THE DROP CAMPAIGN
SNAKE NECKLACE
Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Animator: Sara Balsamo
Art Director: Jennifer Hart
Associate Art Director: Grace Stamps
Photographer: Emily Feehery
THE DROP CAMPAIGN
SNAKE NECKLACE
Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Animator: Sara Balsamo
Art Director: Jennifer Hart
Associate Art Director: Grace Stamps
Photographer: Emily Feehery
INTRODUCTION
PROBLEM
LAGOS's monthly program, The Drop, offers LAGOS Insiders exclusive access to limited-edition jewelry pieces. Each month, a new piece is released in limited quantities, and once they sell out, they are no longer available. With a new drop every four weeks, the challenge my team faced was ensuring the program continued to drive a sense of urgency and visual intrigue while staying on-brand. Creating mini campaigns for certain drops helped break up the repetitiveness and keep each release feeling fresh for customers. Here is one example of those campaigns:
BRIEF
Develop a concept for the LAGOS Snake Drop necklace that resonates with the LAGOS audience. The concept must feel luxury, relate to the brand guidelines, and hold up against competitors. It must be able to be sized for organic social, paid social, email, and the website.
CLIENT
New and Returning LAGOS Insiders. Mainly in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Arkansas. Ages 32-60. Largely Female.
PREP
RESEARCH
Before diving into production, I grounded my creative direction in competitive research. The form of the snake’s necklace lended itself to movement, so I knew I wanted to incorporate animation into this campaign. Cartier's experiments with watercolor motion caught my attention as a reference point. The fluidity and elevated quality of animated brushstrokes felt like something that could translate beautifully within the LAGOS brand world. I also looked towards Harry Winston’s animations for pacing and motion reference. Their animation social jewelry content is typically very strong, and they do a great job at breathing life into the pieces. For lighting and photography, I turned to Tiffany. Their ability to create images that feel both minimal and striking was a benchmark I wanted to hit.
CONCEPT
Once I had consolidated my research and Ideas, I put together a deck to align my team around a clear creative vision and project plan. Ultimately, the project had two major components that would work alongside each other: A still photo lit in reference to the Tiffany photography I researched, and an animation. Both the photography and animation would be on LAGOS Black, the brand’s signature color, so that they could exist together in one cohesive system. Having both the still and the animation allowed to the versatility for the jewelry to be deployed across every campaign.
PROCESS
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Version 4
ITERATIONS
Early in the animation process, I explored several creative directions. First, I experimented with grounding the snake in a more atmospheric, scene-based environment, drawing inspiration from Harry Winston's fish animation. Although a nice test, this was deemed too busy and off-brand, and therefore was quickly abandoned. For this project, it made more sense to keep the subject on a simpler, plain background.
In team reviews, we debated placing the snake on a white or LAGOS Black background. White is what we typically use for our Drop assets, so it would make sense to continue that trend for this deliverable as well. Despite this, we aligned on the LAGOS Black background, since it felt more elevated when paired with the Tiffany-inspired lighting and created a strong sense of brand recognition.
I also tested a range of skin textures and stylizations as outlined in my brief, including watercolor, paper, and a luminous glowing effect. The textures created interest and engagement, but on a craft level, it was essential that the animation incorporate LAGOS's signature caviar beading into the snake's skin texture, both to honor the accuracy of the piece and to keep the work firmly rooted in the brand's visual identity.
FINAL DELIVERABLES
ORGANIC AND PAID SOCIAL - STILLS
ORGANIC AND PAID SOCIAL - VIDEO
1080x1920
1080×1350
1080×1080
1200×628
PREVIEW - CLICK TO VIEW FULL
LAUNCH - CLICK TO VIEW FULL
PREVIEW - CLICK TO VIEW FULL
LAUNCH - CLICK TO VIEW FULL
LANDING PAGE
INSIGHTS
CONCLUSION
Working on this multimedia piece for the Snake Necklace Drop was an incredible learning experience that shaped me as a designer. The outcome of this campaign was reinforced by the dedicated research and references found through competitors such as Cartier, Tiffany, Harry Winston, and more. In working in After Effects, it was important to iterate different styles and gain feedback from team members to not only determine what looked best, but also what choices made the most sense for the LAGOS brand. Only in testing and ruling out scene-based environments, background colors, and various skin textures were we able to produce the caviar-beaded slithering snake necklace that successfully ran on socials, email, and the website. Going forward, incorporating multimedia into LAGOS’ recurring Drop Program has proven to be an effective method to freshen up the creative assets while maintaining the brand’s identity.