An Ode to Dreams

Cars regularly get 18-point safety checks; isn’t it time brands did, too?

Brands are like cars - there’s a lot under the hood, and they need regular maintenance to run smoothly. Director of Creative Strategy Mika Saulitis offers an 18-point brand diagnostic to keep your brand in good shape. 

Building and maintaining a brand is complex; it’s a living, breathing entity with visual, verbal, behavioral, and sonic elements that shift and evolve regularly. But there are some simple steps that brands can take to ensure their “check engine” light doesn’t go off.

Let's make annual brand diagnostics a thing

Branding: the slightly nerdier cousin of marketing. Or is it? Director of Creative Strategy Mika Saulitis weighs in. 

Today, the industry is having a cultural moment. Think about all of the discussions around not just brands, but the creative and strategic process of branding.

Social media is the great equalizer, opening up what has been a closed-off industry and introducing a new generation to the wonderful (and slightly geeky) world of branding in a way that wasn’t available before. 

Not to jinx it, but is branding…cool?

Semi-serifs and beyond: ECD Rosie Garschina weighs in on type trends to come in 2024. Read the full article on Creative Boom.

Type trends for 2024 every designer needs to know about

Vibes: the ultimate design secret sauce. Creative Director Erin Kilkenny on designing brands with emotion and intuition.

"Creativity requires openness, fearlessness, and risk taking."

In Defense of Vibes

Design moments inside and outside the city. For this week's #NineFrames Designer+Animator Kasella Acain shares inspiration from her trip to Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

Nine Frames: Kasella Acain 

Junior Designer + Animator Krysta Coates gives new meaning to remote work. Read about her journey building out a custom van, working on the road, and living life to the fullest.

My Adventures Working Remotely (Literally)

This week, CCO Alex Moulton joined the On Brand Podcast with Nick Westergaard to talk about the power of curiosity, why words matter, and immersing himself in the challenges and aspirations of everyone he works with.

On Brand: Designing Sustainable Brands with Alex Moulton

Before transitioning into animation and design, Jr. Animator and Designer Tyler Rispoli started as a film student at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Here are 5 technical aspects of filmmaking that deeply inform his intentional approach to animation.

“Film school provided a strong foundation of motion techniques that aided my progression in design and animation.” 




Thinking like a Filmmaker in Animation 

“One of the things I love most about traveling is being immersed in new color schemes. I love associating colors with places.” For this week’s #NineFrames,  Writer/Strategist Jo Beck shares pictures from the Pacific island of Palau.

Nine Frames: Jo Beck

The key to effective branding is a unified system of writing and design that tell the story of a brand. Senior Designer Steven Wimberley writes about how these skills support each other, and how understanding basic design principles can improve ones writing about design. 

"Visual storytelling utilizes both language and art to pass on the essence of who we are."

How to Write about Design: a Primer

Surfing and creative work have more in common than you think. This week, Executive Creative Director Elliott Chaffer talks to Creative Boom about how both require duck-diving fears and freedom of expression.

Creative Boom: Can Sports Enrich your Art? These Creatives Say "Yes."

Trollbäck + Company isn’t exactly a small family business, but Director of Client Partnerships Ryan McRee writes about why the “+ Company” in our name defines a studio culture that feels that way. 

Small Family Business

Nine frames is a photography series produced by the Trollbäck staff. This week we share photos from Junior Designer / Animator Tyler Rispoli, who took these on a trip to Carlsbad, CA. 

Nine Frames: Tyler Rispoli

Can AI build brands? Chief Creative Officer Alex Moulton puts ChatGPT, a new language-generation software, to the test and gets fascinating results.

Can I Use ChatGPT as a Tool for Branding?

Former Tröllback+Company Creative Director Fran Roberts led our team through a skillshare to talk us through the enchanting and complex history of color.

“Culture is just one of many factors that influence our experience of color, which lives at the intersection of many: environmental, perceptual, material, physiological, and behavioral.”

Skillshare: All About Color

Senior Animator Marcelo Meneses writes about the sometimes-overlooked world of video games when it comes to finding inspiration for motion graphics. 

Finding Motion Graphics Inspiration in Gaming

Building brands has a lot in common with making movies – they both require emotional, evocative, compelling stories to succeed. Executive Director of Creative Strategy Bo Bishop writes about how having a background in filmmaking is his “secret sauce” for articulating strategy.

Five Films That Inspire Me as a Strategist 

Junior Designer + Animator Krysta Coates on what it’s like to start your first job remotely, and some tips for young designers doing the same. 

Navigating a First (Remote) Job

For our series Art All Around, Staff Writer Jo Beck visits the permanent home of Dan Flavin’s elegant light works in Bridgehampton, NY.

Art All Around: Dan Flavin 

Mika Saulitis writes about branding's most overused word. 

The Trouble With Branding's Most Overused Word

Trollbäck's Executive Creative Director Elliott Chaffer shares his Nine Frames, taken with a triple-lens 3D film camera. 

Nine Frames: Elliott Chaffer

Sarah Cortese, Senior Animator+Designer at Trollbäck+Company, writes about the creative joys of parenthood and finding inspiration in her kids. 

“Art resides in the quality of doing. Process is not magic.”



“I have never expected anything from my work but the satisfaction I could get from it by the very fact of painting and saying what I couldn’t say otherwise.”

“Your eye is a muscle, you have to keep it in shape and the more you draw, the more you see.”


Motherhood by Design: Creative Lessons I Have Learned From Parenting

Nine frames is a photography series produced by the Trollbäck staff. This week we share photos from Executive Director of Creative Strategy Bo Bishop, who took these on a beach trip to Stone Harbor, NJ. 

Nine Frames: Bo Bishop

Senior Designer Diksha Watwani has taught at SVA since 2016. She's found a balance being both a teacher and a perpetual student. Read her essay on our website.

“There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.”

Diksha Watwani on Teaching at School while Learning on the Job

Elliott Chaffer, Executive Creative Director at Trollbäck+Company, talks us through his creative process and how he uses references to inspire creativity, communicate ideas and connect with people.

"It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to."


"Every idea is a juxtaposition. That’s it. A juxtaposition of existing concepts."

"To spark my creativity…I often re-use pieces from my other works…basically collaging my own stuff…"

"I absolutely believe my best work lies ahead of me, and lies in the work I’m absolutely on fire to steal from."


"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known."


"Don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it."

Stealing Dreams: The Art of Pulling References

Trollbäck’s Director of Creative Strategy, Mika Saulitis, sits down with Chris Do for his podcast series to discuss his journey from film school to branding and how it’s shaped his creative and strategic thought process.

"Brand strategy is about codifying a client’s gut feeling. You do the due diligence to explore relevant positioning so that when you arrive at the final product the client says: ‘this is it.’"


How Brand Strategy Works: Mika Saulitis on The Futur with Chris Do

Trollbäck Art Director, Lili Emtiaz talks with Shots about how TikTok, Tod Haynes, and slowing down have turned into some of their most promising creative influences. 

"I started working in the industry just as brands were starting to acknowledge the power behind social media. It’s been exciting to watch social and digital teams grow. Where social design and strategy were once an afterthought, they are now a staple."

On My Radar: Lili Emtiaz

On May 23, Season 4 of The Chi debuts on Showtime, featuring a fresh promo package by Trollbäck+Company. To preview the debut, we recently sat down (digitally) with Chicago-based artist Nikko Washington, whose work forms the foundation of the series’ vibrant new identity.

"My work now is a culmination of abstract art and text in direct response to questions on police brutality and gentrification"

The Chi S4 Preview: Q&A With Artist Nikko Washington

As election day quickly approaches, Trollbäck designers + animators share their visions for supporting the progress and democracy that lies at the heart of our studio.

Vote 2020: Designing for Democracy

A quick tutorial on how to get our iconic betta fish wallpapers up and running on your mobile device.

Studio Hacks: Installing Apple’s Live Fish Wallpapers Back on Your iPhone

For this month’s staff post, designer Steven Wimberley explores the world of tactile creativity, from fine art and photography to physical in-camera effects.

Above is a collection of creative by artists Nicola Yeoman, Debbie Smith, Rogier van der Zwaag, Dan Tobin Smith, Jerome Corgier, and studios Maricor/Maricar, Grand Army, &Walsh.

Creative Reference: Physical Media

This week, dozens of agencies, studios, and creators are going dark to help amplify the voices and demands of people of color. Here’s an evolving list of how you can pitch in.

#BlackLivesMatter: A List of Resources for the Creative Community to Fight Back

Nine frames is a  photography series produced by the Trollbäck staff. Each month, we assign a disposable camera to a single team member and ask them to capture their world. The idea is to show how different the world can look through the eyes of different people in this industry — designers, animators, strategists, filmmakers, and writers.

For this month's staff gallery, Senior Designer Lili Emtiaz shares some eerie test shots from her film camera, taken just days before quarantine.

"These nine film photos began as a test shot; the photos nothing more than a confirmation my Nikon F3 worked," says Designer Lili Emtiaz. "I wasn’t trying to capture anything — a coworker next to me at work, a friend without a mask, someone getting a haircut. In two months time, the mundane turned into something rare, at a speed I still can’t fathom."

Nine Frames: Lili Emtiaz

Photos from animator Marcelo Meneses, who took these on a recent trip back home to Puerto Rico.

Nine Frames: Marcelo Meneses

Senior producer Betsy Jones explores the other side of Cairo.

Nine Frames: Betsy Jones

Nine Frames: Steven Wimberley

A minimal, visual look into the graphic magic that makes Swedish design so great.

Design List: How to Design Like a Swede

In advance of my final year of design school, I got to team up with some of the top talent here at Trollbäck to gather their best advice on graduating and getting a job.

Design List: Seven Tips for Landing (and Surviving) Your First Design Job

Traveling gives you a new perspective and awareness of your surroundings, so I tried to capture that more literally on film.

Nine Frames: Erin Kilkenny

In an industry where exceptionally creative work is expected under tight project teams, tight budgets, and even tighter deadlines, it takes more than just good ideas alone to save you.

Design List: 4 Tips for Producing Great Creative Work

Perfectly imperfect moments in New York City, Spring 2019.

Nine Frames: Nadia Husain

Nine Frames: Nicole Willis

For this month’s staff post, video editor September Raines talks creative techniques, iconic scenes, and the unseen impact editing has on our experience of storytelling.

Creative Reference: The Art of Transitions

Modern architecture meets traditional culture in the alleyways of Japan.

Nine Frames: Koda Ko

This week, Trollbäck’s newest Associate Creative Director, Erin Kilkenny was featured in an interview with Dexigner talking about what it takes to make your way to the top as a woman in this industry.

"It's important to find a studio (or studios) to work at with the opposite of a competitive toxic bro-vibe: diverse, curious, thoughtful people of whichever gender, who respect and support each other's work."

Dexigner: How Can Women Get Ahead in the Design Industry?

As Oscar night approaches, Trollbäck+Company’s top creatives took some time out of their busy schedules to give us some thoughts on their favorite films (both nominated and unnominated) of the 2018-2019 season.

Creative Review: Trollbäck+Company’s Favorite Films of the Season

As the year draws to a close, Trollbäck+Company’s top creatives took some time out of their daily practice to give us their thoughts on the work we’ve done over the past year.

Creative Review: Trollbäck+Company’s Top Projects of 2018

We share a few tips and tricks we’ve learned through the past 20 years that can help brand managers make things funny without falling flat.

Designing With Humor: Five Ways Brands Can Be Funny Without Falling Flat

For this month’s staff post, designer + animator Koda Ko lets us peek inside her creative process for our latest Verizon 5G anthem.

Creative Reference: Linear Motion

An analog exploration of Northeastern Americana.

Nine Frames: September Raines

An unexpected, in-camera exploration of Los Angeles street art.

Nine Frames: Alex Moulton

As Oscar Season swiftly approaches, Trollbäck+Company’s top creatives took some time out of their busy schedules to give us some thoughts on their favorite Academy Award-nominated (and snubbed) films of the year.

Spring Review: Trollbäck+Company’s Favorite Films of the Year

8 techniques for working purposefully with one of design’s most notorious glitches.

Moiré: Design Within Lines

I am on a constant quest to understand what makes great stories work on screen. But while reading scripts and mapping stories continue to teach me a lot about what works, I’ve always wished there was a better way to learn about non-verbal storytelling.

Designing for accessibility presents new and unexpected learning opportunities for everyone.

Beauty + Logic: A New Way to Learn Non-Verbal Storytelling

"Design is a solution to a problem. Art is a question to a problem."

John Maeda

Maeda’s insight remains a profound reduction of the divergent mindsets between designers and artists. When I first heard it I was in complete agreement, but nearly a decade later I think it’s worth a closer look. I now believe that it’s more important than ever for designers to be asking deeper questions at every stage of our process. It’s not enough to focus on solutions.

“Meaningful design demands artful questions.”

Beauty + Logic: The Art of the Question

Latest posts

Chief Creative Officer Alex Moulton offers five key branding strategies for subscription success.

Imagine a revenue stream that keeps flowing month after month, building deeper connections with your customers. Sounds tempting, right? But transitioning to a subscription model isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. It requires building brand trust and loyalty beyond just your product. Read the full article on Business Reporter. 

From free to fee: how to build a brand worth subscribing to

Featured

"Design is the practice of answering a lot of the questions that art can ask, and business is really that practice of delivering the answers to those questions."

Insights and inspirations from our studio