Every year is the same - when it comes to Christmas, you just simply expect to see shop windows covered in snowflakes, snowmen and candy cane. Not this year.

In 2018, I was briefed to look into how we could create a consistent identity throughout all of EE's touch-points, from in-store to website, social and out-of-home.

The solution was pretty simple - and fun to create. We wanted to give you access to those who make EEs Christmas so special and brought "the Helpers" to life. These are the guys who work tirelessly throughout the year to bring you the best tech and offers that EE can provide.

Design wise, we wanted to create something truly unique, that felt immediately branded but had a playful and Christmassy tone. Visually, these had to look like a sneak-peek into their fantasy world, with machinery that helps them to deliver the best Christmas.

The campaign was so successful that the Helpers are now patented and are likely to come back in other festive seasons.

Character Design

It didn't take long for the client to fall in love with the plan. As soon as we entered the production phase, we approached Aaron Martinez, an amazing character designer from Mexico, and he took our initial scamps to another level.

With the Characters designed and a clearer understanding of the Christmas offers, we then moved on into designing their worlds, in which they are operating machines, which were designed to be bespoke to each offer.

Because of all the small details required and an aggressive deadline, I had to jump in on this phase and started producing the 3d machines alongside the 3d artist, in order to achieve our ambition. The hard work has definitively paid off.

Bringing it to life

Big part of our deliverables were animated assets, and frankly, it'd be a shame if we couldn't animate these assets. Luckily, we partnered up with Framestore, and they developed two animated machines and two character loops that then were used in multiple touchpoints.

Once all this work was done, it was then time for us to distribute all the assets, and make sure all the other agencies were delivering the campaign to the standard that was sold to the client. We had to work closely with different agencies and it was rewarding to see this reaching over 550 stores around the UK, as well as OOH, Press, and a variety of digital formats.