Harry & David

Having been on the market for almost a century, Harry & David established themselves as a luxury gourmet brand that makes beautiful baskets and gifts for every occasion. Their communication relies strongly on their famous eponymous founders. Until now, Harry and David have been predominantly present in the form of old photographs and other archival materials. They wanted to change that – give the founders a new look and the ability to tell their story themselves.

To figure out the best approach to character design, we played with a few ideas. We knew we wanted to give them a modern, vibrant look, but also to keep their fashion somewhere between the late thirties and today. We looked for their pictures, trying to capture their personalities through their outfits and the descriptions provided by the client. We played with shapes and colors to create two distinct personalities that form a dynamic duo behind the Harry & David brand.

We used our favorite tools for 2D animation – Toon Boom Harmony for the cel animation of the characters and some additional elements (like a magically growing tree) and After Effects for compositing. We love the slow, calm pace of the animation that allows the viewer to sink into the magical world of Harry & David before they transport us to the household, where one of their baskets lights up the room. Voice acting plays an important role in bringing our main heroes to life, which is why careful lip-sync was also an important part of the process.

We prepared numerous character illustrations and video formats for the campaign. For social media use, we also prepared a 9:16 version along with short cuts and subtitled versions.