ESPN / NBA "MIXTAPE"

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ESPN 'MIXTAPE'
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We were commissioned by ESPN to create the commercial open for the launch of 2016 NBA Countdown on ABC. We were drawn to the idea of using mixtapes to showcase NBA team branding for the show. There is a certain music to the game, and we felt like this would be a great harmony of visuals. In addition to directing the spot and writing the voice over, we handmade and designed 45 custom mixtapes, one for each of the 30 NBA teams and 15 NBA / ESPN branded cassettes.

Design /

The design process for each tape was to first make a high res scan, place into photoshop and create a vector label that would fit the shape of the tape exactly. We would then do all of our design work and make a print of it on high resolution paper. The next step was to export the vector tape cutout file to a die cutting machine so it would cut around our design to fit. We also made a selection of secondary team logo stickers and embelms for some of the tapes.

Edit /

We wanted the edit to capture the essence of what someone does when they create a mixtape. And in the post-production process we pushed the idea and edited the piece itself as if someone was putting together songs with various elements being intercut and spliced together.

Directed by Casey Warren & Danielle Krieger
Production Co. MINDCASTLE

Editor Danielle Krieger
Art Direction & Design Casey Warren

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“There was something I was drawn to about the handcrafted look of mixtapes. They are like your own musical creation. I remember making them as a kid and rocking out to them with my boombox. And thats something that we wanted to convey in the spot. ”

"We spent about a month sourcing hundreds of cassette tapes everywhere from digging through friends garages to sorting through shelves at thrift store and also ordering various shapes online. We also sourced a few 24k gold covered ones from a specialty shop in Japan. We ended up using these for the DJ Premier mix design."

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“What we found was each tape was so unique even down to the texture on the tape itself, to the window you see the spools inside, or even the clear cassettes with the visible mini reels inside. We loved every aspect of them and It allowed us to fully create custom one of a kind tapes for each team. ”