By animating a series of still photographs, and without using a single word of dialogue, The Wall Street Journal moves beyond its traditional business focus to become a vibrant “Everything Journal” in a :30 brand image spot entitled, “Live in the Know,” from agency McGarry Bowen (NYC) and production/design company The Wilderness.nnIn aggressively moving beyond its traditional black-and-white, business-only format, The Wall Street Journal‘s agency asked The Wilderness to produce a spot that embraces its newly expanded editorial focus and use of four-color art throughout, exclusively using still images. Using the masthead the concept was to create a new visual language to present the newspaper as the “The ‘Blank’ Street Journal, in which the reader fills in his favorite ‘blank’ subject matter.nn
wall street journal “live in the know” from THE WILDERNESS on Vimeo.
The agency provided The Wilderness with an illustrated brief of The Wall Street Journal‘s new Live in the Know campaign, which promotes the daily business-paper’s expanded editorial focus on lifestyle, travel, food, the complete realm of the executive class,” said Juliet Rios, co-founder and partner with Gabe Imlay in The Wilderness.nnThe spot employs a series of positioning words, including: Cultured, Moving, Opportunity, Enterprising, Real and Gritty, which are set in animated type placed upon a gritty newspaper-print background, integrated into a dozen animated still photographs that play over a bed of music. Without uttering a single word, the fast-paced spot makes the case for The Wall Street Journal‘s repositioning as – “The Enterprising Street Journal,” “The Real Street Journal, “The Local Street Journal,” “The Cultured Street Journal,” “The Human Street Journal,” “The Leisure Street Journal,” and “The Gritty Street Journal,” among other descriptives.nn”McGarry’s illustrated brief helped us see how we might use print as a launching point for the spot,” said Ms. Rios. “From the outset, we helped them research images as we sought to capture the look of the Bold Street or Main Street Journal. Just how do you that just in a photograph was the challenge?”nnIn an early meeting with the agency, The Wilderness discussed the use of stills rather than film footage. “It’s tricky when you consider using only type and stills,” added Ms.Rios. “And, if you are going to use stills, do you use a lot or a few? At that initial meeting, we decided that we weren’t going to apologize for using stills but rather would play to their strength and to their relation to the newspaper format, even to selecting a background texture to simulate the look of ink on newsprint.”n nUsing The Journal’s typeface, The Wilderness design team experimented with ink effects and paper stocks to achieve some verisimilitude to The Wall Street Journal. “At the end of the day, both Dow Jones and the agency responded positively to the tactile quality of the newspaper look,” said Wilderness partner Gabe Imlay. “They liked the look of the spot, the way it glows and its cinematic feel. But they really responded to the texture of the paper, which we worked hard to translate accurately to video.”n nCreditsntitle: The Wall Street Journal Live in the Know :30nclient: DOW JONESnagency: MCGARRY BOWEN, NYCnproduction company: THE WILDERNESSncreative directors: GABE IMLAYncreative directors: JULIET RIOSnproducer: FELIX CABRERAndesigners: COLIN HESS and GABE IMLAYnanimator: DAVID ROWELYneditors: DAVID ROWELY, GABE IMLAY and MOSS LEVENSONnproduction assistant: WILLIAM RUSSELLnMusic: Q Department, NYCnnAbout THE WILDERNESSnThe Wilderness pushes the limits of concept and design in motion graphics, animation and live-action production for commercials, music videos, film titles and art installations in the belief that good design enhances life.nnCo-founders and directors Gabe Imlay and Juliet Rios make color, light, space and motion the foundation of their collaborative work. Gabe’s studies in musical composition and visual effects combines with Juliet’s education in fine art drawing to produce an aesthetic sensibility that produces successful and highly engaging projects.nnSince 2004, The Wilderness has produced campaigns for leading brands including: the Ad Council, American Express, Brahma, Chase, Coca-Cola, Dominos, ?History?, Kraft, Mentos, MTV, Puma, Reebok, Verizon, VH1 and Walmart, among others, while being acclaimed for its direction, design and animation of music videos for Seun Kuti, Passion Pit, The Juan Maclean, Antipop Consortium, and Gordon Voidwell’s breakout song “Ivy League Circus.” www.thewildernessinc.com
