From Sound to Story: Designing Buray's Instagram Teaser Campaign
CLIENT: BURAY (SONYMUSIC TURKIYE)
Buray is a multi-award-winning pop artist from Istanbul, Turkey, recognized for his powerful vocals and distinctive musical style.
Case study: A Visual Symphony
Launching an album isn't just about releasing music; it's about crafting an experience. When Buray entrusted me with the visual direction for his 3rd album's Instagram Story teaser campaign, the goal was clear: build anticipation, ignite excitement, and drive pre-orders and streams.
The canvas: 12 Instagram Stories.
The challenge: Conveying the emotional depth of Buray’s music to a global audience while embracing the freedom of an open creative brief.
This case study dives into the creative process, revealing how we orchestrated a visual symphony that resonated with Buray's fans and ignited a buzz around his new music.
Decoding the Music
Discovery & Mood Board
This initial phase was all about immersing myself in Buray's new music and translating its essence into a visual language. The team generously shared the 12 new tracks from the album, allowing me to fully absorb their unique sound and emotional depth. This deep dive into the music was crucial for developing a truly resonant visual identity.
Starting with selecting a colour palette that reflected the overall tone and style of the new album, I put together a mood board to share my vision with Buray’s team. This mood board served as more than just a collection of visuals; it was a translation of the album's sonic landscape into a tangible form.
My primary inspiration for the mood board's colour palette was the evocative power of neon lights, particularly as they appear in concert settings. These lights, capable of projecting both a futuristic sheen and an ethereal, almost dreamlike quality, felt like the perfect visual complement to the music. The interplay of bright neon with the implied presence of stage smoke suggested a sense of mystery and fantasy that resonated deeply with the album's overall feel.
Because of the language barrier, I relied heavily on discussions with the team, asking clarifying questions about the lyrical themes and emotional undertones. This collaborative approach was essential to bridging the language gap and ensuring everyone was on the same page from the outset. The mood board, with its vibrant neon hues and ethereal imagery, served as our guiding star throughout the entire project.
Visualizing the Narrative
Image Selection & Curation
The next step involved strategically selecting images from Buray's latest photoshoot to visually translate the album's narrative. Rather than simply choosing aesthetically pleasing photos, I curated a collection that would collectively tell a story across the 12 teasers.
Each image was carefully considered for its emotional resonance and its contribution to the overall narrative arc. Recognizing the language barrier, I focused on visual cues – expressions, settings, lighting – to effectively convey the emotional essence of the music. The neon-inspired colour palette played a key role in image selection, prioritizing photos that could be enhanced and transformed by these vibrant hues, creating a cohesive visual language.
Crafting the Story to Life
Storyboarding, Design & Animation
With the visuals and the mood board as our foundation, I developed a content strategy for the 12-part teaser series. Each story was designed to build anticipation, revealing snippets of information about the album – song titles (which required careful attention to Turkish spelling and pronunciation), lyrics (translated with the team’s help), collaborators, themes – in a gradual and engaging way.
This is where the magic happened – using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects, I brought the storyboards to life. I incorporated typography that complemented the album's aesthetic, and subtle animations to add dynamism.
Music is at the heart of this project, so sound design was crucial. I worked closely with Buray's team to select short, impactful audio snippets from the album to incorporate into the teasers. This gave fans a taste of the music while maintaining the element of surprise.
Final artwork; 12-part Instagram teaser campaign
Reflections & Gratitude
This project highlighted the power of visual storytelling in the context of music promotion. By carefully crafting a narrative across multiple Instagram Stories, we were able to create a compelling and engaging experience for Buray's fans.
Despite the challenge of an open-ended creative brief, the collaborative approach, combined with a strong focus on visual and sonic aesthetics, including the impactful use of the neon-inspired colour palette, resulted in a highly successful campaign that achieved its objectives. It reinforced the importance of clear communication, adaptability, and the ability to translate emotions and ideas across languages and cultural contexts.
This project was more than just a campaign; it was a journey of creative exploration, collaboration ( and grit!). From navigating the nuances of language to embracing the boundless possibilities of visual storytelling, I poured my heart and soul into every aspect of this project.
And as a culmination of this incredible experience, I created a compilation video that I'm immensely proud of. Looking back, I still can't quite believe we pulled it off – a testament to the power of teamwork, artistic vision, and a shared passion for music. This campaign will forever hold a special place in my creative journey.