Overview
I've done work for Clif Bar and Co. since 2018. My good friend and colleague at Ubisoft, Kate Chuang, joined Clif's internal creative team some time before, and when she and her team were seeking a video artist to help create product videos (essentially web commercials) for their product re-brands, she recommended me to her team leader, Robert Burns.
Clif was getting ready to re-brand pretty much their entire product line with new packaging and a new marketing aesthetic. They had concepts and storyboards ready, and needed someone to turn them into reality on the screen. This is where I came in.
Over the years, we created a lot of these types of video campaigns. They'd usually involve a hero video of either :15 or :30, and shorter versions for social media. We'd also often create looping webpage marquees, as opposed to static images, as a way to add some spice to their e-commerce product pages.
Please enjoy the work you find below. It was created with great love and care by a dedicated team of artists who all played essential roles in the process. Thanks for your time.
Builders Bar Relaunch
These were created for the repackaging launch of Clif Builders Protein bars. The team at Clif completely redesigned the entire ecosystem that these bars lived in, elevating the aesthetic of not just the packaging, but the entire world of Builders. It was the first of their product lines to receive this complete make-over, and my first collaboration with the team.
Deliverables included a hero product video with flavor changes for different geographic regions, shorter social videos, product videos for tertiary products like Builders Minis and Builders Caffeine, a set of HTML5 banner ads, 3D rendered bars and packaging models, and looping videos for placement on Clif's e-commerce pages and marketing outlets.
My work involved overseeing the studio video shoot, supervising post-production and executing the editing and motion graphics.
Check out the detailed case study at Axes Agency for a complete rundown of this project and all of it's many moving parts.
Team
Mackenzie Mathis – Production supervision, post-production creative direction, motion graphics, animation
Robert Burns – Art direction
Ashley Andrews – Concept design, world-building, social strategy
Kate Chuang – Concept design, world-building, social strategy
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Cameron Mathis – HTML5 banner ads
Brandon Hall – 3D modeling and texturing
Tony Hocevar – 3D lighting and animation
Dan Juenemann – Studio lighting
Janice Whang – Hand modeling
Robert Burns – Art direction
Ashley Andrews – Concept design, world-building, social strategy
Kate Chuang – Concept design, world-building, social strategy
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Cameron Mathis – HTML5 banner ads
Brandon Hall – 3D modeling and texturing
Tony Hocevar – 3D lighting and animation
Dan Juenemann – Studio lighting
Janice Whang – Hand modeling
Clif Coffee Collection
Through Axes Agency, I helped Clif develop an asset library for their new product, Clif Coffee Collection. It's a Clif Bar infused with the same amount of caffeine as a shot of espresso, meant for people who love coffee shop culture but are usually too busy to indulge in it.
This was a bigger project that involved a lot more than the two product videos you see below. I put together a team to capture lifestyle photography and video, based on the world-building foundations created by Clif's internal team. We took the lead on casting, locations, and production, and in the end, gave Clif Bar a world-class asset library for their artists to pull from to create marketing and design comps.
Deliverables for this project included the two hero product videos you see below, one for Coffee Collection's main bar, and one for the small version, Coffee Minis, a set of lifestyle images and video clips for use in Clif's marketing efforts, and a looping webpage marquee that would be placed on their e-commerce landing pages.
Team
Mackenzie Mathis – Production and post-production supervision, video editing, animation
Ashley Andrews – Art direction, world-building, social strategy
Kate Chuang – Concept design, creative direction
Robert Burns – Art direction
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Anna Laclergue – Producing
Michelle Le – Lifestyle photography
Stefan Ruenzel – Cinematography
Evan Davies – Location lighting
Dan Juenemann – Studio lighting
Katy Tiemann – Prop styling, wardrobe
Naruemon Promsawasdi – Key makeup
Brittany Edwards – Talent
Matthew East – Talent
Ashley Whelan – Talent
Ashley Andrews – Art direction, world-building, social strategy
Kate Chuang – Concept design, creative direction
Robert Burns – Art direction
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Anna Laclergue – Producing
Michelle Le – Lifestyle photography
Stefan Ruenzel – Cinematography
Evan Davies – Location lighting
Dan Juenemann – Studio lighting
Katy Tiemann – Prop styling, wardrobe
Naruemon Promsawasdi – Key makeup
Brittany Edwards – Talent
Matthew East – Talent
Ashley Whelan – Talent
Clif Nut Butter Bar
The next product to get the royal rebrand treatment was Clif's Nut Butter Bar. I was particularly excited by this one for two reasons–one, they're delicious and I was looking forward to having sample bars on hand for snacking, and two, the concept, developed by Clif's internal creative team involved a really fun-looking hand-made animation style that I couldn't wait to play with.
The updated packaging on these bars, with their block colors and stark contrast, made for the perfect playground when it came to creating a playful, almost cartoony aesthetic for the brand. It was a delightful challenge to take the illustrated storyboards, developed by Kate Chuang, and bring them to life through animation and sound.
In the end, this remains one of my favorite campaigns simply because of how lighthearted and fun the Nut Butter world ended up being.
Deliverables included the hero product video you see below, separate versions focusing on specific flavors and health claims, and looping social animations.
A more complete case study will be coming soon for this project. For now, please enjoy the main asset everything else revolved around.
Team
Mackenzie Mathis – Post-production supervision, video editing, animation
Ashley Andrews – Art direction, world-building, social strategy
Kate Chuang – Concept design, creative direction
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Ashley Andrews – Art direction, world-building, social strategy
Kate Chuang – Concept design, creative direction
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Clif Whey Protein
What I enjoy most about my frequent collaborations with Clif Bar is the fact that they're not afraid to push the boundaries of their industry. Their creative team is always thinking of new fun ways to represent their products in distinct and clever ways.
For the rebranding of their Whey Protein bars, the Clif team cooked up a concept that really captures the essence of what makes this product special. The fact that it's both light in weight and in sugar is what gave birth to this concept of a weightless bar floating in space for all to enjoy.
I loved the design comps cooked up by Kate Chuang, and had a blast figuring out how to bring this amazing idea to life in motion. It remains one of my favorites for how well everything came together. The bars truly to feel weightless, and have an appeal that far surpasses the way they'd been positioning this product before.
Deliverables included the hero product video you see below, various iterations for different regions and platforms, and looping social animations.
Team
Mackenzie Mathis – Post-production supervision, video editing, animation
Brian Ho – Art direction
Kate Chuang – Concept design, creative direction
Ashley Andrews – World-building, social strategy
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Brian Ho – Art direction
Kate Chuang – Concept design, creative direction
Ashley Andrews – World-building, social strategy
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Bite-Sized Answers
I love working with risk-tolerant people and companies. Playing things safe has never appealed to me, and though sometimes this mindset can lead to running into a dead end, I find it's never a complete loss–something is always learned or gained in the process.
These two videos represent a proof-of-concept for a series Clif Bar considered pursuing. In the end, it wasn't something they thought they could support in the long-run, so these two videos remain the only ones in the series, but I thought it was an idea with potential and I'm honored the Clif team thought of me to help realize them.
The idea was to create a series of animated shorts that provided bite-sized answers to questions people might have about Clif Bars. The two we created as a proof-of-concept were "What's In A Clif Bar?" and "Snacking On The Go."
Production involved taking storyboards developed in-house at Clif, bringing them to life in motion, and supervising a voice-over recording session to capture the narration present in the videos.
Although they never became more than what you see here, they're a testament to Clif's willingness to try something simply because they think it might be fun and useful. They were definitely fun to work on.
Team
Mackenzie Mathis – Post-production supervision, video editing, animation
Ashley Andrews – Concept design, art direction
Kate Chuang – Concept design, storyboarding
Julia Mitchell – Project management
Ashley Andrews – Concept design, art direction
Kate Chuang – Concept design, storyboarding
Julia Mitchell – Project management