Discord Cannes Debut
Discord revealed their Orbs feature at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity with a super fun beachside event featuring Anderson .Paak (DJ Pee .Wee).
As the creative director of the Heist I had the chance to create this amazing a five-minute looping background animation inspired by three game worlds; industrial, cozy, and medieval.
The (then) new feature ORBS was the star of the show.
So we used the orbs as part of the “game” we designed. We used them as portals to transition to the other style which helped us loop the video perfectly.
We had so much fun creating these environments per style. There was such little amount of time and so much to render but it never was dull. And the end result looked brand perfect, fun, magical and hypnotic.
For the Cozy Game, we pulled from the comfort games we love — Animal Crossing, Clash of Clans, Minecraft, FarmVille. Soft corners, bright colors, bouncy animations. Warm, inviting, easy to sit in.
For the Medieval world, we looked at World of Warcraft, Diablo, and League of Legends. Darker, magical, a little mysterious. Built to feel immersive.
And for the FPS-inspired environment, we referenced Call of Duty, Valorant, and Counter-Strike. Industrial textures, concrete, exposed metal, neon accents. Tense and competitive — but still stylized enough to live in our universe.
Initial Explorations
We first explored a beach theme since the event was happening on the beach in Cannes. The goal was to make it feel like Discord, but also very specific to the location and moment.
Later on, the decision was made to lean more into gaming. That shift changed the direction of the creative, and we pivoted into the final version.
