mezcal case study

Check out 10:15 and 11:58 👀

This episode of Big Business focused on the artisanal process of making mezcal and why Mexican producers aren’t seeing the profits of the booming mezcal industry. We realized early on that graphics would be an essential part of telling this complex story full of history, government regulations, and chemical processes.

I was lead animator and designer on this video, responsible for the look of the episode and about a third of the animation.

CREDITS
Art Direction: Dorian Barranco
Design: Dorian Barranco, June Bang
Animation: Dorian Barranco, June Bang, Yin Liao
Video Editing: Robin Lindsay
Script & Narration: Abby Narishkin

Storyboards

Storyboarding was an essential first step for identifying recurring elements in the script and visualizing abstract concepts like government regulation and corruption.

Style frames

The episode stuck to Big Business’s chunky, collaged look and grid textured background but pulled inspiration from the source material. Colors and textures from the agave plants prominently featured in the video are used throughout. The display font chosen was inspired by old-style liquor brands and hand-painted lettering popular throughout Mexico.