[ Grad School Project Overview ]

Determined Objective: Increase awareness

Marmalade Nails is a DTC brand with so much potential, but not many people really know who they are or that their press on nails exist! In order to carve out a sizable space for themselves within the booming press on nail category, Marmalade must drastically increase their brand-awareness and fast!

Marmalade is rooted in magic— not only in the names of their press on sets but with the fantastical finishes that they offer. The idea of being able to quickly go from bare nails to shining shimmering nails of fantastic lengths in a matter of minutes is absolute sorcery. Transformationail, in fact.

Marmalade Transforms Nails Like Magic.

With this magical through-line in mind, I found ways to highlight just how magical this transformation is across the campaign’s creative touchpoints in simple but visually striking and interactive ways to help bring this concept to life. Sticking closely to Marmalade’s existing color scheme and highlighting the nails with visuals focused on the product and how they are worn helps to establish and solidify who exactly Marmalade is and what they’re showing off.

“Pressto Change-o” is a play on the famous line “Presto Chango” that magicians say when completing some sort of trick— “a sudden transformation as if by magic” (Merriam-Webster). Not only does this work as a play on the iconic magical phrase, but the concept of press on nails is that you press them on to change…o your look in a flash! 

”Quick-Change Act”, a popular trick in the magic industry, also helps to establish the speed of these magical transformations, making them feel even more fantastical.

The idea of conveying magic at one’s fingertips through the use of exciting magical illusions and allusions to magic is exactly what the world needs right now. Magic of all types is always around us if we’re open to receiving it…or buying it from Marmalade!

Experiential Idea: In the spirit of street magic and close-up magic, these movable billboards of sorts would be placed wherever (next to the street, near a bus or subway station, etc.) to serve as a signal for people to stop and enjoy some magic— specifically to get their nails transformed like magic!

The traveling pop-up street magic festival “mani-fest” has the Marmalade team surprising and delighting passers-by with a free and speedy transformationail makeover in just minutes. Local magicians would also perform while sporting the press ons. These quick-change makeovers are intended to manifest a little magic in peoples’ day with a fresh mani for an extra boost in confidence or style. 

Inspired by the iconic orange hand that counts down for about how long each nail takes to be pressed down on the nail bed, these signs came to life. Like their official counterparts across larger cities, these signs are riddled with stickers from Marmalade including their logo, products, and one with a CTA and a QR code to purchase.

Magazine: The magazine ad is shown here features a transparency page on the right side with nails double-printed on it that would transform your own nails as you turned the page. You place your left hand on top of the printed hand on the left and turn the right transparent page overtop your left hand. The transparency, sitting on top of your left hand, gives your nails the appearance of a fresh Marmalade mani in seconds. The QR code featured here would lead to a virtual press on try-on site where sets can also be purchased.

Lenticular Poster: Its double-printed accordion shape gives the poster a magical transformationail effect as the image changes when looking at the poster from different sides or angles! Looking from one side, the nails are bare, but shifting slightly, poof! Like magic, the bare nails are freshly done. Each side has a QR code and CTA so important information is always within reach. The QR code featured here would lead to a virtual press on try-on site where sets can also be purchased.

OOH: This mural on a large city wall or building would be animated with projection mapping or AR to really sell the magical transformation effects. Perhaps, as a few thought starters, the glittery smoke would billow and sparkle, the nails would change from style to style, the neon sign would blink, or other magical elements would be introduced. The QR code featured here would lead to a Marmalade Nails informational page and virtual experience.

Digital: An example of a filter idea for TikTok (or Snapchat, Instagram, a Marmalade Nails app, or another social platform) to help inspire try-on and purchase, to generate interest, and to increase awareness online.

Gina Amsellem | Marmalade Nails | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

[ Grad School Project Overview ]

Assigned Objective: Spindrift Spiked wants to gain market share in the West Coast, specifically San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. We are trying to increase brand awareness of this new line extension and to increase product sales.

I came up with a campaign for Spindrift’s new Spindrift Spiked offering calling it a refreshing change in the spiked beverage industry with “A New Spin On Real”, explaining, with a pun using their name, that they’re different than the rest. More real. Spindrift Spiked, as their packaging suggests, uses real ingredients, real spiked seltzer, real fruit, real color, connects with real people, and is real refreshing.

The Millennial target audience, specifically those in the West Coast and Pacific West Coast, look to connect with brands that are authentic, transparent, self-aware and that are doing good in the world in some capacity. Spindrift Spiked also attracts the audience by providing a healthier and fresher spiked seltzer with natural ingredients and totally keeps it bold, upfront and real. While other brands use color on the outside of their cans, they remain void of color on the inside, unlike the colorful Spindrift—that’s what makes Spindrift Spiked so unique and real.

Highlighting those tasty hues in the creative with gradients and condensation adding tangible texture creates a narrative both consciously and subconsciously about Spindrift’s colorful and flavorful offerings. Packaging being front and center in all creative helps keep Spindrift’s realness and the packaging of the new offering recognizable and top of mind.

Adding a CTA “Take Real For A Spin” continues on with the Spindrift Spiked wordplay, establishing a connection from the verbiage over and over with that of the name, and encourages people to try it for themselves and experience real, IRL. The use of the roller-skating image and the following and very green Amtrak concept further the spinning idea with their wheels spinning, and the image of the pool floaty plays on gentle drifting and spinning in a pool— another play on the Spindrift name.

Spindrift Spiked connects with Amtrak and their Coast Starlight route— traveling through Seattle, Portland and San Francisco— to present a scenic travel adventure stopping by three head-spinning pop-up Drifter festivals along the West Coast. Witnessing the real spindrift of the sea to the spindrift of the snowy mountain tops as passengers chugga chugga, well, Spindrift Spiked on the way. Wrapped train cars will be spiked with fun activities, delicious and fresh snack and Spindrift Spiked pairings from local businesses, Instagrammable moments, curated playlists, drink and show/ movie pairings, games and opportunities to uniquely connect with one another and many other exciting and flavorful surprises!

;-) Yup, that’s it!

Gina Amsellem | Spindrift Spiked | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

Ally + Monopoly

How does a digital-first bank make a real-life impression on young spenders? How do they fulfill their mission to “do it right” by their customers, making banking approachable through education surrounding the true value of money and the simplification of complicated banking concepts? How do they grab customers’ attention and keep them around long enough to learn?

They gamify it!

The general game of Monopoly was first introduced by an external team and was quickly rejected by the greater team, but I wanted to challenge the group and to think it through in a different way.

Independently, I came up with the name “Monopally” and, banking on myself upon unearthing that the ship-name had legs, excitedly ideated around a way to turn the classic board game into an engaging and interactive physical (a la Monopoly’s physical roots) and digital (a la ally bank’s digital roots) experience. I know that in an oversaturated social space, often the way to be truly disruptive is to combine the physical and digital spaces for maximum visibility and high interest.

I wanted curious minds to be able to happen upon unexpected physical Monopoly elements all across the nation in daily life with prompts to interact and play along with ally on their mobile devices.

I envisioned an overall Pokémon Go energy with AR technology meets connecting with nostalgic and familiar Monopoly spaces, visuals, concepts, game pieces, landmarks, and general game-play tied to real-world physical landmarks, bringing the game to life with added benefits.

As a way to add value to young spenders, I wanted these larger than life game tiles and pieces to be interactive and scannable to redeem promotions, incentives, education/ learnings, and real money— not just Monopoly money, honey— in a highly sharable and exciting activation!

To cash out? All they would have to do is create an account in the ally bank app driving awareness, downloads and continued engagement.

The activation spanned 6 major US cities, touted 36 game tiles and there were thousands of winners nationwide. Monopally was enjoyed by over 350 thousand players, got over 190 million earned media impressions and over 1.5 million social interactions!

Luckily for all involved, ally passed GO on the idea and we collected Hasbro as a client soon after our great collaborative success!

Gina Amsellem | Monopally | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

This was a pitch for Uber Eats surrounding March Madness based off of the insight that games often fall on workdays and people are discouraged to watch the games during work hours. If only there was a way to block off your calendar in a discreet way so that no one would bother you while you were watching the game…

Every year fans pick their bracket, then schedule and keep track of the gamesreligiously. The problem is, that a lot of the games are televised during workdays, so fans often can't break away to get together with their crew to watch.

Uber Eats will create an immersive March Madness experience called Team Huddle that will make enjoying the games a lot easier.

Team Huddle enables workday food ordering, group viewing and game chatter all in one place.

We’ll convert fans at key March Madness touch-points: email blasts, bracket registration pages, social media and directly in ncaa.com’s live game stream.

Once added, calendars populate with Uber Eats Team Huddle invitations thatblock off those times. Fans can opt out of Team Huddle games that they aren’tinterested in and can also invite friends and coworkers to join in on the action.

Users click on the calendar link directing them to the Team Huddle experience.

Four windows open at specific viewport sizes to create a singular experience. The Team Huddle window on the bottom right prompts users to watch the game, order food and chat with friends. Can be used as additional ad space.

45 minutes before tip-off, users will receive a notification on their computers and phones reminding them to place their orders to get their food in time for their game.

After ordering their food, all that’s left to do is to sit back and enjoy the madness!

(I came up with the insight and concept and our team collectively further developed the idea and created the visuals and verbiage from this adapted deck).

Gina Amsellem | Uber Eats | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

Starface, Alka-Seltzer, Bastian Schweinsteiger

Pinterest Pin + Accompanying Banner Ad for Starface

Brief: Pick a brand that you are passionate about and showcase your ability to keep a design feeling consistent across drastically different sizing.

With both Starface and Pinterest being a big hit with Gen Z and Millennials, I came up with a catchy slogan and designed a promotional graphic for Starface as a Pinterest Pin. I also made an accompanying Banner Ad that would follow once leaving the site. Zituation? They've got you Covered— in Style!

PAID Social for Alka-Seltzer

Brief: Create social content (design, motion, and copy) to introduce new Alka-Seltzer PM Gummies and Anytime Relief Chews.

Some Notable Copy: Put Heartburn to Bed, Chews Relief

ORGANIC Social for Bastian Schweinsteiger

Brief: Create quick social graphics for his Instagram each week [using a limited pool of photo assets] to introduce his games with Chicago Fire FC and one asset to announce a Q&A.

I was able to concept additional ideas outside of social as well!

Sharknado 4 took another big bite out of social media, garnering nearly 2 billion social media impressions night of premiere. The challenge with a cult classic film franchise like Sharknado is how to keep fans wanting more year over year.

The solution: strong content, partnerships, and more strong content. We focused on entertaining our audience with zeitgeist content year-round and clever memes which were strategically woven into the most talked about trends on social. We built awareness through hilarious pop culture content and parodies.

In order to properly get 'Nado fans ready for the next legendary Sharknado film in the franchise, we created a series of parody gifs and stills for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I used my love of wordplay to come up with shark puns for the assets to add to Sharknado's iconic outrageous nature.

Sharknado 4 is a major pop-culture event. For its premiere, we deployed a fully-staffed live social war room to push out custom content to respond to fans, talent, and influencers in real time.

I then illustrated Snapchat filters that we pushed out on Snapchat to showcase the different places the cast of Sharknado traveled throughout the movie. I also created illustrations that were used in digital slot machine gifs posted to Facebook and Twitter. 

Our campaign utilized Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to reach die-hard fans. With the launch on Snapchat, we were able to speak to a younger audience by serving them exclusive and interactive content they couldn’t find on other platforms.

The campaign resulted in 2 billion total Twitter impressions, trending #1 in the US, trending #2 world-wide, and landing 32 million social video views!

Gina Amsellem | Syfy | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

Winner of Shorty Award Gold Distinction in Photography & Graphics.

Our objective for The Mindy Project, the highly popular comedy series originally on FOX, was to increase awareness and drive tune-in as Mindy moved to Hulu as their next original series.

We sought to tap into the series’ fanbase and develop engaging custom content that resonated with viewers, while leveraging series' talent to boost the social conversation and awareness of the series now on Hulu.

In the true spirit of the show, we did what Mindy herself would do! We developed a must-attend all day online social event under the hashtag #MindyOnHulu. 

Besides winning a Shorty Award Gold Distinction in Photography & Graphics, we helped Hulu outperform their “so last season” old life on Fox with 100% double actions on Instagram vs Fox, 64% more social content shared than Fox, and 31% higher Twitter engagement than Fox.

Facebook, the largest platform for The Mindy Project audience, was used to drive users to the different platforms via talent callout videos and graphics.

I created "Truth or Dare" and "Spin the Bottle" games to leverage Twitter's under-utilized behavior of "tapping to stop gifs" and engaged fans to share their results and responses. "Truth or Dare" questions prompted fans to interact with the show across platforms with specific responses. Fans sent replies and screenshots of their game results across social.

The video assets I created included an eye-catching opening slate and kinetic captions to ensure that users watching without sound would still get a solid taste of the videos. These two strategies proved to increase initial views and second helpings.

Based on Mindy and her fans' shared love of pop culture, I created custom illustrations for pop culture events and holidays. I created gifs and videos on Halloween to ask fans what Mindy's newborn, Leo (another crowd favorite), should wear for his first Halloween, with a CTA requesting suggestions and photos of their own kids' costumes. To reward their engagement, we released illustrations of Leo dressed as top pop icons like Michael Jackson and Beyoncé Pad Thai. Needless to say, he looked #Flawless.

Gina Amsellem | Hulu | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

A collection of my work on WEtv ranging from static illustrations for WEtv's recipe blog, CTAs, Introduction cards, and quote cards to illustrated live tweeting videos for fans, quote card videos, and CTA videos all featured on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

While following a very specific set of brand guidelines, I was able to maintain continuity between all shows as requested while subtly differentiating them by color. By adding sound and emojis to videos, I was able to amp up WEtv's over the top content and make it even more playful and fun.

Gina Amsellem | WEtv | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

Hide & Seek: Seeking hide originated from the name of the game hide and seek. Hide in this case is referring to animal hide vs the verb of hiding. The video is aimed at bringing awareness to the social issue of animal poaching, or the seeking (and overuse) of animal hide. In my illustrations, I featured some of the most poached animals and made them extra cute for added effect.

Difficult People Graduhating features an especially snarky quote from Hulu's hit series Difficult People where Billy is letting off some steam about his new "classmates". The styling choices and use of the white card at the bottom to make Billy appear to be grabbing on to your Facebook or Twitter feed are visual cues to help this quote card stand out from the rest and catch the viewers' eye in a sea of social media. I also added my love of wordplay at the end by coming up with the tagline Graduhating which is very much on brand for the show.

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Disaster is a quote card video for Crackle featuring parallaxing on the Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Disaster key art. By using parallaxing, I was able to take Joe Dirt fans a bit deeper into his world than just using a flat photo. With use of sound effects and raw-style animation, I was able to highlight Joe Dirt's quirky personality. 

Childhoods End is a video series created to highlight its famous author Arthur C Clarke. In order to highlight the gravity of Arthur's foreboding quote, I kept typography spacious, tracked out, and leaded out, while letting it grow and fade in and out in time to an ominous track that I found.

My Boyfriend: Graphic Design was created in the throws of passion with my boyfriend Graphic Design in college. The goal was to create a quick video on how I was feeling about Graphic Design at that point in my life and I was able to feature two of my loves: copywriting and design.
(ps: my feelings still ring true today and we're still going strong)

Gina Amsellem | Assorted Videos | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

I created gifs for HBO announcing a live tweet event every Sunday for their new hit show insecure. In addition, I created different quote card options for the show. In celebration of the funky, fun and cool aesthetic of the show, I used interesting colors (featuring the signature insecure pink), pattern, and a bold circle shape. 

Gina Amsellem | HBO | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

An assortment of collages I've done for an array of clients and projects. 

Bargoyles is created for a magazine project where I chose key elements from the wacky stories provided and collaged them into an interesting composition that would make more contextual sense as the reader delved deeper into each story.

He's a Nerd, He's a Brain, He's Superman is a visual representation of Superman breaking out of his Clark Kent disguise to symbolize that everyone has a great strength within them.

Gigi the Great is an answer to the prompt of who I would be if there were no graphic designers in the world. I decided that I would be a fortune teller (I have psychic tendencies sometimes...it's weird). This piece, when printed out and folded on dotted lines on the back side, transformed into a fortune teller that would answer yes or no questions when asked through the game. 

New York State of Mime is a continuation of the expressive "LOUD" magazine project featuring mime collages of all sorts.

Echo the Decade is a series of potential Facebook ads and copy celebrating different decades of music that we love to sing, this group is highlighting the 2000s, to promote our a cappella group’s 10th birthday party!

Gina Amsellem | Assorted Collages | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com

A line of hot sauces inspired by high school mean girls. To highlight the varying levels of heat and flavor profiles of the hot sauces, I paired each sauce to the personality type of different flavors of mean girl. Each mean girl is labeled and rated with their level of hotness just like in high school and is given a description on the back of what they're really made of.

Through my use of illustration of the scowling girls, their hot colors indicating their flavors and my use of playful copywriting, I have created a spicy line of hot sauces that will make your eyes water. Can you handle it?

Copywriting, illustration, fabrication and design of packaging, editing, and compiling was all done by me.

Gina Amsellem | Gina@GinaAmsellem.com