Bleacher Report

As a part of the Tactical and Social Innovation teams at B/R, our goal was to develop new content vehicles and experiences for sports fans around the world. Below are a few projects I art directed and produced as part of our efforts to break free from the monotony of the standard social media feed.

I tapped up the folks at Anchor Point and Brikk to produce this Samurai Jack-inspired video commemorating the NFL’s historic 100th season. The goal was to create something epic and stylistically different from anything we’ve done before - telling a story without any dialogue whatsoever.

Art Direction / Concept / Storyboards: Jason Gomez
Animation: Anchor Point + Brikk

This looping animation aimed to deliver a fresh look at the athletes we’ve come to know so well - with the focus of this piece being Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey. A critical aspect of this required thoroughly researching the subject in question to build an abstract representation of what makes the man tick. In this case, McCaffrey is propelled by his historically athletic family, inspired by the philosophy of Bruce Lee; “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind,” and his passion for playing the piano. The visually striking animation was inspired by Adult Swim idents.

Art Direction / Concept / Storyboards: Jason Gomez
Animation: Peter Steineck

KOBE DISHES OUT NEW CHALLENGES ON MAMBA DAY

Scripted and produced by Starr Nathan and Martell Pegues, this original anime short was animated by Studio 9 Lives. I found the lovely guys at the aforementioned studio during my research of traditional anime production. It’s the first time Bleacher Report had worked with a proper anime studio and created a piece of original anime IP.

In addition to sourcing the studio, I provided assistance on character design, added subtitles, and completely handled sound design.

Animation: Studio 9 Lives
Art Direction: Jason Gomez
Production / Concept: Starr Nathan + Martell Pegues
Sound Design: Jason Gomez

NBA PRO DUNK: 2020 PLAYOFFS

The primary focus of this playoff-themed video was, of course, the various signature shoes of NBA players who would feature in the 2020 NBA Bubble. This video is meant to be a tie-in to the Pro Dunk manga produced by Conscious Basketball founder Vince Chang, which was illustrated by HYPER-3.

I provided art direction, photo references, a storyboard and sourced the audio track used. Kanji was done by Vince. We opted for a 4:3 aspect ratio to give this video a proper ‘90s anime feel.

Animation: Studio 9 Lives
Art Direction / Concept: Jason Gomez

The Social Innovation team’s focus was primarily to explore new ways to engage fans through repeatable and thought-provoking executions. Below are a few projects I produced, designed, art-directed, and managed during our team’s efforts to spark new conversations in the social space.

ISPY: LAKERS VS CELTICS

One of the biggest rivalries in sports history deserves content to match. To celebrate this fixture, David and I devised a Where’s Waldo type of illustration and hid iconic moments, double agents, and 33 Larry O'Brien trophies for our audience to scroll through and spot.

Illustration: Elio Moavero
Art Direction & Production: Jason Gomez, David Garcia

PREDICT THE SEASON

To build hype for the NBA bubble, David and I prompted B/R’s Instagram audience to predict a range of playoffs and pandemic-themed awards from ‘NBA Champions’ to ‘Best to have on a Zoom call.’ The IG Stories-based experience allowed users to build their own card of predictions utilizing a set of fun GIFs encompassing animated logos of all 32 teams, and 23 player illustrations.

Illustration: Dan Evans
Animated Logos: Vincent Portolan
Art Direction & Production: Jason Gomez, David Garcia

REBUS PUZZLES

This series of visual word puzzles prompted the audience to figure out which NBA player’s nickname was being represented by a combination of various illustrated clues. Some of the iconography is very literal, while others require a bit more thought. How many were you able to figure out without cheating?

Illustration: Dan Evans
Art Direction & Production: Jason Gomez, David Garcia

FACE OFF: IG STORIES QUIZ

The premise of this game was simple; watch the moving heads and answer the questions that follow. It was imperative that the questions asked could not be answered without referring to the moving heads - otherwise, what’s the point of having ‘em? Both versions of this game featured 6-7 multiple choice questions that utilized IG stories’ ‘quiz’ tool, as well as the ‘slider’ on the final slide which prompted users to indicate how many questions they answered correctly.

After each quiz slide, we revealed the correct answer and gave a fact relating to it. The first run of this game featured roughly 70 illustrations that I did, and was designed by David, then animated by me. The second version was smartly designed and animated by Ambrose - this time using photo cutouts that filled with color and moved individually, rather than in groups.

Illustration: Jason Gomez (V1)
Art Direction & Production: Jason Gomez (V1 + V2), David Garcia (V1), Ambrose Salmini (V2)