Munich Re Specialty approached us about creating a holiday card using their branding and emphasizing the theme of community. But we saw the opportunity to make something special that they could use beyond the holidays and into the winter season, especially since this video needed to reach a global community and transcend cultural boundaries. Munich Re Specialty is a division of Munich Re insurance company, the world’s largest reinsurer, so we needed to make something that spoke to diverse groups of people. 

Munich Re Specialty’s branding is also a bit abstract. So we faced the challenge of telling a unifying story that could be shown globally, but through abstract shapes. As we began working on script ideas, we weren’t quite sure how abstract we should go, but we knew we wanted to make the Munich Re spheres our characters. So, we created a few story ideas and once we had decided upon the best one, we expanded upon the abstract story by grounding it in reality through some more literal art direction. The spheres were still leading the story, but they were working within a realm people around the world may be more familiar with. 

Once we got into animation, everyone was really able to see the story come to life and we got to inject a little more personality into the spheres. Once they were in motion, they were the leading talent in this video. And once the music and sound design was final, we knew we had created something special. 

We had a wonderful time working on this piece and we feel so grateful to have been able to expand upon the idea of a holiday card. At Made By Things, we try to find the story in everything and projects like this one push our storytelling even further!