Nate Ripp

Video strategy can get complicated fast. But It shouldn't start that way. Going all-in on video is brilliant… if you’re being intentional. Spending hours shooting and editing a single video (yes, my chaotic timeline below) without a proven strategy? Pretty pointless. Start small. Test. Test again. Test again. Learn. Adjust. Repeat. Once you’ve found a format that lands Go all in. Double down. Scale. The testing phase matters more than the scaling phase. Most people skip it. Don’t. (Please don't judge my timeline, it's a mess. I know)

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Love seeing this consistent theme where some of the smartest branding today are designing motion-first. Not “here’s the logo… now let’s animate it.” But building identity through movement from the start. In a digital world...brand isn’t static. It lives in transitions, pacing, rhythm, and micro-interactions. Motion is where personality shows up fastest. Sample below with full case study here - https://lnkd.in/e7by9Bfu

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Calling all designers. As an American and a creative, I am pretty stoked to see great design coming from our government. https://ndstudio.gov/ https://realfood.gov/ https://trumprx.gov/ But Politics aside, let's look at the historical context of great design. Nazi Germany Arguably the most comprehensive and chilling example of design as state power. The Nazis understood branding at a level that wouldn't be matched in corporate America for decades: • Visual totality: Unified design language across everything—uniforms, architecture, rallies, propaganda posters, even typefaces. They banned certain fonts and promoted Fraktur (ironically later abandoning it). Every visual element reinforced the brand. • Albert Speer's architecture: Monumental neoclassical designs meant to communicate permanence and power for a "thousand-year Reich." The Nuremberg rally grounds were essentially branded experiences at massive scale. • Leni Riefenstahl's films: Triumph of the Will wasn't just propaganda—it was cinematically innovative branded content that influenced filmmaking for generations. • Symbolism: The swastika became one of history's most recognizable symbols through relentless, coordinated deployment. The system worked because every touchpoint—from Hitler Youth uniforms to postage stamps—told the same story. It's a horrifying case study in how design creates emotional belonging and normalizes ideology. Soviet Union Constructivism and Socialist Realism created one of the most distinctive government design languages: • Early Soviet constructivism: Revolutionary graphic design (El Lissitzky, Rodchenko) that was genuinely innovative—bold typography, photomontage, diagonal compositions suggesting dynamism and progress. • Socialist Realism: Later shift to heroic, idealized imagery of workers, soldiers, and leaders. Consistent across posters, murals, sculpture, and architecture. • Monumental architecture: Stalin's "Seven Sisters" skyscrapers in Moscow, metro stations as "palaces for the people" with chandeliers and mosaics. • Consistent iconography: Hammer and sickle, red star, wheat sheaves—symbols deployed with absolute consistency. Maoist China China under Mao created perhaps the most saturated propaganda environment in history: • Little Red Book: Product design meets ideology—portable, ubiquitous, visually distinctive. • Propaganda posters: Heroic workers and peasants in bold colors, consistent style that created a visual monoculture. • Cultural Revolution aesthetics: Red Guards, revolutionary opera, model communes—every aspect of culture became branded content. • Personality cult: Mao's image reproduced billions of times, creating omnipresent "brand ambassador." It's probably just a coincidence, right?

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Project: Byard 1st Settlement Brand Identity & Experience Manual Role: Creative Director / Lead Art Director The Challenge: Byard had a logo, but lacked a soul. There was no defined brand identity, no strategic human insight, and no cohesive direction to guide the creative team. It was a blank slate that needed a heartbeat. The Approach: To solve this, I stepped out of the office and went strictly on-ground. My goal was to move beyond traditional visual design and architect a human-centric spatial experience. By scouting the physical location, analyzing real-world behavior, and identifying the structural pros and cons, I gathered authentic insights. This hands-on approach allowed me to bridge the gap between physical space and visual/content strategy. The Solution & Impact: I developed a comprehensive Brand Identity Manual that defined Byard’s positioning from the ground up.  I established unified themes for both content and visuals, providing the creative team with a clear, strategic roadmap.  The result wasn't just a design system; it was a blueprint for turning a commercial space into a memorable social destination that brings people back. #creativedirecton #branding

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Im TIRED of seeing people complain about this AI isn’t the end of creativity it’s the evolution of it. Too often we hear, “AI is taking artists’ jobs.” But here’s the truth: - Licensing, IP-driven work, and relationships with clients remain untouchable. - Creative direction still matters. Companies don’t hire AI, they hire people who know how to use it. - Tools don’t replace us. They extend us. They free us from tedious tasks so we can focus on what sets us apart. What sells isn’t “AI slop.” What sells is vision, taste, curation, storytelling, and depth. The real shift? Stop seeing AI as the enemy. Use it to move faster. Lean into the creativity no machine can fake.

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"Oh hell there he go again messin with other people's IP!" So many WAN-Animate experiments are rolling through my feed but so few are focused on full-body transformation. Everyone is showing waist-up, hands and face. Why? That has already been out. WAN is better than Act-2 at waist up, but imo the unique part of WAN-Animate is that it can do full body. With unique hair motion! Here is my experiment. One piece of stock footage, body-transferred into 10 different people in 10 different outfits, all wearing the same Nike Vaporfly 4's. The shot was broken into shorter clips, start frames were generated using Nanobanana, run through WAN-animate, and then cut back together in AE with some light comp work (mostly to fix differences in the regenerated bg). I think this would be quite hard to do using any other means: maybe shoot 10 people running on a track and get them all to maintain the exact same body position/foot placement etc through the entire sequence? Or how about reskinning the same CG rig with 10 characters with different hair, skin, outfits etc? Sounds hard. At the end I pulled stills of the Vaporfly 4's and did some Kling start frame / end frame gens to get a kinetic product shot at the end. The logo break / reform at the end is also Kling with AE time displacement on top. ***The Mago beta looks amazing for this stuff, I probably should redo this whole project tomorrow 😭

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When you hire a Creative Director only to dictate every move, you haven't hired a Director, you’ve hired a Creative Executor. True leadership in the creative space isn't about finding a pair of hands to move pixels or arrange words; it’s about finding a visionary partner to solve business problems through a lens you haven't considered. Micromanagement doesn't just stifle art; it kills the very strategic ROI you’re paying for. If you want a "YES-MAN," hire a production hand. If you want transformation, hire a Director, and then give them the room to actually direct.

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How to explain your job to someone not in the industry. A stage play in one act. "Creative Director, that's interesting. What do you actually do at that kind of job?" "KV/Film." "Huh?" "I do KV/Film" "What?" "Sometimes social/activation" "Social... So you put the ads on Instagram?" "No, that's media." "OK... You put the companies on news and talk shows and stuff?" "No, that's PR." "So..." "KV/Film." "Got it."

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From my viewpoint, many designers working today can’t actually design a graphic. With the abundance of image libraries, many don’t need to. With the exception of branding, information design, and data visualization, many designers are actually screen builders (for video, web and PDF) or storytellers. To give their work more traction, they have to have a deep understanding of research, behavioral science, computer science, and sales.

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2019 was the time we helped a 150-year-old national monument welcome the world to its doors When The National Wallace Monument in Stirling needed to celebrate their 150th anniversary, they didn't just need a leaflet. They needed to tell a story that would manage visitor expectations and drive footfall. Working closely with the hugely enthusiastic and knowledgeable Marketing Manager at the time – Ken Thomson – we set out to create something that would serve the thousands of visitors climbing the Abbey Craig to the Tower. Here is why investing in professional leaflet design matters—and how we made a difference: 1. Information flows better. We took complex details—like the names of the chambers (The Hall of Arms, The Royal Chamber), the 246-step climb, and the seasonal bus times—and organised them into a clean, intuitive layout. Instead of overwhelming the reader, the design guides the eye to what matters most: planning the trip. 2. Clarity builds trust before arrival. A visit to a historic attraction comes with questions. "Is it accessible?" "Where do I park?" "How do I get there from the train station?" We highlighted the accessibility info, the free shuttle bus, and the seasonal Bus Service 1314 prominently. By setting clear expectations, the leaflet respects the reader's time and builds goodwill before they even set foot on the monument. 3. Good design drives real action. This leaflet was designed to convert curiosity into a day out. By making the "how to get there" section inviting and the seasonal opening times (July–August 9.30am–6pm, etc.) easy to find, we help turn online interest into on-site visits. Whether you are a national landmark managing thousands of visitors or a local business launching a new product, great design tells your story and gets results. 👉 Do you need a leaflet or brochure designed and printed that works as hard as you do? Let's talk. #G3Creative #LeafletDesign #PrintDesign #Stirling #MarketingCollateral #TourismMarketing #Branding #PrintDesigners #NationalWallaceMonument #VisitorAttraction

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One thing I’ve noticed repeatedly in marketing: Movement changes attention instantly. The moment visuals start moving with purpose— people stop scrolling and start watching. That’s why motion graphics are no longer “extra.” They’ve become essential for brands that want to stay visible.

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Midjourney V8.1 arrived fast, and that may not be accidental ✨ Midjourney launched V8.1 Alpha on April 14, 2026, less than a month after V8 Alpha, which went live on March 17, 2026. That timing alone already says something. V8 was clearly an ambitious release, but also an open testing phase. V8.1 feels like it has a very specific role: stabilize the experience, correct course, and bring the model closer to what the community expected. 🎨 The first major shift Midjourney highlights is a more familiar aesthetic, explicitly described as being “in the spirit of V7.” In practice, V8.1 promises a look that feels more aligned with the platform’s historic identity, while moodboards and srefs are described as much more stable. Reading between the lines, that looks a lot like a course correction after the first reactions to V8. That is my interpretation, but the official messaging clearly points in that direction. ⚡ On performance, the update is significant. Midjourney says HD mode is now 3x faster and 3x cheaper than in V8, so much so that it becomes the default mode in V8.1. Standard resolution is also described as 50% faster and 25% cheaper, while V8.1 full-quality 1K is said to be faster than V7 draft mode. 🧩 Some community-favorite features are also back. Image prompts and even image weights return in V8.1, a new Prompt Shortener kicks in whenever prompts exceed the limit, and Describe has been updated to produce longer, more detailed prompts that better match the V8 prompting style. 🛠️ Midjourney also makes clear that the entire V8 series is still only available on alpha.midjourney.com and remains in early testing. The team says V8.0 will likely be decommissioned after a few weeks of overlap with V8.1, and it already hints at what comes next: V8 upscalers, followed by upgrades to edit, inpainting, and outpainting. 🧠 Personally, the most interesting part is not only the feature list. It is the speed of the reaction. When a major release is followed this quickly by a V8.1 update focused on “familiar aesthetics,” higher stability, and the return of beloved features, it is hard not to read it as at least partly a move to course-correct. That is not an official confirmation, but the timing and the nature of the fixes strongly suggest it. 📱 Want AI updates on WhatsApp? DM me “AI” and I’ll send you access. 🔔 Follow me for the last AI updates! #AInews #Midjourney #MidjourneyV81 #AIimages #GenerativeAI

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Last year melin came to us with a question: How can we use motion and 3D to elevate the brand and tell a deeper product story? After a few creative sessions (some very focused, some involving conversations about Tony Stark's workshop), we landed on a structure-led, product-first brand film. This wasn’t about hype. It was about clarity, rhythm, and showing what makes Melin’s design philosophy tick. We built the story around the Odyssey, their flagship hat, and the three pillars that define the brand: materials, innovation, and obsessive attention to detail. The result? A piece that moves like the product feels: deliberate, layered, and quietly confident. According to Melin’s performance team, it’s their best-performing 30-second spot to date. 34% stronger CPA than their previous top performer, and a solid foundation for future creative. This one was a joy. Huge thanks to Kevin Lorber and Andrew Stull at Melin for the trust and creative runway. Shout out to Jarrod Allen for leading the creative with intent (and crushing!) and to Aaron Graham for elevating the sound with texture and breath. - We’ll be sharing more soon, how we structured the story, why we think in systems, and how motion can carry meaning without ever raising its voice. #MotionDesign #BrandStorytelling #CreativeDirection #DesignForBrands #VisualIdentity #Productfilm #Brandfilm #Visualstorytelling

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❌ RIP Hollywood There’s a lot of headline-chasing right now: “AI replaces artists,” “RIP Hollywood,” hype about the end of creativity as we know it. But anyone who’s actually 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 this work knows the truth: it takes artistry, skill, and a ton of craft to bring these worlds to life. In some cases, we're even hiring more artists now than we would have in the past! I talked about this with Hannah Elsakr of Adobe and Dave Clark of Promise at Artist and the Machine's Venice NeueHouse event this summer. At Native Foreign with 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙯, we’re showing that AI is not a magic button. It’s a tool. And like any tool, its power comes from the hands that wield it. Our mission is to empower artists on this journey, not sideline them. That means: - celebrating the human imagination at the core of every frame - designing workflows where tech supports, not replaces - protecting space for craft, play, and experimentation AI can unlock new possibilities, but it’s the artists who give it soul. Here’s to balancing innovation with integrity 🎨✨

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Here's another tutorial for y'all. "In traffic Time Lapse." https://lnkd.in/ggDcQB5E - PROMPT FOR SUIT IN STREET Cinematic overhead shot of a man standing still on a crosswalk, wearing a black trendy fitted suit, with a white button up shirt, and black and white nike panda dunks. Motion-blurred crowd rushes past around him. Moody city lighting, 35mm film aesthetic, shallow depth of field, sharp focus on his portrait, artistic and timeless street photography style. The man's exact facial features, skin tone, and expression are preserved from the original selfie provided. There are many people in the background. https://higgsfield.ai/ - PROMPT FOR TIMELAPSE Camera locked and focused on the subject, face sharp and steady. Slight natural movement on the subject’s dress and jacket caused by passing crowd and vehicles. Fast blurry motion of people walking in different directions, vehicle light streaks rushing by, vibrant city energy. Subject remains clear and still while the surroundings emphasize speed and motion blur.

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