Disney’s “RUBY ROCK”
Music Video - Graphic Design, Graphic Art
Having been a Disney kid growing up in the 1990’s, designing for a Disney Channel music video was a full-circle opportunity. The objective was to outfit both the exterior and interior of an ice cream truck that would bring Ruby into the space and remain a prominent focal point throughout the video. It had to be bright, fun, and very colorful to match Ruby’s personality.
As soon as I heard “bright, fun, and very colorful” I flashed back several months to an opening night gallery show I’d attended in Downtown Los Angeles from Australian artist Tanya Schultz, a.k.a. Pip & Pop. Her art consisted of mountains upon mountains of carefully placed and designed patterns of pastel sugar, glitter, and candy.
Bingo – I had my color palette.
From Pip & Pop’s influence I turned my attention to the Kawaii visual style. Kawaii is colorful, bright, cartoonish, and most importantly, fun. I liked the idea of fusing these bright, exciting colors and Kawaii style with the vintage patterns and designs of old school food and ice cream trucks.
However I knew that Ruby herself had to stay the center of attention – the ice cream truck was simply an extension of her energy. So rather than add new visual elements or Kawaii characters to the truck, I landed on the idea to enhance an existing character instead: the truck itself. Why not turn the ice cream truck into a giant ice cream, with a waffle design at the bottom, swirly ice-cream at the top, and sprinkles/toppings throughout?
Initial Ideas
includes a “Candy Land” themed truck that draws from the landscape design of Pip & Pop (bottom left)
The Final Design
Seeing the final design in person, and then in the music video itself, was very rewarding; it fit perfectly within the context of the video. A few months later I went home and stopped by my mother’s 4th grade class, and her students had all watched the video, in class, on the projector screen. Their uproarious enthusiasm for the ice cream truck, all while demonstrating dance moves from the video, cemented in my mind that I’d done my job well.