I’ve always been a fan of the minimalist aesthetic in advertising.   Great branding involves the consistent application of a select few choices – color, layout, tone and voice – that become instantly recognizable to viewer even at a quick glance.

Apple has been an exemplar of this for some time.  Regardless of what you think of them (and an argument could be made that their recent spots have been both derivative and repetitive), you can’t deny how forcefully the brand is communicated through minimalist design – in both the marketing, and within the products themselves.

But to succeed with this type of design (as I would argue Apple has) you need a strong brand foundation with clear values and a point of view.   And you need to pay careful attention – insanely careful attention – to the details.   All the value is in the details.   Minimalism done with precision is an Eames chair.   Minimalism done quickly is Ikea.

What does this have to do with the world’s most famous mouse?

Well, recently we were given the opportunity to participate in a fantastic project that allowed us to play with the perfect blend of applying a minimalist aesthetic to a very strong brand.

And I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Disney Interactive Studios and The Ant Farm came to Zoic with a fantastic idea to tease the launch of their new “Disney Epic Mickey” game; being released on the Wii platform this Holiday season.

In the game, Mickey navigates the “Wasteland,” an inverted shadowy parallel to Disneyland – which he accidentally created, and which he must correct using only the power of his paintbrush.

Since the game’s action is rooted in paint, Disney and the Ant Farm wanted the Teaser to be based in paint as well.   And they wanted something artistic.   Something painterly.   They referenced a Japanese artist named Shinichi Murayama whose work inspired them.  They wanted something that would surprise their audience, that would feel Disney-esque, but bold, beautiful, and maybe just a little bit brooding.

Our final treatment that was chosen to go into production was called “Mirror”, and was based around the idea of using deep, saturated throws of paint as “mirrors” which would reflect distorted images from the game as a way to tease the content.

So the challenge was upon us on several levels.   The spot would appear simple.  On one level it’s just paint tossed and caught frozen in mid-flight, suspended in the air.    What could be easier?

But to get this to look right took a painstaking effort on all fronts.

In CGI this required endless rounds of fluid sims.   We had to dial in the texture and viscosity of the paint to get just the right feel – thick enough to feel really rich.   But go too thick and you get blobby.

And then there’s shape.   Fluid sims are not really “controllable” the way most CGI animation is.  It truly is a simulation.   You can try to “direct” the fluid.   But it’s gonna do what it’s gonna do.  You can’t control it anymore than you can control water.   So for every shape that made the cut, there were probably thirty tests that didn’t work out for one reason or another.

We also needed to include speed ramps in order to get our “moments of suspension”, which created yet another challenge.   There was no blueprint for the proper frame rate to achieve the effect we were aiming for.  Our only option was multiple tests in order to find the exact right combination of frame rate, amount of frames, length of shot and desirable shape.

Now add on top of that the need to tease artwork for the game in “reflections” and you can see that we really did have a puzzle on our hands.   What are the right scenes to tease?  Where do you tease them?  In what shapes?   Are the key characters and environments being properly reflected in the right shapes?

There was no shortage of details to consider.

But it’s those sorts of details that turn simplicity… into minimalism.

It was deceptively simple.   And rigorously challenging.  Both artistically and technically.  And everyone pulled together.  There was no blueprint really.    We had to turn an abstract concept into a story.   A story that would tease a brand.  One of the biggest brands in the world.   And in my opinion we achieved it.  We pushed each other.  We questioned every shot.   We pounded on the details until we had something that would satisfy the challenge we had all laid out for ourselves: Disney Interactive, Ant Farm and Zoic.   How do you re-introduce the world to one of its most iconic characters?   How do you do so in a way that’s both familiar and new?  A way that’s reassuring to the essential brand promise of Disney, yet teases a new vision?  An extension of brand’s flagship character into territories never before explored?   How do you make it “Epic”?

One last note about color.  The Disney brand isn’t actually known for a minimalist aesthetic when it comes to color.  It’s not a “Target” or an “at&t” working with a very refined palette to readily identify itself (few children’s brands are… color being such a huge part of childhood).   Yet it definitely has a color aesthetic.  A known color aesthetic.  Disney’s use of color has helped distinguish it from other children’s brands for over 70 years.   And it has managed to both evolve and stay consistent during that entire span.   Yet it’s hard to put your finger on.  You just know it when you see it.

That’s branding.