The LBJ School of Public Affairs, a graduate component of The University of Texas at Austin, has built a proud tradition of training students for REAL CAREERS in public service; finding innovative solutions to REAL WORLD problems.
Expertise
COMMON Story Bureau
We participated in a lab co-created by The Fearless Cottage and NOMAD to rapidly prototype a new COMMON media brand. We created this short film to capture the feeling of the lab.
Smosh for Smoothie King
384,000 views. That’s what we got for Smoothie King from a single YouTube post by hiring independent internet sensations Smosh to promote our Xtreme Casting Call concept. We found Smosh before they were represented – they ‘re a super talented young comedy production company and they were willing to participate. We wrote a script and they acted it out. Hundreds of people ended up following suit and posting performances to our micro-site. With no media dollars to spend promoting the contest, their millions of subscribers on YouTube were the media buy. Not to mention the video also has 1200 comments – most of them positive.
Southwest Airlines Brand Film
Fifteen years ago we got our first taste of working on the Southwest Airlines business. For me it began with a job as a traffic manager at GSD&M. For Marty it was as a junior art director at GSD&M doing TV spots about searching for flights online. Read More…
Bruce Robison’s You and Me
I met with Bruce Robison early one morning at Epoch coffee to talk about his new record and what sort of art might make sense for the packaging. We talked about a lot of things… politics, our kids and the continued rapid disintegration the music industry. At some point in the conversation I asked him if he had noticed the large color prints hanging on the wall in the back of the space. There were 4 or 5 oversized prints from Autumn Spadaro, a photographer I’d never heard of, hanging casually in front of some vintage furniture. One of them caught my eye immediately as a candidate for the cover image. They were obviously shot on medium format film, and had a simple graphic quality. The subject matter was very Bruce: small town Texas, decaying structures and 1970′s automobiles. The images had a touch of Eggleston, too. I took an iPhone pic of the print I liked, typeset the title over it, and emailed it to Bruce. He loved it. I called Autumn the next day and she agreed to license the image. We licensed another one of her images for the back cover too. Austin is a town where talent is everywhere, especially at coffee shops. Lindsay Braun was the studio artist on the piece. She helped with typesetting and photo-retouching. The record is currently being sold only at live performances. Go see Bruce and buy one.
TReND Brand Film
TReND is the Tobacco Research Network on Disparities. As the film illuminates tobacco control policy is not a one size fits all proposition. Far too frequently low-SES and minority populations in the United States aren’t being seen, heard or helped in the fight to control tobacco use. There is disproportionate suffering and death as a result.
Last year we produced a short film for the TReND program. We edited down the film into a hard hitting web release short. Thanks to Andrea Perry for letting us use her track Fastbox on this web release. See the full length film after the jump. Read More…
Logo Design
We’ve designed logos for everything from medical devices to boutique wineries. It’s about designing tastefully to their tone not ours. Enjoy the variety.
Roly Rolon: Portrait of a Salvage Artist
Larry ‘Roly’ Rolon lives and works in Austin, Texas. He’s been our friend for years. This short films captures his weekly routine – and delivers an inspiring message about his life philosophy.
