What We Created
We produced a 30-second nostalgic commercial spot that tells the story of an artist's lifelong creative journey, with Blick Art Supplies as their constant companion.
The Creative Elements
Aesthetics: The spot features warm, nostalgic lighting that transitions from childhood finger painting scenes to adult creative spaces. We used a soft color palette that evolves throughout the spot, mirroring the artistic journey while maintaining visual cohesion with Blick's brand identity.
Feel: The commercial evokes a sense of tender nostalgia while maintaining an inspirational tone. The pacing creates an emotional crescendo that builds to the powerful tagline. The viewer experiences a familiar comfort—like revisiting a cherished memory—while feeling inspired about future creative possibilities.
User Experience: From the audience perspective, the commercial creates immediate recognition of their own creative journey. The narrative touchpoints—"masterpieces on the kitchen floor" and "dreaming of becoming the next Picasso"—serve as universal emotional anchors that viewers can personally connect with.
Key Decisions: We chose documentary-style cinematography to create authenticity, employing natural lighting techniques to enhance the emotional resonance. The voice-over was deliberately warm and reflective rather than promotional, allowing the brand message to emerge organically through storytelling.
Our Client
Blick Art Supplies is a trusted provider of art materials for creators at every stage—from young children to professional artists. With a history dating back decades, they've built their reputation on quality, accessibility, and understanding the unique needs of artists.
What makes Blick special is their dedication to supporting artistic growth rather than simply selling supplies. They recognize that creating art is a lifelong journey and position themselves as partners in that process.
The Problem We Solved
Blick approached us with a challenge: how to differentiate themselves in a crowded market of art supply retailers by connecting emotionally with both new and experienced artists.
The creative brief asked us to:
Emphasize Blick's longstanding heritage without feeling dated
Appeal to multiple generations of artists simultaneously
Create an emotional connection that transcends specific products
Position Blick as more than a store—as a supporter of creative journeys
A key constraint was the 30-second format, requiring us to convey a lifetime of artistic development in a very limited timeframe.
Target Audience
Our primary audience included:
Parents of young children beginning their artistic exploration
Adult hobbyists reconnecting with their creative passions
Art students and emerging professionals
Lifelong artists who value quality and consistency
To prepare, we conducted interviews with Blick's marketing team and store managers to understand customer relationships with the brand. We also reviewed customer testimonials spanning decades to identify emotional touchpoints in the artist-brand relationship.
Key Insights
Through our research, we discovered three critical insights:
Artists often have emotional connections to their first art supplies—these memories create lasting brand loyalty
Many artists feel their creative journey has been discontinuous—they want permission to reconnect with childhood artistic joy
Quality art supplies providers are seen as enablers of self-expression, not merely product vendors
These insights validated Blick's intuition about their relationship with customers while revealing a new challenge: helping artists reconnect with their creative passion after periods of inactivity.
Most importantly, the spot successfully positioned Blick as a brand that truly understands the artistic journey, a faithful companion in creativity from childhood and beyond.
