[EP 1]: Dawn of Vigilance
[EP 2]: Smoke & Mirrors
[EP 3]: Outbreak Unraveled
[EP 4]: Lurking Lead
[SYSTEM SPECS]
CLIENT: COOK COUNTY DEPT. OF PUBLIC HEALTH (CHICAGO)
ROLE: CREATIVE DIRECTOR + LEAD WRITER
OUTPUT: ANIMATED IP // CAMPAIGN UNIVERSE
STATUS: 65M+ IMPRESSIONS // +17.6 LIFT
SUPERHEROES FOR THE EVERYDAY. re-engineering government messaging into a comic book mythology.
[THE.BRIEF] public health had a communication failure. technical jargon and institutional tone created a cultural disconnect. the objective: reimagine how a government body connects with a skeptical audience. move the format from "PSA announcement" to "narrative universe."
[THE.INSIGHT] apathy is the real contagion. the public viewed the agency as invisible bureaucracy—or worse, an obstacle. data was being ignored; mandates were being tuned out. to rebuild trust, we had to elevate the messenger. by reframing real-world health workers as protagonists in a graphic novel universe, we turned invisible labor into visible heroism.
[THE.SYSTEM] lore // animation // scale. a comic-inspired universe where health principles became characters. partnership: collaborated with marvel-affiliated 5Rings Studios to produce a visual world equal parts saturday morning cartoon and cdc crash course.
[EXECUTION.LOG] + narrative: wrote scripts, developed character lore, and built multi-episode arcs battling misinformation and addiction. + direction: led storytelling alignment between internal government teams and animation production. + design: defined the visual language—logo, episode branding, and hero/villain design cues. + deployment: optimized social cutdowns for TikTok, CTV/OTT, and Programmatic OOH.
[COMMUNITY.SIGNAL] measurable behavioral shift. the initiative turned an invisible government acronym into a living brand universe. > +17.6 point lift in brand awareness. > 98% video completion rate (VCR) on OTT placements. > 65M+ total campaign impressions on a $330k spend. > best-performing creative across all channels (TikTok "TB" Episode).
[CLOSING.CODE] policy became mythology. public health became pop culture.