Apple - Intentions
“I'm really glad you like that, those words mean a great deal to us.” - Tim Cook, WWDC 2013
This work premiered at Apple WWDC in 2013, introducing the 'Designed by Apple in California' campaign. This was a pivotal point in Apple's history as innovation was perceived to be slowing in the absence of their leader, Steve Jobs. At the same time, their heels were being nipped by a very competitive Samsung, who was ready to be the challenger brand. WWDC is a major event in Apple's calendar, gathering and inspiring developers, artists, and engineers who create products for the iOS and OS platforms.
Surprisingly, you don’t get too many 'Brand' briefs, but if there ever was a time, this was the right time for one. The brief was as much of a brand brief as you could get.
This piece of work stated Apple’s intention, through their long-standing values and commitment, making the values of the company the brand. As a creative team working on the task, we struggled for months, trying to come up with the perfect narrative. It was a huge effort in a very tense environment of change. This was almost my last idea, in a huge pile of discarded ones. Initially overlooked, it was picked up at the last moment and put forward to the Apple Marcom team, which included Phil Schiller and Hiroki Asai.
This work received a standing ovation at the Worldwide Developers Conference as it set the tone for a new era of acceleration in Apple's ongoing history. The work went on to win a Design Gold at the prestigious Cannes Advertising Awards.
Apple Brand Brief Storyboard - Apple Intentions 2013
Although the work is a reflection of the Apple brand, it's also very personal to me. Visually, it draws upon my passion for compelling and straightforward storytelling, employing design, animation, typography, and music. The project embraces my background in title design, animation, and motion graphics, alongside my love for data representation and informational graphic design.
Narratively, I, like many designers, creatives, engineers, and makers, see Apple's brand values as a motivating force. The expression of these values is seen in every aspect of their customer experience: hardware, software, stores, and in their marketing and communication. This is why they can attract the best talent and why people love to work for the brand.
Why are brand values important? Now, years on with my experiences at Ring, Amazon, and GoodRx, I see even more clearly the impact of brand values as a motivating force that aligns teams to succeed, and how, without them, momentum stalls, directions split, and intentions are marginalized. 'Apple Intentions' was designed to reinspire and bring back those wavering in the face of change at Apple, developers questioning whether to put their investments into Android instead of Apple, and employees wondering if Apple had lost its way. The intention of this work was to inspire everyone, the primary audiences being the 6 million Apple developers, the eighty four thousand Apple employees but also the millions of people around the world who watch Apple WWDC events. In 2013 Apple’s market cap was $500 million and today it is over $2.64 trillion. I believe they still produce the best products, by inspiring the best talent through their values, and in 2013 they didn't bend or waiver, they doubled down.
I’m very proud of this work. This project represents a significant milestone marking a pivotal moment in Apple's evolving legacy—a moment in which I played a key role. The fact that it has been widely copied, referenced, and remains memorable is truly remarkable.
Here are my notes from the time.
My Goals - As I set about finding an answer to this brief:
How can we talk in a way our competitors cannot - talking about our values an answer to this?
Need to draw people in and reassure the faithful and inspire a new crowd.
Movement or momentum needs to be a part of this. Never static.
Say it from the brand.
Light & Fun.
The original script
The work was produced by the infallible Buck, art-directed by Danny Duran, and the script was made good by Rob Goldberg, Zane Miller, & Eric Grunbaum.
