CAP’N KITH | INTERVIEW W/ DIRECTOR SOL BURBRIDGE
Last but not least, we interviewed Design Lab co-director Sol Burbridge on why design lab was perfect for this project, the nuances of blending two distinctly separate brands and how humor played a role throughout!
Cereal and high end street wear, what a combination! What did you think when you first received this project? And what were the initial elements that really excited you about it?
I am drawn to ideas that seem audacious or strange, ones that people hear the concept and say, "WTF, is that even real?". I basically had that response when I first saw the deck for Cap'n Kith. Since that initial moment of WTF, I knew Design Lab had to do this. As a company, we are becoming known for showing established brands in new light and there was this potential, specifically, to update Cap'n Crunch and show him in a modern, relevant way. Especially with the co sign of Ronnie from Kith. I mean, Ronnie is all about design and collaborations so it just all felt perfect.
We saw a way to create a cartoon that honored the original but also updated the look. We turned to extraordinary character designer Jesse McManus. I just love his work, he can't help but put personality and a unique perspective in everything he does. I always say that even when he draws a straight line, it has some kind of attitude. lol. I think Jesse brought a lot to the re-vamp of the Cap'n character.
Also, the production design was important to help gel things together and create a perfect balance of modern clean vs nostalgia. Danny Popovici, the background designer, spent a lot of time looking at old UPA animation backgrounds and filtering their essence through a more restrained color palette. I really like how the whole color story came off. The design feels minimalist but also has depth and texture.
Alongside the animations your team created for this project, there will be two pop-up shops in Miami and New York featuring lifestyle collections with apparel and accessories, and even a re-designed cereal box. Can you talk about the hybridity of this project and how well it suited Design Lab?
Well, we are super excited to be involved in such a cool marketing campaign, however, the bulk of that amazing merchandise and pop up store goodness is the work of the agency, Grand Army, (who was wonderful to work with) and this uber cool architecture firm called "Snarkitechture". We did get to *help* design some of the merch as well as some other special things (like the box) but again, this is mostly due to the fact Jesse's re-work of the Cap'n was loved and now adorns the limited edition boxes as well as most of the lifestyle collection. We are super proud of Jesse, Tina, Danny, Sachio, Kamela and Chris and their work.
Did you eat Cap’N Crunch growing up as a kid?
NO! I grew up on a hippie commune we were forced to eat like homemade carob covered raisin granola.
In Cap’n Kith - King of their Castles, there are lot’s of humorous thoughtful details like Cap’n pulling a box of cereal out of a bottle or his toothbrush being connected to the end of his fishing pole, can you talk a little bit about how you came up with these moments and how humor played a role throughout the 4 animations?
Well, we knew we had to pull back a bunch on the wackiness, this is for the adult sneaker set after all, so Cap'n and his world had to be toned down. But he's still the Cap'n so we tried to pepper in bespoke moments that played on his heritage. In the age of post irony, we thought the best way is to make it feel natural and tow a line between cool and wacky. I hope we did a good job, its esoteric to figure out when funny stuff becomes corny, but I think we figured it out. We just kept thinking, understated, natural and quirky but not cloying or pandering.
I have to give a shout out to the animators for understanding our objectives well enough to get everything pretty on point. The nuance of movement and attention to timing and reactions is what makes these so enjoyable to watch. Everything is so wonderfully weird in these, I keep getting told that people are really watching these spots, noting the nuances of the animations (and speculating about merchandise in the background lol).
Did you have a favorite animation in the end?
No, I like them all actually, but there are moments in each that I really adore.
I'm really into audience reaction and interaction, it is always surprising what people come away with and focus on... so my favorite part might be the shoes that Ronnie and Cap'n are wearing in the finale. Kith specifically asked that we used these rare/ collectible Asics (mossad and salmon toe specifically) and people kind of went bananas trying to figure out if featuring them in these commercials means Kith is releasing these shoes or not.
