As the lead art director for this project, my goal was to create an authentic visual experience that resonated with a fiercely loyal “Naruto” anime fanbase. The result was a massive commercial success that sold out multiple times in the span of a main launch and small pulses throughout the year. This project worked really heavily with Viz Media, and we were tasked with making sure that we adhered to their story and assets they gave us, while using Product based photography only. It stands as a powerful product superiority story that bridged the gap between sneaker culture and the core Naruto narrative.
Naruto x Converse
ROLE
Lead Art Direction, Design System lead, Toolkit Lead, Logo Design, Lead Collaborator with Viz Media
PARTNERS
Heather Park, Caitlin Ravin, Sibi Ramesh, Justin Jiang
The Converse x Naruto launch was entirely character-driven. By spotlighting Naruto (focusing on his multiplication abilities and signature blue orb) and Itachi (driven by the visual motifs of his eyes and crows) as our hero SKUs, we created a highly authentic representation of each manifestation of the shoe. We built out the surrounding visual world using specific symbols and colors that spoke directly to the show’s deeper themes of friendship and growing up, resulting in a product story that instantly connected with long time fans.
The characters that we highlighted were:
Naruto
Sasuke
Sakura
Gara
Itachi
Our global toolkit helped inform the way that we rolled out our social media plans, as well as keeping the energy going even when there were restocks. We implemented our strategy by doing a full 360 Campaign while working within the budgets given.
Strategy
Photography
Global Executions
Global Toolkit
