Sainsbury's
Stasya Monastyrska
Denis Bodart
Ryan Goodwin-Smith
Daniela Hornskov-Sun
James Rosen
David Keegan
Duncan Russell @ Free Folk
Julien Becquer, Dan Lambert
Julien Becquer
Julien Becquer, Florian Mounie, Marylou Mao
Tom Flavelle, Frederik Storm, Emiel Strijker
Denis Bodart, Olivier Pirard, Oguz Birgoren,
Victori Jalabert, Mark Mullan
Alice Janne
Oguz Birgoren, Mark Mullan
Denis Bodart, Mark Mullan
THE BRIEF
It was one of those phone calls. You know, the kind where your friend says “Hey man, I’m building a giant cake that needs to spin at 80rpm and showcase 150 years of Sainsbury’s history. And I need your help! Oh, and we also need to design and animate 14 unique characters, too. K bye.”
I suppose you could say that’s a phone call we’ve been waiting for our whole lives.
Thus began our collaboration with Noah Harris, master of mixed-media storytelling, in his ambitious and touching celebration of Sainsbury’s century-and-a-half legacy. We’re very proud of our work with Noah, his amazing production company Agile Films, as well as Wieden+Kennedy, London, who were an absolute dream to work with.
![Cake Place](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/CakePlace.gif?dm=1595428881)
![Cake Light Up](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/CakeLightUp.gif?dm=1595428880)
![Mr S Emiel](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/MrS_Emiel.gif?dm=1595429179)
![Bean Lady Dive](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/BeanLadyDive.gif?dm=1595428879)
![Mr S Crate](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/MrS_Crate.gif?dm=1595428883)
A ZOETROPE?
Exactly. As in, a super early animation experiment that simulates motion from a series of still images. You’ve probably seen those B&W Muybridge motion studies. Ground-breaking stuff, folks.
For the etymologists out there: from the Greek (obvi) zoe = life, tropos = turning.
![Muybridge race horse animated](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/Muybridge_race_horse_animated.gif?dm=1595429773)
![Runners](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/Runners.gif?dm=1595428884)
![Image43](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image43.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=6eb51095aa8b1a53eedda790a8613828 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image43.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=3d1cdc42a227ee9066ddc870e02292df 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image43.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=4fb1833c63b50019c0b7f7cae654f7fd 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image43.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=a7d6b2dc4f99f1e19bc0e2de137324f4 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image43.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=44f5238e3a6734de60a3b6649992b41a 2000w)
![Image6](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=b3dde87a89f15a2c5abc8e5dc61f9788 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=4c3eefcb5317754e072301150c7ec62f 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=bdbdd79bdff636a2c628b0ce52dbbdbd 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=be3a76db08028c7ab116e823aa1c520b 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=ab3c7fe7f457c47eaf9b5bab30d49de0 2000w)
THE CHARACTERS
Speaking of ground-breaking, that’s where the Sainsbury’s story begins, too. It all started when John James and Mary Ann decided to make butter. Clean and safe butter, without families worrying about getting sick. Legends.
We used period photographs as reference, but the Edwardian style for portrait photography was… a little stiff. So it was really helpful that W+K chose to highlight this origin story moment for Sainsbury’s. It gave us this cool point in history to begin our enormous design challenge. Keep in mind that everything needed to appear as if crafted from icing sugar! It’s going on a cake, after all.
We started with 2D pencil explorations beginning with Mr Sainsbury. Here you can see some interesting ideas that led us to the final designs.
Additional characters like the disabled child and his best friend, the Comic Relief Bean lady and the WW1 soldiers each represent other pivotal moments for the company. Some are even based on real-life employees. You can see them in the full ad.
![SAINTSBURY 04](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/SAINTSBURY_04.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=25cc0b4f422d14ee38ffa9c25255aeb4 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/SAINTSBURY_04.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=d84e2692a645576fe6a4d0c4797d58fa 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/SAINTSBURY_04.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=54b51568e9571b728464dc4c9f8ee4d0 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/SAINTSBURY_04.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=37aa95b2c7d309377979cbb82eb94e26 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/SAINTSBURY_04.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=0cc8865c0f1d79e566147ee0a72eead3 2000w)
![Image1](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=2247299e1a1d9936fe95dd7d9c0b4716 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=a367f3dd1cc8c662282148c7048e181a 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=cc0169640946c54358a1598e41e748ca 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=fe9b5f9831e8e806b7ed508284d63ed5 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/image1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=902201aace05759933c1a599320b8ad9 2000w)
THE ANIMATION
![HAND ANIM PLANTING SEED V2](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/HAND_ANIM_PLANTING_SEED_V2.gif?dm=1595431767)
![WHEELCHAIR KID ANIMDOG V2](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/WHEELCHAIR_KID_ANIMDOG_V2.gif?dm=1595430785)
![Soldier2 D](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/Soldier2D.gif?dm=1595428885)
![SAINTSBURY ANIM 2 D NEW V6 temp](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/SAINTSBURY_ANIM_2D_NEW_V6_smll.gif?dm=1637666093)
![3d47c17299e36382](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/3d47c17299e36382.gif?dm=1595430896)
![Kids v002 fs](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/Kids_v002_fs.gif?dm=1595430897)
THE CAKE IN VR
This cake is massive. Seriously, it measures over a metre wide and stands about 1.5 metres tall. And yeah, it spins at 80 rpm. So cool.
If you ever get a chance to design something with Noah Harris, do it! He had this amazing ideas and reference for what he wanted.
Initially, we didn’t set out to create a VR version. But it soon became obvious this would be the only way to truly understand how all these moving parts come together. Nine layers with fourteen characters animating independently. The production designers, set builders, 3D printers, agency, client, our animators… basically everyone involved used our pre-visualisation to make important decisions affecting their own process.
All the animation began in 2D. We are really fast at this and used it to gain consensus across a lot of departments. We overlapped this with 3D modelling and good-old-fashioned R&D. Every new character, every animation pass - even new ideas would work their way to the cake after sign off.
Quite quickly Noah, Wieden+Kennedy and the Sainsbury’s clients themselves began commenting on the cake in VR. Each visit to our studio started and ended with a virtual spin around the cake. The irony wasn’t lost that a project celebrating so much history was made achievable in no small way by bleeding edge technology.
![VR Demo 01](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/VR_Demo_01.gif?dm=1592399049)
![VR Cake 01b](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/VR_Cake_01b.gif?dm=1592399075)
![VR Cake 03](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/VR_Cake_03.gif?dm=1595431081)
![VR Cake 02](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/VR_Cake_02.gif?dm=1595431080)
![VR Demo 04](https://fml-craft.files.svdcdn.com/production/150th-anniversary/VR_Demo_04.gif?dm=1595432499)
PRINT CAMPAIGN
![LF011301008201 13052019 SB692174 2 a](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/LF011301008201_13052019_SB692174_2_a.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=c77f62b596189eb805fa0917391ecea9 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/LF011301008201_13052019_SB692174_2_a.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=56b379590bc7e18eba02ad0b1d20987f 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/LF011301008201_13052019_SB692174_2_a.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=4965d534e25d6fbc9c01ed30dde35fce 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/LF011301008201_13052019_SB692174_2_a.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=2df45d772021bb794162c2996006f9a5 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/LF011301008201_13052019_SB692174_2_a.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=5d91aad6dc2f01ee077570e864c4d518 2000w)
![Sainsburys 060519 174137 462014 M19 1 AL 1](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/Sainsburys_060519_174137_462014_M19-1AL-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=76f364d964445f49a46fd863d266055f 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/Sainsburys_060519_174137_462014_M19-1AL-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=b169bbf9f41e1d2a9faf50af7f413f21 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/Sainsburys_060519_174137_462014_M19-1AL-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=48830807566c50830f14aad48b07d8a0 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/Sainsburys_060519_174137_462014_M19-1AL-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=d57f87e22fab42deec869c70e811c27e 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/Sainsburys_060519_174137_462014_M19-1AL-1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=38d469b4d1d775b3bd58274369ab06b4 2000w)
![H46 A1406](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/H46A1406_2021-01-19-121600.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=d165ebb194fc04913d8f7c4b1996cd07 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/H46A1406_2021-01-19-121600.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=b1082dab7901f7f64c56ab4666518930 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/H46A1406_2021-01-19-121600.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=e5d1c78db2baa5bb32a1c22165c8b4e6 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/H46A1406_2021-01-19-121600.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=0749469e880ae089521bafc5dcae71d0 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/H46A1406_2021-01-19-121600.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=9e4078bf56ae60067e5d15b737161938 2000w)
![2b2bb288953633 5de6a93c67d87](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/2b2bb288953633.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=411e2da8665b07ac4dcfae9658d3619a 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/2b2bb288953633.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=2ed1f72ca2de8890745d0f0081e15b15 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/2b2bb288953633.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=a16ef13b98c53fc7331ec256193a5a43 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/2b2bb288953633.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=4ecef87a17f6a62ba63d58ca242fbae0 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/2b2bb288953633.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=c2d6dedb01df642138c977502453b6d4 2000w)
![510a2e88953633 5dea572d8eec3](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/510a2e88953633.5dea572d8eec3.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=a7b168fc5d33e4ae97e24f66bafdace5 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/510a2e88953633.5dea572d8eec3.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=3096e39cdf00ee5f85e96d2ed4b30c67 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/510a2e88953633.5dea572d8eec3.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=34fa6f2511eb9f9499ec2c88dcfaa26e 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/510a2e88953633.5dea572d8eec3.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=6f26a5de5ebbefb03c456b7fb64da76b 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/510a2e88953633.5dea572d8eec3.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=eed0e19987e337ce728b27a8d1eb232f 2000w)
![A13dca88953633 5dea572d8fa47](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/a13dca88953633.5dea572d8fa47.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=ccd0ef20b078ba718962c7958d13b82a 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/a13dca88953633.5dea572d8fa47.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=710d1174b0b44377774d5e19f29460fe 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/a13dca88953633.5dea572d8fa47.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=e851221793382f6906bd0adc6f83bc63 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/a13dca88953633.5dea572d8fa47.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=72d2f79621e02a554fdae6ef4925a0ed 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/a13dca88953633.5dea572d8fa47.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=55b23cbca4dd4de60eb90e1be28be398 2000w)
![0bae8288953633 5dea572d90221](https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/0bae8288953633.5dea572d90221.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=400&s=a3d723f95056fb3a13d5ac1b311daa07 400w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/0bae8288953633.5dea572d90221.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=800&s=127c93f8a8e86e1bc4d6c2bc5f3a9c60 800w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/0bae8288953633.5dea572d90221.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1200&s=b2750434940a5603578cfbdbe79ce0ae 1200w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/0bae8288953633.5dea572d90221.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=1600&s=a76955fbed5ddeabd6f8124ff2846b8e 1600w, https://feedmelight.imgix.net/production/150th-anniversary/0bae8288953633.5dea572d90221.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fillTransforms=1&fit=clip&q=95&w=2000&s=a3f255b14e0a67640c63258f0065576b 2000w)