Connection
A Boot Camp challenge that turned digital frustration into a metaphor for interrupted futures.
24-hour challenge where teams compete without knowing the client beforehand. We found out it was Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa that morning, then had until the next day to research, strategize, create, and present a full campaign. The constraint was the point: how good can your thinking be under pressure?
The Brief
Build a sustainable base of monthly donors for Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa. Not one-time gifts, not event donations. Consistent monthly support that creates ongoing impact.
Our Thinking
They wanted something continuous and sustainable. So we explored the opposite: the frustration of things that stop.
Role: Art Direction
Led visual strategy and creative development. Guided how the reverse-thinking concept translated into compelling executions across all touchpoints.
They needed continuous monthly support. So we thought: what's the opposite of continuous?
Interruption. And what interruption drives everyone absolutely insane? Lost connection. Videos that buffer, even if only for 3 seconds. So we made that maddening experience the metaphor: some youths' futures have been buffering for years.
Every execution followed the same formula: different youth engaged in their passions, with their faces pixelated and a buffering symbol on top. It symbolizes that their stories are not over, just interrupted. It's potential on pause.
Their future is still loading.
Going fully digital was intentional, and not just because the client wanted us to focus on social media. That spinning wheel when your video stalls is a technological frustration. You're left waiting, annoyed, wanting it to just continue.
We wanted the audience to understand that some young people in Ottawa are stuck in that same loop. Without consistent mentorship, their potential remains interrupted. Monthly donations upgrade their connections, so their stories don't have to buffer indefinitely.
The concept got called "hyper emotional" and "inescapable". The client noted how the campaign respected both their mission and donor intelligence. We took first place, but more importantly, created work that could actually run.
Team: Jenna Bastarache, Erica Tran, Lindsay Ott, Nick Parry, Fatima Rabi