ESPN MIXTAPE

Written & Directed by Casey Warren & Danielle Krieger

Edited by Danielle Krieger

Custom Mixtape Design by Casey Warren

We were commissioned by ESPN to concept and direct the brand campaign / open for the launch of NBA Countdown on ABC. We were drawn to the idea of using mixtapes to showcase NBA team branding for the show. There is a certain music to the game, and we felt like this would be a great harmony of visuals. In addition to directing the spot and writing the voice over, we handmade and designed 45 custom mixtapes, one for each of the 30 NBA teams and 15 NBA / ESPN branded cassettes.

Design /

The design process for each tape was to first make a high res scan, place into photoshop and create a vector label that would fit the shape of the tape exactly. We would then do all of our design work and make a print of it on high resolution paper. The next step was to export the vector tape cutout file to a die cutting machine so it would cut around our design to fit. We also made a selection of secondary team logo stickers and embelms for some of the tapes.

Edit /

We wanted the edit to capture the essence of what someone does when they create a mixtape. And in the post-production process we pushed the idea and edited the piece itself as if someone was putting together songs with various elements being intercut and spliced together.