ITOCHU Australia

About

ITOCHU Australia is a leading general trading company. It deals in coal; metals and minerals, such as iron ore and alumina; energy; machinery; general merchandise; chemical; and food, including grains, oilseeds, beef, seafood and dairy. Its parent company, ITOCHU Corporation, is based in Japan.

Objective

Itochu approached DigiGround to renew their website design and development. While discussing the potential website project, we saw an opportunity to work on a creative project.

Each year, Itochu sends out Christmas ecards to their clients in Australia and Japan. In the past, their cards have been a basic one screen image with some moving effects. We knew we could create something fantastic, so we pitched ITOCHU for the job. We were excited to win the opportunity.

DigiGround Work Process

The DigiGround graphic design team worked on a series of ideas that combined Japanese and Australian culture using iconic imagery from both countries and applying a conservative, respectful illustration style, reminiscent of Japanese calligraphy or watercolour.

The card tells a story. Starting in Japan, the narrative shows a person sending out an ITOCHU-branded swan origami message. It glides out across the world, passing iconic Japanese settings to Australia, where we see Aussie landscapes, with a musical accompaniment that takes you through each moving scene. Flecks of sound effects indicate the movement of snow falling, lanterns shimmering, trains moving, fireworks exploding, bubbles floating and cherry blossoms and wattle falling from their stem. The card ends with a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year message over the Barrier Reef.

When the artwork and sound was completed, we added the video to a static landing page for viewing and then created an email template that could be sent to customers from individual ITOCHU staff members. The result was fantastic – an elegant fusion of east meets west, with a sincere message to strengthen relationships. We were happy with the result and look forward to creating more seasonal e-messages like this in future.

Summary