How Do You Create a New Direction?

In our next project with Candid, we found ourselves in familiar yet unfamiliar territory—faced with a challenge without a clear roadmap.

The brief was to create a “positive, active, and upbeat” testimonial video. Straightforward, right? But here’s the catch: every quote had to be text-only. No names. No faces. Just words on a screen. To make things even more interesting, they didn’t know how they wanted the visuals. They only knew they needed it done. It was like being handed a jigsaw puzzle with no picture on the box.

By this point, we’d worked with them on eight previous projects. We knew their brand inside and out. Their style. Their values. Their voice. We’d spent enough time in their world to understand what they liked. So, we were confident we could try our hands at the most complex challenge they had thrown at us.

How do you make a testimonial video look good, feel engaging, and work without names, faces, or the usual tricks that make testimonials relatable? We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Our first attempt? It bombed. Big time. But trying isn’t always a bad thing that gives us clarity. We learned what they didn’t want, which was invaluable insight. Even better, it prompted them to provide us with a clearer ask.

We knew this project needed more discovery and strategy phases to ensure we could align design and direction.

Our process was as follows. We dove headfirst into research. Scoured the web. Watched countless videos for inspiration. But honestly? We couldn’t find anything quite like what we were trying to create.

The closest comparison you could consider was a movie trailer featuring critique reviews. We also knew one thing for sure: this wouldn’t be a talking-head video. We leaned into motion graphics, stock footage, and a sprinkle of VFX. We wanted every frame to feel alive, even if the content was static text.

We started with a Stylescape. Think of it as the DNA of the project. It’s a curated guide that defines the overall look and feel—stock footage styles and visual tone. The stylescape helped us zero in on what Candid wanted to represent. Their voice. Their impact. Their essence. With that as our north star, we could navigate the rest of the frames with clarity and confidence.

Next, we mocked up four designs with alternates for how the quotes could look in the video. Each one was unique, showcasing a different take on design and layout.

We, of course, had our favorites. But in the end, Candid picked the other designs. It wasn’t the option we expected them to choose, but it worked beautifully. And honestly? That’s part of the Process.

With the stylescape in hand and the concept frames approved, we moved on to storyboarding. This step was faster and smoother than usual because we’d already made so many decisions upfront. We knew what worked. We knew what didn’t. That saved us time, energy, and countless revisions.

Finally, it was time to animate. This part? Smooth sailing. For the most part. We had to make sure the pace of the video was right. So we created an animatic to see how the pacing would go. After reviewing the animatic, we felt it was too quick, so we shortened how much stock footage we had.

The focus for this video was on the onscreen callouts and the the voiceover— but audio wasn’t just ignored either. Candid usually prefers more percussive tracks for their videos, but this was essentially a brand video for them. So we decided to go with a more laidback Country vibe for the music and surprisingly the loved it. This was no easy feat as we looked through hundreds of songs to rummage through.

This meant that sound effects weren’t placed front and center as to maintain a nice balance of visual and audial elements. Nonetheless, our chief sound engineer worked his magic on this video as well. We incorporated the use of diegetic audio to accent any existing motion. Such as the dog eating the treat and the horse breathing through his nose.

Along with that, we slowed down the video during the testimonial frames. Not only to give it a cool effect but to make sure the movement wouldn’t distract from the quotes. The planning had paid off. All the pieces were in place. Laying down keyframes, refining transitions, and watching the design flow together seamlessly.

In the end, we made something fresh. Something unique. Constraints force you to think differently, innovate, and find solutions you didn’t even know existed.

And honestly? That’s where the magic happens.