Design and Direction Studio Onesal Creates Hyper Realistic CGI Commercial for Luxury Fashion Brand Mulberry
British luxury fashion brand, Mulberry launches the Softie handbag collection. To reveal the more youthful and pillowy feel side of their new product, BBH Singapore Agency reached out to Onesal's for their design and art direction expertise. The Tokyo based art direction studio is well known for their advanced simulation technologies achieving astounding CGI textures and animations, which is why Mulberry chose them to portray an alternative angle to the hard-wearing classics and challenge consumers to reconnect with their desire to play with the new Softie.
A whole new collection of quilted bags are showcased in five short pieces; from the shoulder bag to the tote bag, all three are depicted in bold and classic colours ranging from coral orange to cornflower blue. Such a meticulously handcrafted fashion piece, made of high-quality Nappa Leather environmentally accredited, recycled nylon lining and down feathers with certified animal welfare practices, could only be showcased by the most stylish and sensible visual designers. Exploring the possibilities of what CGI animation and hyper realistic textures could achieve for the product, the art Onesal produced this campaign with a bold approach that’s generating sensations through mesmerising close-ups and a beautifully soft SFX design.
Similar to their hyper realistic CGI film titled Visual ASMR, but with a bit of playfulness, the studio designed CG visual pieces putting an emphasis on softness and texture. Throughout the whole campaign, we see highlights of the british heritage product’s label reflected across high-end visuals. Close-ups of the stitching and leather texture bring us closer to the quilted item’s appeal. The luxury fashion brand’s metal hardware is depicted with 3d animated visuals and mesmerising audio, referencing some of Mulberry’s most recognisable and iconic symbols, such as the postman's lock and paper clip chain. Read the full story about luxury fashion brand Mulberry’s softies in Vogue Magazine.
Having the ability to work with the physical product in the studio was essential to the creative process. Onesal’s team replicated every single aspect of the bags on a 3D modelled purse, which then was animated emphasising even the most minute details.. Bold camera angles, and a seamless editing yields a flow which further showcases the high-end craftsmanship of Mulberry's luxurious design carry. To improve upon the texture experience, each piece relies on sound design and ASMR. Partnering with Echoic Studio in Bristol, the team transformed traditional ASMR sounds into narrative ASMR experiences that complemented the story. A surrounding and tactile SFX design reflects and emphasises the Mulberry caress of the pillow bag.
We asked the studio’s art director Damian Sendin about the creative process to which he replied, “We’ve worked with a neatly organised composition to display this contemporary classic at the centre of attention. We also leaned on the smart use of light to keep a fresh and sophisticated mood the nouvelle Mulberry’s softie deserved. In a world where it is increasingly more useful to communicate feelings and sensations through images, our approach was the perfect fit for Mulberry.”
With that, Onesal created a Case Study for their Mullberry project.Working very closely with the Creative Team at BBH and the Marketing Department of Mulberry, Onesal set out to appeal through visuals and sounds to a young audience located mainly in Asia. Use social media and short videos to tell stories about the quality and workmanship of the new bag and its construction details.
The challenge was quite well cut out for them. With a strong Touch Me client call to action, Onesal set out to reimagine the sensation of touch using only digital screens. To make the most of customers' already limited time to test products, we needed to make the audience experience textures through short, appealing and effective images. Not only that, but the heritage of a brand like Mulberry required an extremely high level of finesse, quality and craft in every detail of the films.
The team at Onesal was able to actually touch and feel for themselves these amazingly tactile products in all their variants. Experiencing this allowed them to imagine and come up with a plan for how to craft something they could bring into the digital world. With highly detailed textures, perfectly timed animations and strong visual exploration through simulations, the luxury fashion brand's metal hardware was depicted in five short 3D animated pieces along with mesmerising audio, referencing some of the brand most recognisable and iconic symbols, emphasising the softness and texture of Mulberry's iconic design.
Giving that extra level of sensoriality through ASMR sound design, they added another dimension to the feeling of touch. To improve upon the tactile experience, each piece relied on sound design and ASMR to create a unique texture. Partnering with Echoic Studios in Bristol, we transformed traditional ASMR sounds into narrative ASMR experiences that complemented the story and enhanced the viewing experience.
The art direction and content Onesal produced were released by BBH and Mulberry in a long series of different mediums such as YouTube, Instagram, OOH and even immersive pop-up spaces like the one in Shinsegae Gangnam. As a result of the launching campaign, only between YouTube and Instagram reached over 2.5 million views (paid and organic). Watch the hyper realistic CGI commercial visualising luxury fashion brand Mulberry’s new Softie and other spots at Onesal.com.
