Trollbäck + Company Dispatches Electrifying AICP Next Awards Opener

Trollbäck + Company created the 2016 Next Awards Show open, which debuted last Tuesday at The Tishman Auditorium at The New School. The animated opener took audiences on an electrifying journey through a graphically and sonically stylised 3D world. The AICP Next Awards is one of the tentpole events of AICP Week; each year’s honoured work becomes a part of the archives of the Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art.

“Jakob [Trollbäck] and Brian [Bowman] and the entire Trollbäck team have consistently raised the bar on the graphics for the Next Awards since their inception 10 years ago,” says AICP President and CEO Matt Miller. “We are thrilled to partner with them once again on a treatment that really reflects the forward-facing nature of the Next Awards.”  

“The AICP Next Awards are fast becoming an institution in the creative advertising community, and we’re honoured to have been part of it from the beginning,” remarks T+Co Chief Creative Officer Jakob Trollbäck, who notably designed the AICP Next logo. “Every year, the Next shortlist and winners set the bar a notch higher, challenging and inspiring our industry at large to reach new heights in our own work. To that end, we’ve always carried that same drive and spirit to excel in everything we create for the AICP.” 

“Send + Receive” is a conceptual visualization of communication and emotion in today’s digital world. A signal goes out, travelling through various channels before dovetailing into dynamic patterns and shapes that form an entire world within the AICP logo reveal. 

According to T+Co Creative Director Brian Bowman, this year’s opener was as much about creating a visual experience on the new venue’s ultra wide 3:1 movie screen to grab the audience’s attention: “Every year is something different, while still falling in line with the AICP brand and vibe of the Next Awards,” explains Bowman. “Last year’s open was more of an experiential live performance in which we used the space to project content on various LED screens. This year’s venue beckoned us to create a more classic, cinematic open, keeping the focus primarily on one big canvas with edge-to-edge content.” 

T+Co also created stage assets for the awards ceremony, such as a physical lower thirds-style platform comprised of 20 LED monitors, which was conceived to complement and interact with the main screen.

Antfood scored the immersive experience with visceral arrangements combining digital and analogue sounds. 

“Working with Antfood encouraged exploration and experimentation,” concludes Bowman. “We could bounce the visual back and forth with the audio to create something new. They brought a unique level of sophistication to our process.”