ISSUE 007

Its not every year the World Cup lines up perfectly with the NBA Finals and the Knicks win for the first time in 53 years...

Literally that never happens! but it happened!

And we were blessed by the art direction gods.

Here's some of the best stuff I saw...

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The Most Feral Art Direction in Sports Right Now

This Nike x Patta collection for Netherlands is captivating! Love the cultural allusions and symbolism mixed with the dynamic editing. Clean studio cycs mixed with maximalist sets.

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I loved this Nocta x Nike World Cup photoshoot for Canada. Yes, im canadian. Don't love the yellow-on-red. That color-pairing feels sorta like Spain. But I LOVE these gritty photos with the teen-fan set design.

This video gets me so hyped:

​https://www.instagram.com/p/DZvgdv1SZLC/​

A little more from Canada...

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Adidas created "The Greatest Football Story Ever Told"

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I loved the uncut gems style feel. Wish it was a movie.

Nike responded conveniently with Rip The Script. 6 mins of pure chaos. Its a massive campaign. with so many tangential executions. Feels like Nike's version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

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Pay close attention as you see various vignettes and splinter campaigns carry the same look & feel across assets (bts hollywood sets, cracked screens, SMPTE color bars, and digital glitching etc)

A few M AD breakdowns...

Nike vs Adidas: World Cup campaigns. Who did it better?

​https://www.instagram.com/p/DZLdaV6y4Ny/​

Nike's World Cup campaign is a BIG idea.

"Big ideas" are a framework for organizing and inspiring massive brand campaigns, projects, and platforms.

​https://www.instagram.com/p/DZqB_d-gtqJ/​

Aaaand a bit from the NBA Finals but I'm sure im missing a ton:

​https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZjR_dosb9x/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==​

Nike film directed by Josh Safdie with @wknyc​

​https://www.instagram.com/p/DYvACXIhO_B/​

​https://www.instagram.com/p/DYk-qwXRaP2/​
Mixed media animation by @sandgrainstudios​

​https://www.instagram.com/p/DYj9N47gwhj/​
Hand painted bills by @clairesalvo​

Animations by @heyitsiveta​

70’s Knicks tape by @espn & @sportscenter​

​https://www.instagram.com/p/DZnw3Dfp3cC/​

👁️ More to Digest

• ​More Modern Art Direction Reels: Have you noticed a new face on the M AD instagram channel? Ken is an art director and creator who is bridging those two worlds impressively. So I've been excited to collab with him and bring his thoughtful commentary to the M AD community. Excited to see where things go with more brains and hands contributing.

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In case you missed it

Enrollment for the July cohort of NEXT Art Director is officially live. Spots are limited, and I only run this 4-5 times per year.

This one is going to be the best yet. More pre-recorded content than ever (on top of the live experience), so you can keep your momentum and finish with a portfolio-worthy art direction project.

Look, it's more important now than ever to know how to think about visuals. Not just make them. The creatives who win are the ones who can think strategically and understand the WHY behind every visual decision.

And one more thing for the people who join in July. I'm building a self-paced, on-demand version of the course. Anyone who joins the live July cohort gets that too, on top of the full live experience.

30 days. That's all it takes if you're ready to put in the work.

Spots are limited, and you get access to me and our private Slack channel as soon as you enroll.

So don't wait...

Let's unlock your art direction brain!

Enroll Now

Jason 🤘

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