Tui Reel
Bringing the TUI user experience to life in a 90 second reel
Bringing the TUI user experience to life in a 90 second reel
Client
Client
TUI
Role
Role
Motion design + AI-assisted workflow
Outcomes
The reel was shown to a senior stakeholder at the end of the second week and it landed. Greenlit outright, and it led directly into a full redesign of the app. It got there without the storyboard ever being locked, under constant change and short turnarounds. Hard work, but it delivered exactly what it needed to, and a much bigger piece of work followed from it.
The reel was shown to a senior stakeholder at the end of the second week and it landed. Greenlit outright, and it led directly into a full redesign of the app. It got there without the storyboard ever being locked, under constant change and short turnarounds. Hard work, but it delivered exactly what it needed to, and a much bigger piece of work followed from it.
The Brief
was brought onto TUI for the motion design phase, the second part of the project. It came after an earlier UI design phase that hadn’t landed with the client, which is what led to the brand reset. My job was to take that new direction and turn it into a 90-second animated reel, the kind of thing you’d show senior stakeholders to sell in where the brand was heading.
was brought onto TUI for the motion design phase — the second part of the project. It came after an earlier UI design phase that hadn’t landed with the client, which is what led to the brand reset. My job was to take that new direction and turn it into a 90-second animated reel, the kind of thing you’d show senior stakeholders to sell in where the brand was heading.
The Core Challenge
Neither the storyboard nor the designs were signed off when I started. That’s not how you want to do this kind of work. You need the storyboard locked before you build. Small copy changes or swapping an asset out, fine. But when compositions keep changing, that eats into a huge amount of time. And that’s exactly the position I was in.
Neither the storyboard nor the designs were signed off when I started. That’s not how you want to do this kind of work — you need the storyboard locked before you build. Small copy changes or swapping an asset out, fine. But when compositions keep changing, that eats into a huge amount of time. And that’s exactly the position I was in.
Proving the Concept
My job was to go away and put together a rough ten-second snippet first, just to show the thinking, with a music track over it, before pushing any further. That grew to about twenty seconds, and the feedback was: "yeah, this is great, this is exactly what we wanted, carry on."
My job was to go away and put together a rough ten-second snippet first, just to show the thinking, with a music track over it, before pushing any further. That grew to about twenty seconds, and the feedback was: “yeah, this is great, this is exactly what we wanted, carry on.”
Building Under "Reel" Pressure
The plan was the first week for a rough cut, then the second week to go back and tweak timing. They were fine with that — but of course it never works out that way. The first few days were spent animating while they were still making changes and questioning everything, and the second week turned into a mad rush.
The plan was the first week for a rough cut, then the second week to go back and tweak timing. They were fine with that — but of course it never works out that way. The first few days were spent animating while they were still making changes and questioning everything, and the second week turned into a mad rush.
Where AI Fits In
I used After Effects’ AI assistant, in beta at the time, to keep pace. It handled a section that was dragging, plus the fiddly manual work, reversing keyframes, swapping assets, that would have eaten real hours by hand. With compositions still changing under me, that was time I could put back into timing, which is the part that actually decides whether a reel lands.
I used After Effects’ AI assistant, in beta at the time, to keep pace. It handled a section that was dragging, plus the fiddly manual work — reversing keyframes, swapping assets — that would have eaten real hours by hand. With compositions still changing under me, that was time I could put back into timing, which is the part that actually decides whether a reel lands.
I used After Effects' AI assistant, in beta at the time, to keep pace. It handled a section that was dragging, plus the fiddly manual work — reversing keyframes, swapping assets — that would have eaten real hours by hand. With compositions still changing under me, that was time I could put back into timing, which is the part that actually decides whether a reel lands.
The Takeaway
This was never a straightforward brief. No locked storyboard, no finished designs, a tight two-week window, and a client who kept changing their mind along the way. But that’s exactly why it worked. It proved the direction could hold up even when it was being built in real time. That’s what got it in front of a senior stakeholder, and that’s what turned this reel into a full product redesign.
This was never a straightforward brief — no locked storyboard, no finished designs, a tight two-week window, and a client who kept changing their mind along the way. But that’s exactly why it worked: it proved the direction could hold up even when it was being built in real time. That’s what got it in front of a senior stakeholder, and that’s what turned this reel into a full product redesign.
ALWAYS THINKING…ALWAYS LEARNING…ALWAYS CREATINg
ALWAYS THINKING…ALWAYS LEARNING…ALWAYS CREATINg
…SOMETHING
…SOMETHING
ALWAYS THINKING…ALWAYS LEARNING…ALWAYS CREATINg
ALWAYS THINKING…ALWAYS LEARNING…ALWAYS CREATINg
…SOMETHING
…SOMETHING