IBM  -  Rorschach

In the dimensional space of an organic free-flowing inkblot a narrative is told of a company located in many parts of the world but tightly connected at the core. Using soft, muted tones and playing freely with the movement of patterns, a rush of ink and a sweeping camera, people, ideas, jobs and more are revealed in a global inter-connected dance that speaks of a company fully involved with its greatest asset – it’s people and their ideas.

The IBM Rorschach campaign covers themes essential to a thriving corporation, ranging from internal agility coupled with market-place flexibility, the cat like stealth in knowing when to seize the opportunity and the leveraging of data to be guided wisely to it’s fullest potential.

Illustrated by means of characters, situations, color palettes and movement. Fish swim serenely on a pacific blue field, a Tiger watches from a muted desert-like canvas, and a wise Owl contemplates the world from a richly toned mighty oak. All are worlds in which speed of communication and an overall sense of timing are the essential tools of success. The rich visual and aural coda reveals for us an insight into how IBM approaches the challenge.

Making an interesting, multiple-campaign of ads that are lyrical and a tour de force, is harder to achieve than you might think. There has to be a link that unites them as one - yet each one must be distinct enough to stand out as a sparkling individual in its own right. So each spot is given it’s own visual identity, also reflected in the original score by Trivers-Myers Music.

The brief for this cross media campaign was originally for web banners but the success of the visuals in telling the company’s story led the spots to be used for all devices including web, TV, Cinema and Print. IBM Rorschach was animated using Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, Flash, Autodesk Maya and hand-drawn illustrations.

The IBM campaign, What Makes You Special?, was chosen for the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival.