Larceny Bourbon
Art Direction / Design & Motion
Re-establish Larceny as a premier wheated bourbon after supply chain setbacks, moving beyond crime-themed roots to connect with “Reasonably Rebellious” drinkers.
Approach
Position the brand as a catalyst for memorable mischief. Use the key and keyhole assets to frame moments that break convention, brought to life through a bold new tagline: Seize Tonight.
Execution
A cinematic hero film, social cutdowns, and reportage photography captured spontaneous, mischievous moments. Distinctive devices—gold key borders, keyhole lockups, and elevated bottle staging—ensured premium cues across TV, digital, social, and retail.
Impact
Delivered a confident new North Star that broadened appeal, reignited relevance, and set the stage for growth with a new generation of bourbon drinkers.
Brand spot video
We launched Seize Tonight with a streaming spot directed by André Betz, showing how Larceny transforms an ordinary night into a memorable one. The 30s and 15s cuts ran on Connected TV and Online Video, extending the campaign’s reach.
Product centric photography
Our team crafted product photography that spotlighted Larceny’s premium details—producing bold bottle shots that anchored OOH, digital, and retail campaigns.
Lifestyle photography
We developed lifestyle imagery that placed Larceny in authentic moments—pours and gatherings that connected with drinkers and fueled engagement across social channels.
Unlocking consistency
Our team created the Larceny Bourbon brand guide to unify the look, feel, and voice across all channels. This toolkit gave designers and vendors a clear framework to quickly produce collateral, reducing revisions and ensuring consistency from OOH to social. By codifying the brand, we streamlined production and elevated the quality of every touchpoint.
Key Decisions
I directed the creation of several social and banner assets by repurposing stills from our photo library. My key decision was to inject motion into static assets—extending their lifespan and tailoring them for social. The result: content that delivered a 40% lift in engagement and stretched the value of our production investment.
Designing for the scroll
I repurposed historical footage, applying a diagonal line pattern to give it a fresh, stylized effect, while pushing the use of bold type and motion paired with curated music. This approach created intrigue around Larceny’s brand story and turned short-form videos into some of our highest-performing assets—driving stronger engagement and reach through shares and saves.
Behind the label
This campaign focused on high-end product shots using specialized motion-control camera techniques to showcase the bourbon’s rich texture and color. We partnered with photographer Timothy Hogan to produce a motion control capture that also revealed the blacklight-sensitive ink hidden in Larceny’s labels. The piece became one of our most shared social assets, driving a 15% lift in engagement and extending the shelf life of campaign visuals.
Crafted for engagement
My team and I built Larceny’s digital hub, collaborating with programmers and client partners to align design with brand goals. I added custom motion graphics that boosted engagement, driving a 35% lift in page views and a 40% increase in time on site.
Collaborators
Agency: Method 1
ECD: David Muldoon
CD: Jess Bennett
ACD: Harrison Weathers
Photographer: Moriah Sawtelle
Video Diretor Brand Spot: André Betz
Photographer/Video Blacklight: Timothy Hogan