XERO - JAX

Running a business is a hustle—enter JAX, Xero's AI assistant. This teaser video offers a glimpse into the future of work with Xero AI, highlighting its benefits for small businesses through exciting motion graphic elements and .

CLIENT - XERO
ROLES - Graphic & Motion Designer
TOOLS - Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator / After Effects

CREDITS

Agency - Fellow Humans Create
Art Director - Travis Cowdy
Producer - Cynthia Goulart

Production/VFX/Online - Tantrum Studios
Creative Director - Dominik Bochenski
Graphic Designer - Hayoung Na
Producer - Rebecca MacKillop
Video Editor - Mitch Finn
Compositor - Bala D.

(ABOVE & BELOW) - Stills taken from teaser footage.

The Brief

01

Xero wanted an engaging video to introduce JAX, their all-in-one AI assistant that streamlines tasks, delivers smarter insights, and helps small business owners focus on what they love, while elevating their accountants to new heights. The storyline follows three business owners—a florist, content creator, and construction worker—each receiving game-changing support from JAX in their daily tasks.

Tantrum Studios took the lead on both filming and post-production for this project, building the hype for JAX ahead of its big conference debut. As the designer, I was involved in every step of the creative process, crafting an exciting video that seamlessly integrated animated chat bubbles and UI elements with live footage.

Chat Bubbles

02

A key element throughout this teaser video was the use of chat bubbles containing messages between the AI assistant JAX and the user. To establish a distinctive visual language, I drew inspiration from the sleek, futuristic aesthetics commonly seen in technology-driven videos.

The text bubbles feature a frosted glass effect, gently blurring the background to ensure the messages remain crisp and legible. To further differentiate the two speakers, I introduced visual indicators: messages from JAX are highlighted with an animated cyan-blue outline that subtly glows, while the user's messages are framed with a simple white outline.

When the chat bubbles are in motion, I animated them to float upwards, with each message being typed out in real time. This upward-floating animation ensures the messages enter the scene seamlessly, adding a dynamic touch. The typing animation of the text itself helps capture the viewer's attention, ensuring the message content is clear and easy to read, without being overshadowed by the live footage beneath.

Ux/Ui Motion

03

In addition to the text bubbles, I also led the design of supplementary motion graphic elements, some of which were integrated into screens via VFX. These UI elements were crafted to align with the same design language as the text bubbles, ensuring visual consistency across the project, while being utilized in varied ways to add dynamic interest throughout the spot. Below are a few examples of these different animations.

OPENING

FLORIST - QUOTE

CONTRACTOR - EMAIL

FLORIST - INVOICE

CONTENT CREATOR - PHONE

FLORIST - VIDEO CALL

UI VARIATION

Style Frames

04

At the early stages of the project, the creative direction for the video teaser was quite different. Animated supers played a central role in the initial concept, emphasizing key words to maintain the audience's engagement from start to finish. Using a rough Voice Over (VO) script, I developed style frames and crafted a visual language inspired by "Grids"—a dynamic, linear movement style that introduces a modern, energetic feel to the supers. This grid theme was a key factor in Xero's decision to choose our studio for the project. Below, I’ve included some early motion explorations that showcase how the final product has evolved creatively.

(BELOW) - Style Frame examples

(BELOW) - Motion explorations using preliminary audio.

Storyboards

05

As part of the preliminary creative process, I also contributed to the live-action segment of the project by developing storyboards. These storyboards helped establish rough compositions for each of the three storylines, providing a visual guide that streamlined the filming process on set.

FLORIST