Porter Robinson’s Nurture Album Activation

Brief and Research

Looking into the intended message behind the album, what impact it has on listeners, and the strategy for my project.

Exploration topic

Quality over Quantity

Client

Porter Robinson is an American DJ in the EDM Genre known for his dreamy and sensitive epics rooted in self exploration and transparency. He dedicated his 2020 album, Nurture, to be a beacon of hope and resilience for himself and his listeners.

Strategy Brief

In the era of fast music (think fast fashion, fast beauty) how can we break the pace of new music consumption and communicate the metaphysical message and aspirations behind Porter Robinson’s album, Nurture.Instead of creating a campaign meant to attract the most new listeners and generate the most impressions, how can this campaign strengthen the existing relationship between the artist and listener? Can we build it through profound connection and understanding?

What is the message behind the album?

Nurture is a message of hope and resilience

There are really hard times, we feel insignificant in the vastness of the universe, overwhelmed with the pressure of expectation and beaten down by the relentless and depiritave search for self worth.

But despite these moments, we can still nurture ourselves. We can escape and give ourselves time to heal. We should do this by grounding ourselves in the beauty of natures imperfections.

Why do fans like it?

The album and songs are consistently described as “fresh”. They say the beats are light and fluffy and it makes you forget about how difficult and shitty your day has been, even if for just a second.

The album is rejuvenating, even when they listen to it again, 3 years later.

Strategy

Design a character/symbol to capture and validate the complex emotions fans feel when listening to the album.

The design is similar to a human form so it’s easy to recognize and understand the body language, while still being fantastical to provide a layer of separation and allow us to view the emotion from a zoomed out third person POV

Place the symbol in fast paced, high pressure environments to remind and reinforce the message of the album: zoom out, ground, nurture.

Stickers would act as the gateway to online chatrooms and are available for purchase though Porter Robinson’s website. This initiative allows fans worldwide to participate and feel ownership over this community by investing time to place stickers in their local cities and tell their friends about this special, hidden world.

Insight and Concept

The exploration, design, strategy and persona behind the character, Richard, and the process of 3D modeling for the first time.

Strategy

I really wanted to push myself to communicate beyond words and communicate complex ideas through visuals (character design, environment, and lighting). The trickiest part was using the tools on the 3D software to make the folds look relaxed (a product of surrender and relaxation) instead of glutinous.

I wanted to design a character that was similar to humans so it’s easy to recognize and pick up the body language, but still create a fantasy/imaginative creature to provide a layer of separation and allow us to view the emotion from a zoomed out third person POV. I want to communicate this emotion for the intent of relatability, not to exploit a vulnerable state. It was tricky visually navigating that line and translating it through a new software.

Persona

Richard is a plushie made by a Japanese artist. His body is filled with mini beads and his limbs are stuffed with poly-fill. It’s harder for him to do daily tasks since his body is heavy and his limbs are so stiff.

Richard puts a lot of pressure on himself to succeed and prove he can do what others can do despite his physical limitations. He has a tendency to neglect his own needs in favor of helping others, which has led to burnout and exhaustion. He’s emotionally intelligent and understands the complexity of the world. Because of this, he’s extremely empathetic and a comfort to his closest friends, but he often forgets to show himself that same understanding and comfort.

In this pose, Richard is momentarily surrendering the pressure he puts on himself and zooming out from constructed world to ground himself in the the forgiveness of the natural world.

Figure out how to use and place polys on Nomad Sculpt.

For the final “rendering” of this project, I decided to draw the character in a meadow scene.

Portal to Online Community

The mobile browser mockup and entry point for the online community.

I wanted to place the character I created in fast paced, high pressure environments to remind and reinforce the message of the album: zoom out, ground, nurture.

Stickers would act as the gateway to online chatrooms and are available for purchase though Porter Robinson’s website. This initiative allows fans worldwide to participate and feel ownership over this community by investing time to place stickers in their local cities and tell their friends about this special, hidden world.

The success of this chatroom lies less in it’s design, but the actions of the people who decide to participate. In order to create a comfortable place for those to open up, I wanted to clearly communicate the intent of the chatroom and set the tone. This was a great exercise for me to practice my copywriting.

I sectioned the chatroom into 3 categories: Vent, Preach, Support.

Vent: Share your frustration in any cathartic means without expectation for advice or judgement since comments by default will be turned off.

Preach: When you want to share a revelation or personal win but it’s not intended as a response to anyone’s problem

Support: Where you can ask for advice/support and those who want to offer help feel encouraged to comment.

I wanted to avoid requiring the user to create an account or login, but I needed a way for participants to see their old posts and stay updated for new comments. I decided to go with numbered posts. In the archive tab, users can input the number and the post will pop up.