Art

Art direction isn’t just about visuals—it’s about vision. At RIOT, we create to showcase the power of combining creative ideas with strategic execution. Our work is a testament to bold storytelling, refined aesthetics, and a relentless pursuit of originality. From branding to campaigns, every project in our portfolio tells a story. It’s not just about what looks good—it’s about what connects, inspires, and disrupts.

What is Art Direction?

Art direction is where creativity meets leadership. It’s the process of shaping ideas into visuals that resonate with an audience. Whether it’s crafting a brand identity, producing a high-concept photoshoot, or designing an immersive campaign, art direction is at the core of everything we do.

Our Art Direction Portfolio Features:

  • Brand Identities – Logos, color palettes, and typography that define your brand’s visual DNA.
  • Campaign Art Direction – Shaping the look, feel, and tone of multi-channel marketing campaigns.
  • Editorial Design – Art direction for magazines, books, and digital publications.
  • Fashion & Lifestyle Shoots – Creating concepts and managing visuals for stunning photography.
  • Creative Direction for Ads – From mood boards to execution, we craft ads that are visually unforgettable.

Why Choose RIOT for Art Direction?

We don’t believe in the ordinary. As one of NYC’s boldest creative agencies, our art direction portfolio showcases work that pushes boundaries and redefines expectations. At RIOT, we don’t just create projects—we create movements.

What Sets Us Apart:

  • Visionary Leadership: We see the bigger picture and make it a reality.
  • Collaborative Spirit: We work with brands to create visuals that feel authentic and aligned.
  • Attention to Detail: Every element, down to the smallest design choice, is intentional.

Explore Our Art Direction 

Whether you’re looking for inspiration, considering collaboration, or just curious about how far creativity can go, our portfolio is a masterclass in art direction. Each project is a reflection of bold ideas brought to life with precision and artistry.

Ready to Make a Statement?

Let RIOT bring your vision to life with art direction that’s as daring as it is effective. Dive into our art direction portfolio, and contact us to craft visuals that captivate and inspire.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: For the Pursuit
June 11, 2025 by riotwashere in 0 Comments

RIOT partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to create a cinematic anthem—one that honors a century of enterprise and speaks boldly to the future. This is the story of how we crafted a brand film powered by legacy, driven by vision, and built to ignite American ambition.

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John Frieda’s Frizz Ease: 7 Films That Tame Every Strand
October 26, 2024 by riotwashere in 0 Comments

Go behind the scenes with celebrity stylists Dave Stanwell and Laura Polko as they bring John Frieda’s Frizz Ease campaign to life. From tackling humidity to achieving sleek, frizz-free hair, each transformation is a testament to effortless styling.

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LEADX: Brand Refresh
September 9, 2024 by riotwashere in 0 Comments

LEADX approached us to transform their visual identity while coexisting with another brand of the same name. Through bold logo design and a carefully curated color palette, we crafted a distinctive and memorable brand identity.

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LA Galaxy: Afrojack Teaser Film
June 29, 2024 by riotwashere in 0 Comments

Experience the mesmerizing teaser film announcing Afrojack for the LA Galaxy vs. LAFC match at the Rose Bowl. A visual journey through interstellar space that captivates from the first frame.

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LA Galaxy: DJ Alesso Teaser Film
March 4, 2024 by Jack in 0 Comments

RIOT collaborated with LA Galaxy and DJ Alesso to create an electrifying teaser film that merges the worlds of soccer and music. Featuring powerful visuals and immersive soundscapes, the film captures the unyielding energy and artistry of the beautiful game.

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Red Bull Kumite: Times Square Live Stream OOH Screen Graphics
March 1, 2024 by Jack in 0 Comments

RIOT partnered with Red Bull Kumite to design bold, electrifying screen graphics for their Times Square OOH campaign. Merging the high-energy world of esports with eye-catching visuals, this project brought gaming culture to the crossroads of the world.

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LA Galaxy: Season Opener 2024
February 11, 2024 by Jack in 0 Comments

RIOT's creative agency partnered with the LA Galaxy to produce an electrifying campaign for the 2024 season opener. The project showcases bold visuals, captivating storytelling, and the energy of soccer fans, setting the stage for an unforgettable season.

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A Legacy in Motion: Celebrating 20 Years of Dignity Health Sports Park
June 15, 2023 by Jack in 0 Comments

A poetic celebration of Dignity Health Sports Park's 20th anniversary, brought to life by RIOT’s custom video tribute. From iconic LA Galaxy moments to adrenaline-filled BMX stunts and CrossFit Games, this visual journey highlights the legacy of a venue that defines excellence.

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Coach: Introducing Coachtopia
April 20, 2023 by Jack in 0 Comments

Coachtopia is a bold new chapter for Coach, redefining fashion through sustainability and circularity. RIOT’s collaboration shaped its creative identity, blending Gen Z innovation with groundbreaking visuals. Explore how this revolutionary brand is building a better future for fashion.

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Coachtopia: Establishing a Brand Identity in Motion
April 20, 2023 by Jack in 0 Comments

Coachtopia needed a motion identity, and RIOT delivered. Tasked with creating unique logo stings for Coach’s new sustainability-focused brand, we designed 21 distinct animations—each bringing its own energy, personality, and purpose. Watch the final selections and explore our creative process.

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Coachtopia: NFC Chip Animation
April 20, 2023 by Jack in 0 Comments

Some innovations are game-changers, but only if people know how to use them. That’s where we came in. As part of our ongoing collaboration with Coachtopia, we had the rare opportunity to bring one of their most futuristic innovations to life—an NFC chip embedded in every Coachtopia product. This tiny piece of tech is a gateway into Coachtopia’s circular fashion movement. Coachtopia’s NFC chip serves as a digital passport for every product, allowing users to track its entire lifecycle. In the future, it will reveal the full journey of each item—where it’s been, how it’s been remade, and even the hands it’s passed through. But there was just one problem: most people have no idea what an NFC chip is, or how to activate it. That’s where we came in. The Challenge: Making NFC Tech Simple & Fun We needed to create something that wasn’t just a tutorial, but an experience—an engaging, easy-to-digest, hand-drawn animated film that would make learning about Coachtopia’s NFC chip effortless and entertaining. This wasn’t a generic explainer video. It had to feel alive, bursting with Coachtopia’s personality. It had to be fun, vibrant, and playful while ensuring users clearly understood how to tap into their […]

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Galaxy Rise: A Cinematic Anthem for LA’s New Era
March 15, 2023 by Jack in 0 Comments

More than a premiere — this was a blueprint. RIOT created the first episode of LA Galaxy’s new Apple TV series, Galaxy Rise, setting the tone, style, and soul for a project rooted in community, inclusivity, and purpose. From visual language to local voices, we helped launch a movement.

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Washington Commanders: Scary Season
October 30, 2022 by Jack in 0 Comments

A spooky Halloween clip for the Washington Commanders social media channels to build up hype for their game against the Indianapolis Colts.

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Coach: (Re)Loved – Remade Rexy Puzzle
October 29, 2022 by Jack in 0 Comments

We created a stop-motion animation film and used intricate ASMR sound design to bring Coach's (Re)Loved – Remade Rexy Puzzle to life.

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Coach: (Re)Loved – Remade Bear
October 26, 2022 by Jack in 0 Comments

A cozy, warm, and fuzzy film that is full of magic and offers an authentic look at the Coach (Re)Loved Remade Bear, made from repurposed products.

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Coachtopia: A Beta Community
July 6, 2022 by Jack in 0 Comments

Our very first work for Coachtopia was early in 2022 when we were asked to come in to Coach HQ to shoot Q&A sessions with some Gen Z consumers. At that time I don’t think the full idea of Coachtopia had been formed but the importance of these sessions helped to shape the very early moments of the Coachtopia brand. Fast forward to the summer of 2022 and we were asked to create a sizzle reel that would serve as an introduction to Coachtopia to help welcome and teach potential new community members about the brand and and this new circular approach to fashion. Our sizzle reel introduction to Coachtopia was exciting to be a part of and hyped us up for the months of continued collaboration that would happen in the background. Utilizing a mixture of hand-drawn animations and user generated content we crafted a sizzle reel that Coachtopia used to help recruit Gen Z designers, activists and influencers to join the Beta Community and help shape the direction of Coachtopia as a brand. Our sizzle explains the basics of Coachtopia and how creating a circular fashion brand is essential to save our planet by providing a positive impact […]

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Coach: SMC 2022 Sizzle
June 14, 2022 by Jack in 0 Comments

At this point, we’ve created hundreds of different sizzle reels for brands and artists to help share their creative outputs with high-paced, fun edits, and this SMC 2022 Sizzle I sour latest piece of work for our good friends over at Coach. Our Coach: SMC 2022 Sizzle Reel was created so that store managers could see the progress of the brand and what they’ve achieved in 2022 and was used as the opening film for the store manager’s conference. Edited together with quick cuts and motion graphics we created a unique, fast-paced sizzle reel. Featuring superstars like Jennifer Lopez, Megan Thee Stallion and Kate Moss alongside product close-ups and runway visuals, we showcased all the best that Coach had to offer. We had a lot of creative freedom to push the boundaries with this sizzle reel in terms of color, vibe, filters and effects and were even able to have fun with the Coach logo by coloring and melting it! We're excited for our next creative agency collaboration with Coach and to see how much further we can stretch our creativity. Close

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Clinique: Innovation Sizzle Reel
June 2, 2022 by Jack in 0 Comments

We were approached by Clinique’s creative team to create a sizzle reel highlighting their latest rebrand work and product innovations. Showcasing a combination of provided footage, original compositions, motion graphics, and unique textures, we transformed a short brief into a visually rich and engaging sizzle reel to excite Clinique employees and customers. Real people were featured as much as possible to help emphasize customer loyalty and satisfaction and to show just how much Clinique’s customer base truly loves the brand. The result is a high-energy, motivational, and playful sizzle reel that will excite everyone for this next chapter in the legacy of Clinique and for future creations with RIOT creative agency. Close

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Washington Commanders: Historical Journey
February 3, 2022 by Jack in 0 Comments

Delve into the historical journey of the Washington Commanders with RIOT's creative storytelling.

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RIOT: Tabletop Reel
January 1, 2022 by riotwashere in 0 Comments

Step into the world of RIOT's Tabletop Reel, where products are not just photographed, they're brought to life through masterful staging and lighting.

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RIOT: Creative Agency Reel
January 1, 2022 by riotwashere in 0 Comments

Art, Branding, Creative, Design, Directing, Editing, FX, Motion, OOH, Photography, Post, Color, Music Supervision

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Clinique: Love Sizzle Reel
November 12, 2021 by riotwashere in 0 Comments

Produced, Creative Direction, Directed, Edited, Motion GFX, Color, VFX, Hand Drawn Animations

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Wardrobe: App Intro
September 20, 2021 by Jack in 0 Comments

With almost 40,000 new apps released every month, we had to make sure the new Wardrobe app which allows its users to exchange and borrow high-fashion clothing would stand out from the crowd. The introduction to the app is the front door for the person using it, so we went above and beyond with this video, welcoming everyone to it in the coolest way possible. Taking a bank of awesome content from the team including clips of real users of the app, we had fun playing around with it all in very unique ways. Our creative agency goes the extra mile as always, we took the time to hand-cut real pieces of paper, filmed on a green screen, and then added stop motion to achieve an old-school and hyped look and feel. We ran assets through one of our many vintage video cameras to add true and unique VHS effects, created custom motion graphics for the logo and text moments, and composed mixed media animation layers and textures to help bring fresh, new, and unique vibes to each frame. We also chopped and mashed together some of the wildest and coolest imagery combinations, including a buffering effect called “data moshing” […]

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Coach Foundation: Dream It Real
August 11, 2021 by Jack in 0 Comments

We recently partnered with our dear friends at Coach to create an inspiring film for their affiliated non-profit organization, the Coach Foundation. The Coach Foundation is committed to unlocking the dreams of 5,000 young individuals by providing scholarships by 2025. The video content in the film was captured using the personal cameras of the featured individuals, showcasing the authentic and unfiltered nature of their technological resources and emphasizing the challenge of affording higher education.   With a focus on promoting positivity, our goal was to shed light on the incredible personalities of each individual who has overcome adversity to reach their current position. To maintain the genuine essence of the film, we dedicated extra time and effort to incorporate hand-drawn elements. For each person showcased, we endeavored to delve into their thoughts and imbue their clips with a custom font style and a hand-drawn representation of their imagined workspaces. These elements were then animated to generate one-of-a-kind artistic creations. This project presented a unique opportunity for our creative agency, and we had a fantastic time bringing it to life. Although the video is intended for internal use within the Coach team and requires a password for access, you can still […]

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