Kijubi.com connects all kinds of characters to adventure travel & day tripping fun.
XK9 created this spot from a concept by Kijubi founders Billy Fried and Kilay Reinfeld. They wanted to show a character transformed by the many activities they could find with Kijubi. Billy produced a jingle for Kijubi. Once we heard the jingle we knew this was a throwback some vintage advertising– get an audience hooked on a catchy tune. The design approach needed to match that spirit. We decided to create a character-driven spot inspired by the 1950s UPA cartoons (United Productions of America). The UPA created animated masterworks like Gerald McBoing-Boing and Mister Magoo.
So XK9 created Fred and Mr B; thanks to Kijubi, their boring lives are transformed. The XK9 production team for Kijubi was über-animator Matt Sessions and creative director/designer/illustrator Bill Dawson.
The typeface used for everything but the Kijubi logo is Burbank by House Industries. All drawn objects were created in Adobe Illustrator from scanned original sketches. Animation was done entirely in Adobe After Effects. No filters or plug-ins were used in this creation, and no cartoon animals were harmed.