Kraft: Welcome to Noodledom
When Kraft updated their branding, Johannes Leonardo reached out to rezonate to create visuals that convey the idea of comfort as an act of self-care.
As we imagine the world we are building for this campaign, and for Kraft Mac & Cheese’s customers, we have taken to calling that world the “Noodledom.” It’s a world that exists somewhere in between the reality we, as humans, inhabit every day, and the world our characters come from.
Expertise
Creative Direction, Animation, Motion Design, Direction
Partners
Johannes Leonardo
Kraft
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Credits
Creative Directors: Nico & Katwo Puertollano
Producers: Dan McIntosh \ Encar Lopez \ Hannah Sy
Lead Artists: E.G. Albor \ Bianca Cosca
Illustrators: E.G. Albor \ Bianca Cosca \ Christina Cawad \ Sofia Abellera
Animators: Bianca Cosca \ Christina Cawad \ Sofia Abellera \ John Basnillo \ Keb Makasiar \ Gwen Guevarra \ Karla Consolacion \ Erika Marquez
Post (Editors / Compositors): E.G. Albor \ Angel Casaul \ Klei Remo \ Gabriele Dominique Principe
Agency: Johannes Leonardo
The “Noodledom” is the place where we and these “Noodly” characters meet, where they guide us to moments of comfort and unadulterated joy. In this world, they help us “help ourselves.”
Aesthetically, we create this “Noodledom” through the fusion of still photography drawn from our world—a Mac & Cheese bowl, coffee cups, clocks, and more—with the fantastical elements of the animated characters and their environment—exaggerated movements, delightfully impossible proportions and limbs, bursts of color.
Our approach is to understand all of these visuals as one whole, rather than a collection of parts, because we need our audience to believe—and we need to believe ourselves—that these two different realities can live together. To that end, the set and some props, where appropriate, may contain small suggestions of the character designs and animation—background colors, simple details, and very subtle visual invitations into the world of the “Noodledom.”
The “Noodledom” is a place that we are transported to momentarily in our feeds and on our screens. But it is also a feeling—of joy, comfort, and understanding that with Kraft Mac & Cheese, these are moments we can create for ourselves whenever we want.
It is a reminder to people of a simple thing—a delicious bowl of Kraft Mac & Cheese—that has always been there, and that can, for a moment, bring us the comfort, joy, and fun we maybe forgot we needed. And it is an illustration of how practicing kindness and nourishment of ourselves and those around us is what will help us become the “defiantly joyful” people we aspire to be.
CHARACTER CONCEPTS
