In its 7th year, Big Slick Celebrity Weekend brought Rob Riggle, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet, David Koechner and Paul Rudd back to KC to raise money for Children’s Mercy Cancer Center. We turned a weekend event into a big idea the entire community could wrap its arms around by giving everyone a candidate they could believe in and a cause they could get behind. The result? Big Slick sold out in three days and brought in $1.3 million, a new fundraising record.
Gold Addy: District 9 Regional, Judges Citation
Gold Addy: Cross Platform Integrated Media Public Service Campaign
Copywriters: Deanna Evans, Haley Gray
Agency: Blacktop Creative / Barkley
Client: Big Slick / Children’s Mercy
Big Slick Case Study Video
Recap Video
Tropicana wanted to increase awareness of their smaller single-serve bottles by targeting commuters in major metro areas. What began as an out of home campaign eventually evolved into a 360 digital campaign (with some out of home, too). To convey that this bottle could go anywhere you do, we put a single-serve shaped pocket on common commuting bags.
Client: Tropicana / PepsiCo
Agency: VML
Digital Out of Home - New York City
Case Study Video
Design & illustration for KCRep's Fearless Fête Gala. The event blended the cosmos with worldly travel to create a celestial experience for supporting attendees. The primary direct mail invitation was highlighted by travel packet inserts- luggage tags, boarding passes, and planetary postcards.
AIGA AXIII Exhibition Selection
Copywriter: Elena Owens
Client: Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Agency: Blacktop Creative / Barkley
Tropicana wanted a breakthrough out-of-home campaign targeted at commuters promoting their portable single-serve bottles. The campaign would run in three key markets: NYC, DC, and Philadelphia.
We emphasized the “single” in single-serve and created ads with pick-up lines from the bottle, laddering up to the tagline '“The Perfect Pick-Up.” Ever been hit on by an inanimate object? Start scrolling.
Copywriter: Brian Bockelman
Agency: Blacktop Creative / Barkley
To expand the idea to digital, we wanted to create a campaign where we make our bottle of single-serve the next Bachelor with ads that would run on Mondays during the show. Also shown: a kiss-cam for sporting events with our bottle and a vending machine where people hit us with their best pick-up line and we decide if it’s good enough for a free bottle of Tropicana.
Event identity and illustration for a casino benefit held by the Great Plains SPCA, a Kansas City animal shelter. The event combined the mystique of Bond with copy and illustrations that reference the diverse characters at a casino. Guests were provided miniature, personalized dossiers that contained drink tickets and name tags. Attendees could also enjoy and take home a Canine Royale cigar and matchbook.
Juror's Choice- AIGA AXII
Gold ADDY National Winner, Student
Gold ADDY District 9 Regional
Gold ADDY Local: Best in Show
Gold ADDY Local: Special Events
Client: Great Plains SPCA
Because Propel speaks to a variety of fitness “tribes” (spin, yoga, HIIT, boxing), the brand needed social content that could speak to everyone. Our solution were FitPhrases, common sayings with a fitness twist, which we created by hand and shot ourselves in-house.
Copywriter: Brian Bockelman
Client: Propel Water
Agency: VML
Proactive concepts for Pro Bono opportunities.
Copywriter: Brian Bockelman
Clients: GoFundMe / Feeding America, First Call
Agency: VML
Design & direction for Applebee’s main menu in national restaurants.
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Design for an occasional gift card set created for Applebee's Bar & Grill. The cards are displayed at Applebee's locations across the U.S. and serve as gifts for giving thanks, wishing happy birthday, or congratulating that special someone.
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Design & direction for a custom Applebee’s food truck experience in Kansas City.
Copywriter: Matt Dorsett
Client: Applebee’s Grill + Bar
Agency: Blacktop Creative / Barkley
Propel needed a way to create engaging story & feed content while giving users a chance to interact with the brand. We created stories that progressed as fast as the user could tap the screen. We created feed content that provided full workouts in single posts. And we also created animated stickers and emojis that could be used on users’ own stories, inspired by our hashtag, #PropelYeah.
Copywriter: Brian Bockelman
Client: Propel Water
The Blacktop Creative Cocktail Kit was created to celebrate the relationship between Blacktop and Applebee's Grill + Bar as partners. The concept of mixology recognizes the relationship and combination of brand and agency, as Blacktop and Applebee's combine their efforts to create meaningful consumer experiences.
Clients: Blacktop Creative, Applebee’s Grill + Bar
Cannes Young Lions Entry
Brief: Create a digital activation that builds awareness of the Jack and Jill Foundation among our target audience of young parents and inspires them to donate to the cause.
Solution: Take every photo tagged with #family on Instagram and make it a carousel post on National Family Day. As a user scrolls though the carousel, their photo gradually fades out revealing our message.
Copywriter: Brian Bockelman
Client: The Jack & Jill Foundation
Agency: VML
My time at The Art Department, an atelier located in the West Bottoms of KC, was incredibly valuable to my development as a creative. While I refined my traditional skill set, I also learned many lessons that continue to impact my work. Color, composition, using reference, readability, and craft are a few of the things that have cross pollinated between the two disciplines, essential for the creation of effective creative, no matter the medium.
