Levi’s ‘Buttons’
Bomper Studio has joined Levi’s for the second time to celebrate the 149th Anniversary and the countdown to the 150th of the classic 501 jean.
No other product has been as worn, loved, and reinvented as the Levi’s 501 jean. The button fly has been a signature element of the 501 jean since its introduction in 1873, it is also a way people make their jeans their own – from exposing it or changing out the button colours. Levi’s wanted Bomper to produce a video campaign celebrating the 501 button fly, which was to be shown in store and on their Times Square Billboard!
The concept was made to feel timeless and creative just like the 501 button. To be visually driven, highly expressive and playful; much like the feeling you get when individually customising your Levi’s and celebrating your personal style. The end result is a collection of visually driven and super tactile 3D button sequences in various dynamic sequences that catch the eye.
In building the films, Bomper took a fast-paced montage approach which we’ve established in the other Levi’s films and applied it to celebrating the Levi’s 501. This approach was not only visually engaging, but also worked well for creating longer montage/ overlayed sequences for the larger displays, and also subtly connected to the campaign hero film.
Credits
Client: Levi’s
Production: Bomper Studio
Creative Director: Emlyn Davies
Technical Director: Colin Wood
Producer: Robyn Viney
Production Coordination: Molly Stracy
3D Artists: Colin Wood, Rhodri Teifi, Zach F Evans, Allie Holmes
FX Artist: Colin Wood
Compositing: Zach F Evans
Editing: Zach F Evans
Studio Manager: Ceri Davies
Development
Bomper built the sequences of the videos as full 3D CGI animations, but our creative approach leaned more into tactile realism. With an open brief, the team jumped straight into 3D to create simulated concepts that were super playful and attention-grabbing – reminiscent of oddly satisfying TikToks – before further developing the ones that were the most impactful.
In the animations, our artists utilised all the colours of the buttons and their round shapes to create a feast for the eyes. The sequences very subtly, and metaphorically suggested DNA particles which worked really well for encouraging individuality and illustrating how the 501’s have shaped our world, generation after generation.
With this design, Bomper incorporated many of the iconic Levi accents, such as the Batwing Levi’s logo design, which was composed of multi-colored 501 buttons that pulse and change colour. As well as showing full frame simulations, the team implemented repeated framed compositions and montaged framing against other campaign visuals to create visuals that are really expressive.
Levis were amazing enough to let the Bomper team experiment and play with sequences to produce a feast for the eyes on the 501 Buttons project! This has left us with some great extra content we want to share with you and to peek into the brains of our team!
