Designing Nostalgic Joy for Mystery Fanta Flavour Lovers
A wonderfully wacky animated world that takes you right back to the ‘90s, The Coca-Cola Company’s #WhatTheFanta campaign is back, inviting us to guess its new mystery flavours. Set against the nostalgic sound of retro video games, the spot follows a Fanta lover as he’s transported back in time after a tantalising taste of the new drink. A cascade of flavour clues follow, thrown in among ‘90s memorabilia, from flip phones and cassette tapes to vintage Fanta commercials and a few red herrings.
Directed by Henri&Sebastian, the lively spot was brought to life through a collaboration between Heckler Singapore and Indonesia-based illustrator and motion designer, Ardhira Putra, who is known for his hyper-coloured retro artwork. Joining forces, the team transformed 3D realism into 2D vibrancy, pushing the limits of their creativity.
In this interview with LBB’s Sunna Coleman, Ardhira and Heckler Singapore’s senior VFX producer, Xinhui Zheng, take us through the fun brief, their creative processes and what made this work uniquely challenging.
LBB> For the fifth iteration of #WhatTheFanta, we are transported back in time to the ‘90s. What was the brief you were given and what were your initial thoughts and ideas?
Xinhui> The brief was to create a film that takes viewers back in time to an animated 2D retro world where they can try to spot hidden clues and participate in the mystery flavours guessing game. The directors [Henri&Sebastian] are renowned for their high-energy campaigns, and their treatment for this project was full of vibrant and trippy retro pop references. But the timeline was a little WTF(anta), so we knew it was going to be a fun but pretty challenging piece!
LBB> Ardhira, you are known for your brilliantly vibrant, retro artwork. You must have had a lot of fun pulling inspiration for the style of this campaign – tell us about your creative process and how you landed on the final concept.
Ardhira> I’m glad the Fanta brand team is really into the ‘80s and ‘90s style, and also that they followed my past works. They told me the direction they really wanted and it actually fitted super well with my style. I just needed to make the colour of the brand stand out.
I was given the brief to create a supermarket that had a combination of retro design from both Japanese and western supermarkets. From there, I started to gather images of ‘80s and ‘90s supermarkets and really enjoyed the process of observing all the design elements in the retro stores. From the tile design for the ground to the signage, the font and the product shelves, I learned a lot in the research and it was really fun to start drawing and combining everything into the surreal and retro supermarket that we landed on.
I enjoyed collaborating with the cool animation team, and we had some great discussions around how some of the objects interacted with the 2D characters – it was super fun.
LBB> The commercial incorporates 2D cel-animated elements – what does this involve and what are the challenges associated with it?
Xinhui> Creating cohesive elements, such as the 2D cel characters and fruits, meant we needed to integrate well with Ardhira’s environment. Design elements like colours, layers of shading, even down to the smallest details like line weights, all needed to be in the same vein as Ardhira’s setups.
2D animatics informed the 3D cameras, which became the base for 2D cel, and then we comp to integrate everything.
LBB> What were some of the other creative and post production problems/challenges on this project and how did you find a solution?
Xinhui> Some of the challenges included working with the different talent and bottle versions for the bespoke markets and making sure we stayed on top of all the little details. Process wise, it was unique because the cast had to be locked in well in advance so the illustrator could draw the character illustrations in their likeness. We tried to be as nimble as possible and set up our workflow in a way that would allow for quick changes.
LBB> What were some of the things you learned along the way?
Ardhira> I think for me, it’s really important to do some research on how the design elements create the environment as this is important when it comes to bringing a nostalgic joy to the audience. I am actually glad to have had a lot of time to do the research, and am really grateful to the Fanta brand team for believing in my work, and supporting me to make a fun environment. I feel like this project is a big collaboration and that we really trusted each other's expertise. I’m glad I was in this amazing production team.
LBB> What was your highlight from working on this campaign?
Xinhui> I really enjoyed the process of melding together the different mediums to bring Henri&Sebastian’s overarching vision for the film to life. From the on-set direction, to the 2D cel animations, to Ardhira's retro 3D world, there was such a huge talent pool within the team, where everyone had their little niche. Occasionally there are projects where it’s tricky to wrangle artists and unify their individual creative visions, but there was just a magical synergy within the team that worked on this, and I believe that's evident in the finished spot.
Ardhira> Working with the big team and collaborating with cool and amazing people!
LBB> How did you feel when you saw the final edit? What reactions have you received so far from audiences and the client?
Xinhui> I worked very closely with the team and was thus privy to every shot iteration and previews, but I remember the working clients were really stoked and mindblown at how everything came together during the final preview. I’ve also had coworkers go “WTF did I just watch?” on the first playback, and then watch it again to try and make sense of things, which I suppose is both a good thing for the campaign branding and overall view count.
Ardhira> The result is really amazing and beyond my expectation. I don’t think I’d be able to create something like this by myself, so I’m really grateful to have had this amazing opportunity. One of the masterpiece projects I’ve worked on!
LBB> Which scene is your favourite and why?
Xinhui> It’s definitely the first shot where our 2D character first lands in Ardhira’s retro world. It’s quite literally that WTF(anta), visual sensory overload moment, but in a good way. Everywhere you look, there’s something fun, interesting or nostalgic (for the old fogeys like myself).
Ardhira> When the 2D character just lands into the store; it's a long shot with the character in the middle. The character really fits with the environment, and we can see a lot of small details going on in the environment.
LBB> Any other interesting insight we should know?
Xinhui> Misdirection is part of the game -- some of the clues are actually red herrings!
