Adidas D Rose Campaign Direction
Disciplines
Campaign
Visual Design
Art Direction
Design Systems
For the love of the game
For the D Rose 9, Adidas came to Roundhouse looking for a full campaign direction and toolkit. The campaign needed to celebrate Rose's 10th anniversary with the brand, enhance Adidas's position as the creator brand, and generate heat in the basketball category — specifically in China.
The brief included a strong visual direction that needed to be executed and translated to a full campaign toolkit: layered design files, photography, texture elements, and examples of how to bring the system to life in retail environments.
The creative strategy centered on Rose's dedication to the game — a North Star we referenced throughout the process: "For the love of the game."
The Concept: Raw Remixed
Our team developed a system around “Raw-Remixed” — a filter that celebrates Rose's tenacious work ethic and his ability to reinvent himself for the game he loves. The style creates juxtaposition between gritty details (representing the challenges of his career) and the polished, premium details (nodding to its highs). The copy direction is confident and resilient, tracking Rose's determination to adapt and evolve as a player.
The execution: handmade elements, distressed surfaces, patterns and clean product photography
Many athlete-led stories come with a challenge: no access to a dedicated photoshoot with the talent. This one was no different. As a solve, we paired close-up portraits of Rose with retouched action imagery and kneedown on-model photography we shot in-house on an outdoor court in Portland.
We layered in torn and gritty textures, hand-written typography, cut-up and photocopied patterns from the footwear and sleek silver textures alongside clean product photography.
Our team supplied retouched on-model and product photography, patterns, colors, typography, and visual guidelines for vendors to produce retail displays and social assets based on the client's initial mood board.
Team credits:
Creative Director: Mitch Morse
Art Directors: Ladd Arundel, Emily Tate
Designer: Chris Ruppelt
3D Design: Brian Eyler
Photographers: Dave Coy, Brendan Coughlin