Working in a unique position with Anomaly - where I and a small team of 11 other people are embedded within YouTube - has given me the opportunity to combine my passion for Design and Art Direction with that for music and entertainment.
afterparty
YouTube Premium afterparties are member-exclusive livestream events that happen with artists directly after a special music moment like a music video premiere, concert, or album release. Premium members are the heaviest music listeners on YouTube, and research shows that members highly demand for artist related benefits. Each event is unique to one artist, but the creative treatment has to be translatable across different artist images and tell one cohesive, Premium-feeling story about the event.
This templatized framework uses background imagery of stages, lights, and crowds in black and white to add a sense of excitement and texture while still keeping the artist at the center of it all. Motion placements include an event trailer, Instagram Story, and 1:1 in feed option while static promotion is placed throughout YouTube's website and app.
Promotion efforts for the Justin Bieber event led to 242K reminders being set for the concert and 11K for the afterparty. The concert had 4x more reminders set than most recent livestreams, 80% more peak concurrent viewers, and 20% more first day viewers than most recent livestreams. Because of this success, afterparty has expanded its partnerships to include artists from North America, South America, and Europe and continues to grow in reach.
Art Director, Designer, Motion: Andrew Allen
Producer: Pamala Billman, Josh Flynn
Copywriter : Ben Lester
RELEASED OOH
YouTube Music's RELEASED playlist serves as a way for music lovers to find the hottest new tracks from today's top talent within the music industry. Coinciding with the update of the playlist every Friday are billboards (placed in New York, Los Angeles, and London).
Art Director, Designer: Andrew Allen
Motion: Rob Long, Jonny Schaab
Producer: Pamala Billman
Google Meet Backgrounds
With the rise of people working from home, YouTube Music wanted to create Google Meet backgrounds that help to unify teams weather they're facing internal meetings or external ones with industry partners.
Art Director, Designer: Andrew Allen
Producer: Mariana Oliveres
#YouTubeBlack Voices
Throughout history, Black artists have innovated and influenced every genre of music in immeasurable ways. To both celebrate and nurture Black artistry around the world, YouTube developed the #YouTubeBlack Voices grant program — an initiative dedicated to equipping up-and-coming Black creators and artists with the resources to succeed on the platform. In its inaugural year ('21), YouTube partnered with 21 artists and groups — from the United States, Kenya, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, and Nigeria — across multiple generations and sounds.
The Artist Class of 2021 will receive dedicated partner support from YouTube, seed funding into the development of their channels, and participate in training and networking programs focused on production, fan engagement, and wellbeing.
Check out music from the artists on the Class of 2021 playlist here.
Art Director, Designer: Andrew Allen, Lindsey Chizever, Macy Tang
Designer: Danny Yu
Motion: Paolo Andrade, Rob Long, Michael Morra, Ali Santana, Jonny Schaab
Producer: Pamala Billman, Josh Flynn, Mariana Oliveres
Copywriter: Ben Lester