BMW
Creative direction. Premium automotive storytelling. Content at scale.
Creative direction and production oversight for BMW’s 2025 US vehicle range, combining photorealistic 3D imagery, cinematic motion and environmental art direction with an Unreal Engine, Figma and Celtra workflow. I shaped the creative brief, directed visual development and oversaw delivery across vehicle models, campaign treatments and advertising formats.
CREATIVE DIRECTION & CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT
One vehicle range. Distinctive visual stories. A consistent BMW identity.
My role began with the creative brief: helping define which vehicles to feature, the shots required, the environments and visual treatments, the messaging and the advertising formats needed across the campaign.
The creative approach needed to reflect the character of each vehicle rather than apply the same visual treatment to the entire range. Contemporary architectural settings suited the design and technology of electric models, while sweeping roads, open countryside and more expansive landscapes gave touring cars and larger SUVs the space and context to communicate their character. Luxury and performance models required their own considered visual treatment, with composition, lighting and camera perspective bringing the vehicle design to the forefront.
I worked directly with stakeholders throughout the campaign, helping shape the brief, presenting creative development, explaining visual decisions and guiding feedback into clear, actionable refinements. I connected stakeholder expectations with the work of multidisciplinary teams across 3D, motion, design and production, maintaining creative alignment through each review cycle and driving the work towards final approval.
VISUAL DIRECTION & CINEMATIC STORYTELLING
Premium imagery shaped by environment, composition and light.
The visual direction extended beyond placing vehicles in attractive settings. Each environment needed to complement the car, establish a distinct mood and create a coherent visual story across the campaign.
Architectural environments brought structure, precision and contemporary design to the imagery. Dramatic coastal landscapes introduced a sense of scale, freedom and movement, with sweeping ocean roads creating a natural setting for the vehicles in motion. Atmospheric interiors, including twilight-lit digital cockpits, brought attention to the driving experience and the relationship between the vehicle’s exterior design and its technology.
Lighting was central to the visual approach. Reflections, highlights, shadows and changes in ambient light helped define the vehicles’ sculpted surfaces, emphasise their proportions and create depth. The balance between the vehicle, its surroundings and the available light was carefully considered to maintain a premium, cinematic finish.
Motion added another layer to the storytelling. Low tracking angles gave the vehicles a stronger sense of road presence, sweeping camera movements followed the contours of the road, and elevated perspectives revealed the relationship between the car and its environment. Camera framing, movement, reflections and changing light all contributed to the final visual impact.
I worked with the 3D and production teams to review imagery and sequences, assess how each vehicle was presented, and guide refinements to composition, camera angles, lighting and movement. This included reviewing day-to-night time-lapse treatments, where the changing environment became part of the visual story rather than simply a backdrop.
The aim was to create imagery that felt distinctive to each vehicle while maintaining a recognisable and consistent BMW campaign aesthetic.
CREATIVE WORKFLOW & AUTOMATION
Real-time 3D. Modular design. Creative at scale.
The campaign brought together three connected parts of the workflow: Unreal Engine for vehicle imagery and visual development, Figma for design and template layouts, and Celtra for creative automation and adaptation.
My responsibility was to oversee the creative work across these stages, making sure that the original visual direction translated effectively into the final advertising assets. This meant connecting the creative brief with the practical requirements of 3D production, design templates and automated delivery — while maintaining oversight of the work throughout.
UNREAL ENGINE — VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
I defined the creative requirements for vehicle imagery, environments, lighting and camera sequences, including how each model should be presented and how the visual treatment should support its character. Working with the 3D team, I reviewed the developing imagery and sequences, providing direction and feedback to bring the work closer to the intended creative vision.
FIGMA — DESIGN & TEMPLATES
I oversaw the design and layout of modular templates, ensuring that vehicle imagery, typography, copy and brand elements worked together consistently across advertising formats. The layouts needed to accommodate different proportions and placements without losing the integrity of the art direction or the clarity of the message.
CELTRA — CREATIVE AUTOMATION
Working with technical and production specialists, I oversaw the creative logic and template implementation used to adapt the campaign across its required formats. My focus was on ensuring that automated outputs retained the intended composition, hierarchy, imagery and brand consistency, rather than allowing the mechanics of adaptation to dictate the creative.
Across the workflow, I coordinated stakeholder reviews, presented development cycles, gathered feedback and guided revisions. I maintained creative oversight from the initial brief through visual development, template design and adaptation to final sign-off.
The technology enabled the campaign to extend across a broad vehicle range and multiple formats. Creative direction remained the connecting thread, ensuring that efficiency and consistency supported the work rather than compromising its visual quality.
THE DELIVERABLES | CREATIVE AT SCALE
18 models. Three visual treatments. Eight advertising formats.
The project covered BMW’s 2025 US vehicle range, spanning a diverse mix of models: X1, X2, X3 and X5 SUVs; 3 and 5 Series sedans; electric models including the i4, i5, i7 and iX; alongside luxury and high-performance M models.
Each vehicle needed to sit within a coherent campaign system while retaining a visual treatment appropriate to its design and character. Three environmental and time-of-day treatments provided distinct creative variations across the range, creating 54 vehicle-and-environment configurations from the 18 models.
These configurations were adapted across eight advertising formats for use across digital advertising, websites, social, outdoor and retail placements. This represented a baseline scope of 432 master deliverables, bringing together the visual development, art direction, modular design and creative adaptation required for the campaign.
The result was a connected creative approach across a complex automotive range: premium imagery and cinematic storytelling, supported by a structured workflow that helped maintain consistency across models, treatments and formats.
My contribution spanned creative briefing, art direction, visual development, motion review, design oversight, stakeholder collaboration and final creative approval — ensuring that the campaign’s creative intent carried through from the initial brief to the finished assets.
