A model strikes a pose against a coral paper backdrop in a photo studio, lights and reflectors around her.

Illustrative imagery

Retail & commerce20242–4 months

Campaign production from one key visual

Client: A fashion and lifestyle retailer

Read the story
  • Campaign & Content Design
  • AI Design
  • Brand Design

At a glance

The goal. Cut a season’s campaign production from six weeks and three agencies to days.

Client
A fashion and lifestyle retailer
Year
2024
Duration
2–4 months
Scale
Every channel and size

Picture story

The shoot, planned for every crop the channels need.

These pictures are examples: licensed stock photos and mock-ups we built in code. They show the setting, not the client’s own work. Credits are at the foot of the page.

A photographer crouches to shoot a model in a black catsuit on a white studio set while a videographer films.
Fig. 01One shoot, one approved key visual.Lana Mattice on Unsplash (opens in a new tab)
Printed fashion photographs scattered across a perforated table as a moodboard.
Fig. 02Art direction fixed before the first variant.Harper Sunday on Unsplash (opens in a new tab)
A photographer in black frames a shot through a camera in a dim studio.
Fig. 03Masters shot for every crop the channels need.Szabo Viktor on Unsplash (opens in a new tab)
A rail of knitwear and coats in cream, rust, camel and grey.
Fig. 04The season’s range, ready for every format.Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash (opens in a new tab)

On screen

Every size from one master, checked before a person signs off.

Example screens we built in code, like the ones the project made. They are not the client’s own. Open any full screen.

Illustration: a tablet showing one key visual adapted into a grid of channel sizes, each marked as passing the brand check, one flagged for a person to review.
TabletOne key visual, adapted to every size and channel.
Illustration: a phone showing the campaign as a vertical story format with the season line and a shop button.
PhoneThe vertical story format, generated from the same master.

From goal to result

How the pipeline was built, from layouts to launch.

The goal in full, our approach, what we built and what it set out to change.

The goal, in full

Every season took six weeks and three agencies: one for the shoot, one for resizing and one for market versions. A small change had to pass through all three, and the last formats went live after the season had started.

The brief: cut a season from weeks to days without relaxing brand standards.

Our approach

We designed the campaign as master layouts plus type and colour rules, with the exceptions written down. Variants for each channel and size are generated from one approved key visual and checked against the rules before a person signs them off.

The AI step adapts layout and crop only; it does not invent product imagery. Every output keeps its source and approval on record.

How it ran

  1. Weeks 1–4Masters

    Master layouts for each format family, with the rules that govern them.

  2. Weeks 3–8Pipeline

    Variant generation from one key visual, with brand checks on every output.

  3. Weeks 6–10Specs

    Delivery specifications for every channel, agreed before the first season.

  4. Months 3–4First season

    One full season produced, with a person approving every variant.

What we built

Master layouts and rules, plus a pipeline that makes every variant from one approved key visual and brand-checks it before a person signs off.

What we made

  1. Campaign master templates
  2. Variant generation pipeline
  3. Brand-check rules
  4. Channel delivery specs

What changed

The pipeline is set up so each season starts from one approved key visual. Channel and size variants are produced and checked automatically, and people review the exceptions rather than every file.

Each season is compared with the last on the measures below. Figures are published only with the client’s approval.

How it is measured

Brand kit

Coral for the season, ink and sand for everything else.

Each colour with its role, share of use and contrast. Each typeface with its job. Press a colour to copy its code.

Colour

  • Ink #141414

    Type

    On white
    18.4:1 AAA
    On near-black
    1.1:1 Fails
  • Sand #F2E8DF

    Backgrounds

    On white
    1.2:1 Fails
    On near-black
    14.5:1 AAA
  • Coral #E86A5B

    The season colour

    On white
    3.2:1 AA large
    On near-black
    5.5:1 AA
  • Night #2E4A62

    Secondary

    On white
    9.2:1 AAA
    On near-black
    1.9:1 Fails
  • Saffron #F2B630

    Price and offer flags

    On white
    1.8:1 Fails
    On near-black
    9.6:1 AAA
Share of use Ink 30%, Sand 30%, Coral 20%, Night 12%, Saffron 8%

Type

  • DisplayBold 700

    A condensed grotesque

    The new season starts here.

  • TextRegular 400Medium 500

    A geometric sans

    Linen, cotton and wool for the warmer months.

Samples use this site’s own fonts as stand-ins. Each card names the font the project uses.

Outcomes

Each season, compared on speed, cost and rework.

What each measure is compared with, when we read it and who reports it. Results show once the client approves them.

The measurement plan

  1. Time from key visual to full rollout

    Compared with
    The last season produced the old way
    Read
    Each season, at launch
    Result
    Awaiting approval Reported by The client’s production manager
  2. Cost per delivered asset

    Compared with
    Agency costs for the season before
    Read
    Each season, at close
    Result
    Awaiting approval Reported by The client’s finance team
  3. Assets returned for rework

    Compared with
    Rework requests logged the season before
    Read
    Each season
    Result
    Awaiting approval Reported by The creative director

Results

Figures pending client approval

We publish results only with the client’s written approval. Until then, we judge the project on the plan shown here. Ask for a private walk-through.

Credits

The team and the pictures.

People are named only with their agreement.

Team 5 people

  • Creative director × 1
  • Designers × 2
  • Creative technologist × 1
  • Production manager × 1

Credits

Strategy, design and engineering
Xterra Edze
Screens and before-and-after views
Xterra Edze (code-built illustrations)
Photography
Licensed stock from Unsplash, credited picture by picture

Pictures 7

Licensed stock photos and mock-ups we built in code, to show the setting. None is the client’s own work.

Next case · 06 · Hospitality

Hotel direct booking, built as a product

Move bookings from aggregators back to the hotels’ own site.

Read the next case

Tell us what you need built.

You will talk to the lead who would run your work.

Book a call

Three ways to start

  1. 01About 2 minutes

    A quick question

    You get A reply from a named lead

  2. 02About 8 minutesRecommended

    Your project details

    You get Options and prices after one call

  3. 03About 15 minutes

    A request for a quote

    You get Confirmation and a named lead

We always agree a written scope and price before work begins. How each plan is priced