Documentaries
Art Direction
Branding & Package design
Beneath the Horizon examines the consequences of two major oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf and the lesser known 1979 Ixtoc oil spill in the southern Gulf. By featuring scientists who have devoted their lives to studying the spills and residents who lived through them, we explore how the environment and people cope with disaster and what we can expect for recovery in the future.
A collaborative project with filmmaker & photographer Jake Price and the C-IMAGE Consortium
Beneath the Horizon is funded by the C-IMAGE Consortium and The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative
Beneath the Horizon examines the consequences of two major oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf and the lesser known 1979 Ixtoc oil spill in the southern Gulf. By featuring scientists who have devoted their lives to studying the spills and residents who lived through them, we explore how the environment and people cope with disaster and what we can expect for recovery in the future.
A collaborative project with filmmaker & photographer Jake Price
The brief was to visually reimagine the Target Weddings tag line- "Be Yourself, Together" and create a style guide for the wedding registry. The process of re branding started with looking at possible visual ideas to convey the concepts of interconnectedness and individuality. The idea of a two string knot merged with the letterform W was translated visually into a graphic icon and then extended into branding elements, logo and environmental graphics.
Brief: Create a new art direction and digital style guide for Walmart to work across online advertising and other digital properties. The challenge here was to create a style guide that was digital friendly & that takes the Walmart brand style forward yet keeping it consistent with the brand guidelines. The execution creates a visual language born from the classic spark logo and the playful use of triangle and gradients. The visual treatment extends this idea into brand elements, iconography, backgrounds, UI elements, product carousels and motion design.
Three cameras, three photographers, three locations during the course of a day. Key challenge in this project was to design a UI thats minimal & helps to tell the story, working also as a virtual timeline. The site was designed to be viewed on a large screen, letting the photos shine, while leading one deeper into the experience of each. Visitors were given technical details about each shot, the Nikon camera that captured it, a look behind-the-scenes, audio clips from the photographer and ultimately, the inspiration for users to try it themselves. Featuring images by Corey Rich, Taylor Glenn, Troy House
The Invisible Season is a follow up to the Unknown Spring Project, an online anthology that chronicles a community's efforts to overcome the tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011. 5 years in the making, through interactive maps, survivor interviews, videos, and audio slideshows, this project provides a portrait of Yuriage & its residents as they try to move past their traumas and continue on with life.
The key challenge to this project was to create a data layer over a custom Google Map displaying the spread of radiation fallout from the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown within the context of the characters in the documentary. The data was sourced from Safecast.org (an open source raditiation data hub).
A collaborative project with filmmaker & photographer Jake Price
Funded by PBS-POV.org and Kickstarter. Screenings at: NY Film Fest. World Photo Press Fest. Filmgate Interactive Miami.
Check out the site Screening at NY Film Fest Interview at Kino-Eye POV Interactive ShortsUnknown Spring is an online anthology that chronicles a community's efforts to overcome the tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011. Through interactive maps, survivor interviews, videos, and audio slideshows, this project provides a portrait of Yuriage & its residents as they try to move past their traumas and continue on with life. A collaborative project with filmmaker & photographer Jake Price
Funded by PBS-POV.org and Kickstarter. Screenings at: NY Film Fest. World Photo Press Fest. Filmgate Interactive Miami.
View 83 is a video collaboration between the band Heavy Birds and video artist Visakh Menon. Conceptually the video centers on the transformation & distortion of landscapes as seen in nature and those created via the digital realm. The viewing & recording of these landscapes through optical devices and screens, produces spatial and temporal distortions in light and perspective so as challenging our perception, memory and experience of the moments we witness in them. Visually the video is multi-layered non narrative journey across various national parks of America intermixed with motion graphics and sound reactive digital landscapes produced generatively with Processing Code. Heavy Birds approached the music from various aspects or "views", concerning modern day recording. The initial step was recording organic instruments, including cello, guitar, organ, and drum, live, onto an Analog tape machine. The music was then mixed and reversed by utilizing Protools with another engineer. Finally, after a "thrown-out" version of a cassette transfer, the final track was re-mixed in Garageband, where a slight digital drum machine was added to aid the video visuals.
View 83 is a video collaboration between the band Heavy Birds and video artist Visakh Menon. Conceptually the video centers on the transformation & distortion of landscapes as seen in nature and those created via the digital realm. The viewing & recording of these landscapes through optical devices and screens, produces spatial and temporal distortions in light and perspective so as challenging our perception, memory and experience of the moments we witness in them.
Screen Share Project is a digital platform that was at the center of the proposed advertising campaign for the launch of HPs' new line of high performance laptops. Aimed at creatives and content producers, this web application was created to give a platform for remote collaborations and crowd sourced productions, working as a mix between dribble, basecamp and github.
Based in NYC, Visakh Menon is a creative director, and graphic designer with over 17 years of experience creating integrated communication, branding, and interactive experiences for leading global brands.
Having received his MFA in Graphic Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2007, Visakh applies his expertise in interaction design, branding, data visualization & Art direction, working with global brands, educational institutions & startups. He designed and developed the webby nominated and World Press Photo awarded Unknown Spring, an immersive digital doc that focused on Fukushima residents in the aftermath of Japan’s nuclear disaster. He has been deeply involved in tech-based interactive design and has extensive experience working with content management systems, building prototypes & managing tech teams.
When he’s not busy working for his clients, Visakh freelances for ad agencies across the country, is an Adjunct Lecturer at CUNY New York City College of Technology, and creates art work spanning video, drawing, and media arts at his studio in Queens.
Born 1980, Cochin, India
TEVA, BOSE, Target, Nikon USA, Verizon FIOS, Walmart, UPS, Microsoft, Orange Telecom, Old Navy, New Republic Magazine, Coca Cola, General Electric, Advil, NFL, Aveeno, Applegate Farms, Exxon Mobil, AXE, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Charles Schwab, MRM Worldwide, Martin Agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Tribal DDB, Atmosphere BBDO, Ogilvy Interactive, Publicis Modem, Razorfish, Euro RSCG, Rapp worldwide, Renegade, DFlash NYC, Amanyara villas
