Via Adverblog
As a fan of James Jarvis I was always going to love this Nike commercial. If you can get past the first one minute (yes it does have no sound – amazing how disconcerting that is) a really lovely animation to represent the pain and joy of long distance running. If anyone has heard James Jarvis speak (I saw him at D&AD a number of years ago) you will know is one of the Top 50 cross country runners in the UK which is not surprising given his compulsive nature (he once spent a whole week drawing the hands of one of his characters). I think this fact really shines through in the work as he really understands what it means to be a runner and is actually inspired by his own experience:
I had become interested in the idea of characters that were less referential and more iconic and abstract. I particularly wanted to do something with a potato-headed stick-man that I had been drawing at that time.
The film was inspired by certain personal experiences in running – a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also by the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running.
Rather than a marketing project inititated by Nike, the film was something proposed and produced by myself, and as such I hope represents a much more equal collaboration with a brand.
James Jarvis
First person to tweet James Jarvis runs to @CreativeSocial gets one of the new mini King Kens
