprehensive marketing, strategic sales and membership plan to set the Do Good Data conference up for success in 2015. It worked. This year’s event outpaced the previous year by 85%.
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13 TO ENHANCE THE EFFICACY OF ORGANIZATIONS WORKING TO SERVE THE GREATER GOOD.
UNIQUE COLOR / UNIQUE EVENT
TRANSFORM ART DIRECTION + DESIGN
AUGMENTED REALITY
DESIGN
Whether it’s a book cover, a
TAKE ROOT CAPITAL CAMPAIGN ART DIRECTION + GREEN WALL INSTALLATION
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LIES WE BELIEVE ART DIRECTION + DESIGN
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DESIGN
READY SET LOGO DESIGN
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A Special
18 Chemistry
Is Created
HOLISTIC COMMUNITY DESIGN
WORKING TO TRANSFORM
NURU INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY REPORT
A special chemistry is created when OX and an organization working to transform an under-resourced population join forces. Nuru is one of those organizations. Working
toward holistic community development, Nuru focuses on going deep into the communities they serve in Kenya and Ethiopia, seeking to support its citizens through four areas of focus: Agriculture, Financial Inclusion, Healthcare and Education. Communicating the effectiveness of these programs was OX’s task. Working to design a visually beautiful, yet richly communicative report, OX’s team served Nuru with the tools it needs to build out these reports internally in the future. By providing a visually beautiful report template, OX created an appealing design flexible enough to serve the Nuru team well into the future. Maximizing not just Nuru’s communication power, but their bang for the buck as well.
NEW WAVE DESIGN
NEXT WAVE
SUMMER CAMP IS COOL AGAIN
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Sandblast is an annual summer camp hosted by Student Impact, Willow Creek Community Church’s
high school ministry. This year more than 2,000 students attended, representing 30 high schools from all over the Chicagoland Area. This trip offers high school students a way to step outside their daily lives to regroup and reconnect with God and their peers in an honest, intentional way. What we at OX Creative love about working with Student Impact on this project is the fact that they have created a space where students from all different backgrounds can come and experience God and community in an authentic way. It is not cheesy or cliched, it understands its students and meets them where they are. The design concept for this years collection is a photo-based beach lifestyle aesthetic with sun-washed page textures and hand brushed lettering. Using new-wave minimalistic design, and 60’s sportswear as inspiration we combined a bit of retro and a touch of modern design to create a unique, young, colorful and energetic experience.
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A UNIQUE, YOUNG, COLORFUL AND ENERGETIC EXPERIENCE.
A BIT OF RETRO & A TOUCH OF MODERN
SANDBLAST CAMP
O-CEDAR PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY (STILLS + MOTION)
DESIGN
HEY NEIGHBOR!
Renewal Church is a brand new church who beleives the best way to transform a community is to be a good neighbor. They intend to pour into the community by focusing initially on low income, “red zone” neighborhoods. Their hope is to create a church
notorious for being safe, unpretentious, with a sacrificial love for one another, and preaching the full message of the Gospel. We set out to create a brand with a pervasive sense of neighborliness and acceptance without pretense. We wanted their community to understand that the church is not just about being welcomed but they understand the rich message of the Gospel and the power it can play in our lives when we let it renew us.
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SLOW DOWN / CREATE
INTENTIONAL
RENEWAL CHURCH LOGO
CUSTOM SILK-SCREEN & FOIL
This last Christmas we were asked to create a one of-a-kind holiday card. It was an
important opportunity for our client to show their gratitude and appreciation for their team and clients with more than the standard holiday fare. The card we created has as much care given to the print production process as it does to the design itself. The card is printed on custom triplex card stock (bronze stock sandwiched between two pieces of navy) with bronze leaf debossed details and white silk-screened text. From custom card stock to hand-lettered type, we love to deliver a completely custom, personally curated product for all our clients. In a season that can so often fly by - it was an honor to slow down and create something so elegant and intentional.
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SLOW DOWN / CREATE
ELEGANT
HOLIDAY CARD
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LEGACY SERIES ART + TEE SHIRT
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OXCreates.com
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PA SSION IS ONE GRE AT FORCE TH AT UNLE A SHES CRE ATIVIT Y.
YO-YO MA
ROGER EBERT
Art is the closest we can come to understanding how a stranger really feels.
CREATING A FILM IS A LOT LIKE FOOTBALL. WHENEVER YOU FEEL STUCK, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO LEAN INTO THE SKILLS OF OTHERS TO MOVE THE BALL DOWN THE FIELD. AN INDIVIDUAL CAN ONLY TAKE A PROJECT SO FAR, BUT A GREAT TEAM CAN MAKE ANY PROJECT SAIL.
Corry Wiens Director & Editor OX Creative
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Can Make Any
2 FILM OX CREATIVE
A Great Team
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Project Sail
FILM
2015 GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
I remember Jesse inviting me (Corry) and Jonny into his office last winter. He said he had this great new idea for the Summit promo this year. We already had a few ideas brainstormed for what to do, but they were all “safe” ideas. Ideas that we knew we could tackle and do a great job on. The idea that Jesse proceeded to pitch to us was not one of these ideas. It was a big idea. A scary idea. I can imagine the look Jesse probably
saw on mine and Jonny’s faces as he told us the idea: excitement with a hint of terror. This was something new, something we had never done before, but once we caught the vision, we knew we had to do it.
Artists are pioneers in a way, and if you want to grow, you need to explore the dark areas of the map
that you haven’t visited before. Otherwise, you can get complacent and stuck creating the same thing over and over again. It might be stretching, and even a little scary at times, but in the end, you’ll be a better artist because of it.
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5 PROMO VIDEOS
4 SESSION FEATURES
ALL FOR A GLOBAL AUDIENCE.
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IF YOU WANT TO GROW, YOU NEED TO EXPLORE THE DARK AREAS OF THE MAP THAT YOU HAVEN’T VISITED BEFORE.
13 SPEAKER INTRO VIDEOS
DO WORK THAT SCARES YOU
I’D SAY THIS CALLS FOR SOME SLO-MO. GLSnext App Commerical
Comedy
Makes Anything
Interesting
FILM
STYLE & SUBSTANCE MAKING SPACE FOR MILLENNIALS
We’ve all seen it before. A film or a video that we thought was going to be amazing. The trailer or still frame looked incredible, but by the end of the video, we were left with a feeling of disappointment. This is normally caused by a disconnect between two very important aspects of film: style and substance. One without the other could create a decent
piece, or something that may get a lot of interest, but when you have both working together, that’s when a project can really sail.
Last year, we were honored to work with the church-building design firm, Aspen Group, on Making Space for Millennials. Aspen Group had recently done a study through Barna Group on what millennials are looking for in a church building. The findings were incredibly interesting and highlighted things that some of the millennials on our team even had been thinking, but were unable to verbalize. With the findings from this study as the backbone for the content, we were able to bring our unique style to the table to create a piece that we are truly proud of.
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37 SUBSTANCE & STYLE
FILM
JAFFAR AMIN
THE PEARL OF AFRICA CREATING THE UGANDA WE WANT
It’s a hot, muggy day in Kampala, Uganda. We’re sitting in the dark lobby of a hotel, waiting for Jaffar Amin, the son of Idi Amin. Flashback to two nights prior: We wheel a cart towering with film gear up to the customs desk at Uganda’s international airport. The customs officers ask us what we are doing with all that gear. When we respond that we are planning on filming the son of Idi Amin, they laugh out loud. You can tell by their facial expressions that they don’t think we know exactly who Idi Amin was. They don’t think we know about the atrocities that were committed during his presidency in the 70s. Or the fact that over 300,000 Ugandans were killed or went missing during this time. Their reaction shows us how the scars left by Amin’s dictatorship are felt even to this day. KAMPALA, UGANDA
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Back to the hotel lobby: We’ve never met Jaffar Amin, and we can’t help but wonder what he
RECONCILLIATION
will be like. A few people walk in and go straight to the front desk. Then, the shadow of a large figure darkens the door of the lobby. He walks in… “OXFORD!” he shouts as he walks up to greet us with a giant smile. He asks us how our visit has been and quickly pulls out his phone to show us pictures of his latest conquest up Mt. Kilimanjaro. His boisterous and friendly spirit invaded the room. After spending several days with Jaffar, it became clear that this man was not the same man as his father. You see, Jaffar has been traveling across all of Uganda, attending reconciliation events to personally and publicly apologize to those affected by his father’s reign.
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PUBLIC APOLOGIES
FILM
The man behind these reconciliation events, or convocations as they call them,
himself to bringing healing to his nation. Uganda has 56 different tribes, many of which WOUNDS IN THE PAST
have been at war with each other for decades. The purpose of these convocations is to bring tribes together to seek forgiveness for wounds created in the past. We had the great privilege of attending a convocation in the Ugandan countryside, and what we experienced there blew us away. To find out more, make sure you check out both parts of Creating the Uganda We Want on our website (oxcreates.com).
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HEALING IN THE PRESENT
is Bishop Joshua Lwere. Inspired by the Global Leadership Summit, Lwere has devoted
A GOOD HARVEST DOES NOT GROW WITH EASE / THE MORE DILIGENT THE FARMER, THE MORE BOUNTIFUL THE CROP. UGANDAN PROVERB
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C H IC THE B_BOY
THE DRUMMER
s ID rie V se O n a nce o TR g o fere ,s in T IN on rk IF cing E H n hc wo S C t s rie a of you wa pe EN ge d R ile ssive nce ts ex owe riv n re a FE ll N e p a m onfe tude s fo cer. th O o r s f d fo C ec de dan ha th s o e vi os f e ak TH we vide ic o tori re U . Th a b s p er, m ntro e to ent hifts nd YO m i er ls r, a Su ion . Th iff na -sta is s IC ee d ter es ll Th s CH thr d ex an a of d , lle afted al an mer ca r n ter drum in c we
YOUTH CONFERENCE INTRO VIDEOS
This Summer, we had the privilege of working on a series of session intro videos for a massive youth conference
called CHIC. The topic of the conference was SHIFT, so
EO
we crafted three different stories of students experiencing internal and external shifts. The videos followed a drummer, an all-star, and a breakdancer.
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BEHIND THE SCENES
CHIC | SHIFT
B
-B
O YS
THE ALL STAR
LIVE EVENT
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44 OX Creative Creative Director & Principal
Jesse Oxford
NOTHING GREAT GROWS IN A COMFORT ZONE. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it. STEVEN PRESSFIELD
Can Make Any
3 LIFE AT OX OX CREATIVE
A Great Team
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Project Sail
PUT ON A POT OF COFFEE
LIFE
LIFE AT OX APOSTLES FOR EAST DUNDEE
320 North River Street stands in a row of small town American storefronts that retain the spirit of an 1890’s Western or a Hollywood backlot set from Meet Me in St. Louis. An old train depot. Piece-a-Cake bakery. The Anvil Club. And an old red Caboose doling out gourmet hot dogs to bicyclists passing though on the Fox River Trail.
For the last two & a half years OX Creative has called the old thrift shop at 320 home. Previously, we’d worked out of the first floor of my home, but after taking up three entire rooms, the lady of the house decided it was time we move out - or she would. Years before, we had visited the thrift shop at 320, which was right down the hill from were we live. Then it was in pretty rough shape, but Tom Roeser had recently purchased the building and was completely restoring it. Tom is president of OTTO Engineering - which manufactures headsets for American fighter pilots - has taken an interest in the town and begun purchasing classic buildings and restoring them beautifully. When we first talked about leasing the space, I was on location filming in Palm Springs and Tom called saying he was looking for people who would be “Apostles for East Dundee” spreading “good news” about the town. We said we’d be happy to do that. CIRCLE UP AROUND THE WORKTABLE
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WE MOVED INTO THE SPACE ON FEBRUARY 16TH, 2013
Jesse plays Farmville.
So on Feb 16th, 2013 we moved into the space. I like to say that it’s so close to my house that you could roll a quarter out the driveway and down the hill and if you could just get it to turn left at the bottom it would roll right into the back door at 320 N River. This has yet to be attempted. Each morning we unlock our doors at 9am, put on a pot of coffee, and circle up around the worktable at 9:05 to share what we’re each planning to work on that day and what we need from each other to make that happen. The team is generally extremely busy so its nice to be in a small town with a slower feel so you can step outside on the street to gain some perspective on the busyness occurring inside the office. Our building is built with Haeger bricks which were fired right here in Dundee around the turn of the century. Mud was dredged from the Fox River and formed into bricks to rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire and much of the town was built using the same material. But good luck finding any more of it if you break one - these days its pretty hard to come by.
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SOME PERSPECTIVE ON THE BUSYNESS INSIDE THE OFFICE
WE CAN ’ T TAKE ANY CREDIT FOR OUR TALENTS. IT ’S HOW WE USE THEM TH AT COUNTS. MADELEINE L’ENGLE
OX Creative
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Alexis hard at work.
Jonny working on his masterpiece.
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LIFE
BURPEE
THE TEAM & THE TEAM MASCOT Hanging on the wall in the first floor is a world record Sailfish Jonny acquired from a local antique shop. “You wanna buy that?” the shop keeper said - appalled. “Its been hanging there for over 6 years!” He called to the back of the shop to share his disbelief with a co-worker. According to them, the 11 foot king sailfish was caught in the 50’s by the Burpee seed company magnate down in the Gulf but due to stringent rules regarding catch-and-release of gamefish was dis-allowed from official credit despite its generous size. Ignoring the lack of paperwork, Jonny purchased that fish and hung it proudly on the wall of our first floor. It goes by the name “Burpee” and its the official mascot of our team. He even has a voice we use to endow him with the gift of speech from time to time.
CREATIVE SPACE
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During especially busy seasons, the team goes into “stealth mode” where communication is limited to specific 90 minute intervals which minimizes competitive distractions from the work of creating. We’ve found that for a creative, any period of work-time shorter than 30 minutes on a specific taska is useless. So we try to protect sustained periods of work by limiting questions, “pop-by” s, and unnecessary interruption. Wednesdays are OX Community Lunch days, where the whole team goes out to eat together at a local restaurant. With all the running around, its nice to take an hour in the middle of the week to go out together and answer questions like: “If you had to open a restaurant that only served one thing, what would it be?” (Tuna, according to J.J.). Or “If you could own a house anywhere in the world, what style of house would it be and where would it be located? (Cliff-side house on Hanalei Bay, reported Corry. ) “How would you be woken up on your perfect day?” (Being licked by a pack of puppies, said Jonny.) Questions like these are important to answer for any creative agency. There are many other anecdotes about daily life at OX - but some are better seen in person. Drop us a note. We’d love to give you the penny tour and walk you over to the red caboose for a hot dog. - FROM THE DESK OF JESSE OXFORD
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QUINCY JONES
Music in movies is all about dissonance and consonance, tension and release.
WORKING AT OX IS LIKE STUDYING, INTERNING AND WORKING ALL AT THE SAME TIME. THE CREATIVE WORLD IS VAST AND HERE WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO EXPLORE IT.
Jonny Mendez Art Director & Music Producer OX Creative
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The Creative
World
4 MUSIC OX CREATIVE
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Is Vast
CREATE A MOOD
MUSIC
MUSIC AN IMPORTANT COMPANION TO FILM
Music has always been an important companion to film. The first silent film was accompanied by a live guitarist and Thomas Edison screened his first silent film with a full orchestra. In a time where there was no dialogue to hear, music was used to create mood and give the film another layer of emotion. That tradition continues today, horror films use music to build suspense and create tension just before a jump scare.
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COMPLETE & COMPELLING
THE PEOPLE WE DO BUSINESS WITH ARE PEOPLE PASSIONATE ABOUT THE WORK THEY DO
At OX Creative we create orignal soundtracks for our filmed pieces to draw the audience into the emotional reality of the film. It is important to us to create a score as unique as each of our clients. That is why every video that we produce gets its own original composition. The people we do business with are people passionate about the work they do, so it is important for us to capture that passion and endow the work that we do with that same sensibility. Independent of each other, you have an interesting short film and an interesting piece of instrumental music, but when combined they create a complete - and hopefully compelling - cinematic experience.
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LOVE WHAT YOU DO / DO WHAT YOU LOVE
Q&A WITH 1
2
IS YOUR PROCESS ALWAYS THE SAME?
DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST FILM SCORE THAT STUCK WITH YOU?
Generally, I start with a walk down the street. It helps me reset. From there I almost always start with drum tones.
Star Wars, The Man From Snowy River, and The Sandlot.
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JONNY MENDEZ 4
WHAT IS ONE THING THAT ALWAYS APPEARS IN AN OX SCORE?
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU’RE NOT INSPIRED TO WRITE MUSIC?
The “RV7000 Advanced Reverb” on the “Tree Tops” setting. I put this on everything.
When I hit a wall I change the light bulbs in my office to colored ones.
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HIT A WALL / CHANGE THE COLOR
3
FRESH / FRESH / FRESH
MELANGE 1
MUSIC
THE FIRST OX MUSIC RELEASE 58
MUSIC FOR THE HE ART AND THE HE AD
MELANGE 1
WE SCORE ALL OUR VIDEOS IN-HOUSE. LISTEN TO 15 ORIGINAL TRACKS.
FIND US ON SPOTIFY: OXCREATES.COM/SPOTIFY
TH ANK YOU
Gratitude
See more at OXcreates.com
OX Creative