Sarofsky. Kove.

Axial1•

Kove•

Titling•

Typography•

2D Animation•

Illustration•

Kinetic Type•

Brand Video•

Motion Branding•

Kove

This campaign marks the first global branding and marketing effort by Kove, developed by their agency of record Axial1 Performance Science, following their trademark application of advanced analytics to optimize targeting, branding and marketing. We partnered with Axial1 to develop a motion language that would bring to life the still graphic elements that were developed by their internal design and creative teams. The result was a unique, conceptual and experimental approach to 3D animation that was as fun to create as it is to look at!

The Assignment

Kove:SDM™ (Kove Software-Defined Memory) is a technology that enables enterprises and their leaders to do things they could not have done before – including finally maximizing the performance of their people and infrastructure.

The campaign uses clever data visualization scenarios featuring visual/graphic metaphors which illustrate the performance improvements enabled by Kove:SDM™ vs. without.

Our contributions included two website videos, ten social videos in various aspect ratios and three YouTube videos consisting of full 3D animation.

Play Kove:SDM

Day and Night

Each scenario was designed using two different color schemes, which read as a daytime scene and a nighttime scene.

At first glance one image seems to simply be the inverse of the other, but they were in fact individually rendered in a way that both versions are positive, which allow for a clear and quick read.

15-second YouTube Spots

Proud x ♥

“Sarofsky excels at understanding a brand’s strategy and expression, and are able to thoughtfully interpret, explore and build upon it in new and powerful ways. The way Sarofsky was able to dimensionalize and animate Kove’s dotted brand language took the campaign, videos and expression to a new and exciting level.”

— Brock Conrad, ECD, Axial1 Performance Science

The Dot Pattern

Similar to the way tiny bytes of data are the foundation of computing, our mind processes the images by filling in the gaps between the dots, which conceptually is a fascinating approach.

One of the greatest challenges of this assignment was to ensure that the imagery remained legible despite being reduced to a cloud of tiny circles.

The look is captivating and unique. The pattern is evocative of offset halftone patterns, however these are used in a way we haven’t really seen before, striking a perfect balance between the familiar and the innovative.

Through the scale of the dots, we can control how abstract or defined each image can get. Also, using animation we can take advantage of this as a storytelling device.

3D Breakdown

The process of creating three-dimensional objects defined by the dot pattern required quite a bit of R&D. Every element had to be modeled, rigged and animated, and lit. The lighting of the scene determined the areas that were covered in dots.

Illustrated Elements

For our 2D deliverables, we opted to create custom illustrations for several of the elements featured. This process was both challenging and gratifying. The final result are unique assets that are fully custom and layered for animation.