<CaseStudiesIntro title={"Turning (Gear)heads with motion graphic magic for the esteemed outdoor retailer, Backcountry."}>

Backcountry, an online specialty retailer known for selling the highest-performing outdoor gear, reached out to Pixel Bakery, in need of logo, typeface, and customer experience animations to supplement a series of four YouTube ads for their brand.

The deliverables to each video were to be unique, as each closing logo animation was a subtle nod to a different outdoor industry.

**Testimonial from client:**

> Please pass this message along to the broader team. I cannot thank you and your team enough for the collaboration on this project. The animations look absolutely fantastic and everyone that has seen the videos are blown away. I appreciate your willingness to be nimble and adjust on the fly. This project would not have come together without Pixel Bakery and I am eternally grateful. A million thanks.

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<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

Since these ads move so quickly, Pixel Bakery’s main objective was to produce tasteful, quick animations that were punchy, natural, and memorable.

With a tight turnaround time of just under two weeks, the team immediately got to work. Multiple directional concepts were provided for each animation, giving the client a chance to see a handful of options for each deliverable before narrowing down their selections.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Jordan Lambrecht

Creative Director

Samee Callahan

Associate Creative Director

Daniel Hinz

Animation Lead

Olivia Boldt

Project Manager

Gearhead Magic

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Case Study Coming Soon.

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Karley Johnson

Hannah Klemme

Asset Designer

Miranda Hussey

Account Manager

Rural Broadband

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Case Study Coming Soon.

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Hay the Oxbow Way

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"How to Make Videos About Making Monday Less Scary"}>

Sunday Scaries approached us wanting a campaign to promote their CBD product. The goal was to create something lighthearted, quick/snappy, but serious about their product. The campaign was directed towards social media, which means we only had 10 seconds max to grab our audience's attention.

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Detric Cook

Monday Man, TikTok Boyfriend, Sports Announcer

Maria Smal

Workout Queen

Make Monday Less Scary

Tyler Loebig

Miranda Canon

Solutions for Change

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"Bringing a Tiny Chef with big, keto-friendly ideas to life."}>

The SOLA Company is a low-carb, low-sugar, keto-friendly brand that came to Pixel Bakery looking to make an animated explainer video showcasing their bread.

We had previously worked with SOLA in the live-action realm and were extremely excited to see what we could do for them within another specialty of ours - animation.

</CaseStudiesIntro>

<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

The live-action portion of this project consisted of hiring a production crew to assist in bringing the Tiny Chef Magic to life. The video production team included a director, gaffer, grip, assistant camera, and a FOOD STYLIST (how legit). Maria Smal, Pixel Bakery's social media manager, was pegged as the perfect candidate to be cast as the homeowner for the video.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Disgruntled Baker

Michael Hennings

Director of Photography

Executive Producer

Cody Jones

First Camera Assistant

Madeline Christensen

Script Writer

Animator

Aaron Smith

Gaffer

Scott Pittock

Grip

Melissa Young

Food Stylist

Production Assistant

Tiny Chef

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"Using dry-humor to create something for a new demographic that's choosing healthier options."}>

The SOLA company came to us to create a 60-second commercial that would promote their low-carb, keto-friendly bread. They needed something that would appeal to their millennial demographic: hopefully combining dry humor with a relatable scenario to today’s young adult.

</CaseStudiesIntro>

<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

To bring an awkward Uber ride to life, you’ve gotta film in a moving car. Not the easiest task. Luckily, our small but mighty team works well in tight spaces.

We brought in a few reinforcements for an extra hand with lighting, filming, makeup, and assistance on set. We lucked out and found two local actors perfect for the Uber driver and his unfortunate passenger, and both were ready and willing to drive around in circles for hours and brave the bitter, midwest winter. We’ve got to give extra props to Kabin (the Driver) for his execution of the script, but also being able to ad-lib beautifully when we needed him to. Much of what made the final cut was made up on the spot.

Authenticity was key with this project, and we felt a green screen just wouldn’t do the scene justice. Instead, we were able to mount a Black Magic Pocket Cinema 4k on the hood of the car to get shots through the windshield, and then inside the car for some additional angles. We directed via walkie talkies and followed in a car. Many people were crammed in trunks. Our mothers disapproved. Exciting stuff!

Don’t forget about the real reason we’re all here, though: bread. We crafted trays of sandwiches for the perfect ending shot, and put our creative team to the task of food styling (it’s not easy.) If half of our time was spent in the trunk of a moving car for this commercial, the other half was spent watching Nathan trying to blissfully eat sandwich after sandwich until we told him to stop. (Sorry, Nathan.)

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Kabin Thomas

Driver

Nathan Dunham

Passanger

Editor

Cinematographer

Scriptwriter

Katie Jenkins

Makeup Artist

Shanda Shappell

Rideshare Oversharer

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"Simple and shape-based illustrations promote First Honey's all-natural healing products."}>

Based in Tennessee, First Honey is a bandage company that uses manuka honey to provide a unique, all-natural healing experience—manuka honey is native to New Zealand and produced by bees that pollinate the manuka bush. First Honey came to us looking for an engaging way to captivate their audience and encourage them to give their manuka honey-infused bandages and ointments a try. We created two playful, family-oriented animations to help show the power of First Honey’s fast, all-natural healing.

</CaseStudiesIntro>

<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

First Honey wanted to highlight two products in less than 30-second video modulations for social media: their fast-healing ointment and all-natural bandages. For the first animation, we wanted the tone to be nurturing, lighthearted, and relatable; something that would appeal to our target demographic. A family-oriented playground scenario would achieve this tone. The second story gives a playful, inside look into the beehive production of their bandages. We wanted the tone to be informative, caring, and positive. To tie the animations together, we created a lovable bee character to follow through the animations.

Once we had an idea of where the script was going, we were able to storyboard each scene, finalize illustrations and start animating. We chose a pastel color palette that would compliment the First Honey logo and product design. The illustrations are simple and shape-based, and animated, take on a gentle and inviting nature. Subtle texturing and playful music pulled the project together.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Director

Art Director

Lead Illustrator

Illustrator

Josie Sittig

Account Executive

Bee Better

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"For all small pets looking for something healthier in their day-to-day."}>

Our second project with Oxbow Animal Health centered on their organic hay line, which includes six types of hay to fit different small pet ages and personalities. Basically, we heard “small pet personalities” and ran with it. We found six local small pets with star quality, built some tiny sets, got a chinchilla to drink from a tea cup and a bunny to do some yoga, and “Hay Any Way” was born.

</CaseStudiesIntro>

<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

Our process for “Hay Any Way” began with brainstorming possible human-like personalities we could illustrate with bunnies, hamsters, chinchillas, and guinea pigs. We settled on six favorites: a western cowboy on a ranch, a yogi a their zen studio, a posh pet having a tea party, an artist hard at work, and a rough-hewn camping enthusiast.

We spent some time away from our computers to build mini “sets” for each character. Wanting to capture the bright color scheme of each hay flavor, we built small rooms with prop elements painted in a mostly monochromatic, bold color scheme. We loved the idea of the colors really popping on a social media feed.

Working with small pets is always a challenge, but rewarding! Somehow, we’re beginning to become experts at this sort of thing. A day of shooting small pets consists of a lot of small wins when your tiny stars finally start taking direction. Divas, am I right?

All kidding aside, we were so fortunate to work with the most enthusiastic and patient pet owners willing to donate their pets and their time to the shoot.

In post-production, we added sound effects and frame-by-frame, doodle-y animation as a final touch. The result is cuteness overload that we were able to modulate for all of Oxbow’s social media platforms, providing them with various lengths to accommodate different advertising specifications.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Videographer

Lead Animator

Natalie Roteman

Kaitlyn Pfannenstiel

Tyler Leobig

Set Designer

Hay Any Way

<CaseStudiesIntro title={'How that college on a hill grew into a University that is Doane.'}>

To introduce their new school mission, vision, and values, Doane University wanted a video that showed their past, present, and future. They needed a way to captivate current and potential students and steer them toward their new vision.

That’s where we whipped up a sweet video to tell their story through a mix of images, kinetic typography, and a killer drumbeat.

</CaseStudiesIntro>
<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

After sifting through decades of photos and videos from throughout Doane’s history, we pulled together a timeline of material that would be set to a high-energy percussion track we remastered ourselves. We knew we wanted to build to a pivotal movement in the music where the animation switched from the past to the present.

Typography was the true hero of this video. We made sure to time out every beat to make each word pop with energy and significance. Once we got a feel for how the words and music would weave together, we sprinkled in images and video to further accentuate the look and feel.

The end product was a sweet mission roll-out video that’s sure to satisfy all typography and animation enthusiasts.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Yoni Gill

On A Hill

2020 Festival Campaign

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"An on-brand animation highlighting all of its health benefits."}>

Karma Nuts is the alternative to the oil-fried cashews that we normally seen on supermarket shelves. These cashews are Wrapped®, giving them an irresistible crunch. We came in to spread the word about this tasty snack by creating a brand video that highlights all its awesome benefits. The goal was to create a cool and colorful 30-second, e-commerce animation that Karma Nuts could place to quickly tell the story of their products. Using the mandala-shaped logo as inspiration, we wanted to play with all the different flavors of nuts intertwining while giving it a bohemian flare.

</CaseStudiesIntro>

<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

Karma Nuts wanted the video to showcase their Wrapped® cashews in 30-seconds while making sure to highlight all the important health benefits. After examining their brand, we knew we wanted to make something with engaging with a lot of small moving parts. It needed to catch the audience instantly and hold them until the end by dazzling the eye with color and shape. The first step was the script. We made sure to include all of the health benefits in a short amount of time without it sounding like a shopping list. Once we got the tone set, we moved on to product photography.

There is quite an assortment of flavors with two different sizes of packaging, so we had to diligently make sure to note each cashew. Using a green screen, we placed out the cashews making it easy to cut out for later. We then shot the snack packs and larger containers until we hit each of the flavors. After we meticulously cut out each nut and package, we moved into After Effects.

The end result is a captivating and colorful animation that is on-brand for Karma Nuts. You can check out this video on Amazon, their website, and social media.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Get Your Nuts

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"Bringing informative pup videos to social feeds forwarding brand awareness and recognition."}>

PupBox, a subscription box service catering to new puppy owners, already had great content on their social media. The only catch was that it was almost solely generated by their following — subscribers sent in their personal puppy pics to be shared on the feed. While the posts got a lot of attention, they weren’t translating to more subscription sales.

We came in to produce some content for their feed that combined cute pup vids with informational tidbits and a call to action using some motion elements. The videos provide some in-feed entertainment (who doesn’t love puppies?) while giving the PupBox brand a voice.

</CaseStudiesIntro>
<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

'We rounded up three puppies to be our stars and created a few loose story boards to showcase each pup alongside stacks of PupBox subscription boxes.

The biggest thing we’ve learned from working with animals is you can’t go in expecting anything to go the way you planned. However, throughout hours of puppy wrangling (and getting more creative than you ever thought possible in order to get a 2-month-old golden retriever to take a toy out of a box), there’s nothing better than when a magical moment happens on camera.

In post production, we brought in some basic motion elements and color to elevate PupBox’s brand, including bouncy kinetic type and subtle movement for their logo.

We packaged three videos for PupBox to use as native advertising in their social feeds that work toward brand awareness and recognition.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

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Natalie Roetman

Puppyhood Made Easy

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"What started as just a prototype ended with realistic renders and a quality product to show potential clients."}>

Hudl came to us with a brand new, self-automated camera that could be used by sports teams to capture game footage without a cameraman, called the Hudl Focus. They needed a polished, fast-paced video to generate some hype around their exciting, homegrown product. Cool, right? One problem: the Focus hadn’t actually been manufactured yet.

</CaseStudiesIntro>

<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

For the highly anticipated launch of the Hudl Focus, we were asked to make a “sizzle” video. If you’re wondering what a sizzle video is, it’s like when you put meat on a grill and it makes that “sssss” sound—in a marketing sense, it’s gotta feel just like that. It needed to be exciting, it needed to quickly get to the point, and it needed to be… juicy.

Hudl came to us with a general concept and storyboards for the what they were looking for. At this point, they had a prototype model of the Hudl Focus, but not a final version. We took their AutoCad file and built out the camera in Cinema 4D to create a workable, 3D file with our system. Recreating tech hardware was a time-consuming challenge, from working with circuitry and motherboards to learning how camera lenses work, among hundreds of other components. In the end we were able to bring them highly realistic renders and a quality product to show potential customers.

We filmed during a live high school basketball game to achieve the authentic introductory shots. Working through external factors in a low-lit high school gym was a big undertaking, but a welcome challenge. We provided the team at Hudl with several approaches to get the shots they were after, including some drone work. Hudl had never made a sizzle video, so we offered our industry expertise when it came to things like pacing and how to frame shots.

Hudl has a recognizable brand that was important to incorporate and remain consistent throughout. During the project, they were actually going through a slight rebrand that was evolving as we were editing. We wanted to make sure the video had the smooth, sleek look they were aiming for, and less of an emphasis on their bubbly, orange brand colors. After many iterations, we stuck with slate grays and whites, and subtly incorporated orange in a few backdrops and in the reflections on the camera itself.

The final product is a hype video with slick 3D animation, cohesive branding, action-packed shots and, let’s be honest, background music that truly slaps.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Elaina Dye

The Focus Camera

---

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"Bringing informative pup videos to social feeds forwarding brand awareness and recognition."}>

PupBox, a subscription box service catering to new puppy owners, already had great content on their social media. The only catch was that it was almost solely generated by their following — subscribers sent in their personal puppy pics to be shared on the feed. While the posts got a lot of attention, they weren’t translating to more subscription sales.

We came in to produce some content for their feed that combined cute pup vids with informational tidbits and a call to action using some motion elements. The videos provide some in-feed entertainment (who doesn’t love puppies?) while giving the PupBox brand a voice.

</CaseStudiesIntro>
<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

'We rounded up three puppies to be our stars and created a few loose story boards to showcase each pup alongside stacks of PupBox subscription boxes.

The biggest thing we’ve learned from working with animals is you can’t go in expecting anything to go the way you planned. However, throughout hours of puppy wrangling (and getting more creative than you ever thought possible in order to get a 2-month-old golden retriever to take a toy out of a box), there’s nothing better than when a magical moment happens on camera.

In post production, we brought in some basic motion elements and color to elevate PupBox’s brand, including bouncy kinetic type and subtle movement for their logo.

We packaged three videos for PupBox to use as native advertising in their social feeds that work toward brand awareness and recognition.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Treat or Treat

<CaseStudiesIntro title={"Bringing mischievous animals to life for a rebrand."}>

Kelty is a 67-year-old camping gear company based out of Boulder, CO. The original inventor of the external frame backpack, the spirit of the brand is all about getting people outside to re-discover the joy they felt playing outside as a kid. Even their founder, Dick Kelty, left his job at Lockheed to spend more time in the outdoors. With a loyal base of customers in the baby boomer generation, Kelty rebranded to reach a new audience of active 25-45 year olds. That’s where we came in: they wanted a short animated video to show off their products in a way that would appeal to millennials, with little or no voiceovers or text. We created a short animation that was playful and a little bit edgy to capture the spirit of an outdoor escapade and appeal to a new generation of campers.

</CaseStudiesIntro>
<CaseStudiesDescription textColor={'cream'} bgColor={'pink-light'} headerColor={'pink'} header={'Process'}>

In the ideation stage, we dreamt big. Kelty’s brand is playful with a casual, go-anywhere, do-anything attitude that’s all about not taking yourself too seriously. They’re a company that wants to appeal to fun-loving, adventurous people–outdoorsy, but not so outdoorsy that they’re climbing Mount Everest. Kelty’s gear is for the weekend warrior, spur-of-the-moment, music-festival-campsite type.

Our challenge was to create something that would reach an audience that is well-versed in being “advertised to.” We needed to shoot for a playfully authentic tone without pandering. The animation had to showcase six different Kelty products in a way that is enjoyable to watch solely for the sake of entertainment—in other words, if it came up as a targeted ad on Instagram, you might stop scrolling to watch the whole thing.

With no voiceover or text to work with, we came up with the “Party Animals” concept. It tells the story of life after a long day outdoors from the perspective of animals that come out to play when the night is young. A feisty pet dog, Fête, and a scheming group of wild animals put together a forest rager with stolen beer, gear, and pool floaties under the noses of sleeping human campers.

The production called for a laundry list of assets, including Kelty gear and miscellaneous props, like disco balls and water guns. We took time in crafting each item, illustrating with uniform textures, gradients, and color schemes. We animated the forest scenery with moving shadows and flickering light from campfires and fireflies.

We brought each character to life in their own way (see: the dancing bear). It was a blast to craft an attitude and personality for each animal though simple movement and only a handful of sound effects. Top it all off with a couple music tracks, and “Party Animals” was a reality.

The end product was a 60 second video for the Kelty website and two shorter teaser modulations for social media.

</CaseStudiesDescription>

Ben Kamprath

Elaine Dye

Party Animals

Hay the Oxbow Way

here's what we did

credits

More Projects!

Solutions for Change

Treat or Treat

Hay Any Way