Droga5 London works with Loulou João, Yonk, and more to visualise a reader’s thoughts for Amazon Books

Droga5 London are behind a new campaign from Amazon Books: That Reading Feeling Awaits. Aiming to map out the internal thoughts readers experience during a book, and a variety of book genres, the project features the work of over 20 artists and illustrators, including Yonk and Dan Woodger.

The campaign launch follows a month of criticism towards Amazon for its book sales. On June 29, The New York Times reported that Amazon bowed to pressure from the United Arab Emirates, restricting sales of LGBTQIA+ products, including books. The same month, Amazon employees protested the sale of anti-trans books at Seattle’s Pride, as conversations surrounding hate speech in Amazon’s titles continues.

That Reading Feeling Awaits will run predominantly as an online video campaign (comprising six videos), supported by social, OOH and a 3D special build at Penn Station. In a release from Droga5, the creative agency explains the films titled “That Reading Feeling, Awe, Love, Fear, Loss [and] Calm heroes the unique relationship that each reader has with the book they’re engrossed in.”

These six films flip the perspective from the reader to the pages themselves, showing “the world of the book come to life where they are” via animation, featuring the work of PrettyBird, Virtual Films, Black Kite Studios, Future Power Station, Jimmy Grimes Puppetry, Isabel Garrett, Stopmo and Studio Aka. The social and OOH assets begin with simple photography of readers behind books. However, these assets are quickly transformed with graphics showcasing a reader’s inner monologue. Much of these additions are typographic and wide-ranging, reflecting the roster of artists Droga5 worked with on the project.

Artists working on social and OOH assets include: Anton Hjertstedt, Sam Lyon, Fantasista Utamaro, Joseph Mehuish, Alex Valentina, Thomas Burden, Yonk, Mat Voyce, Patrick Savile, Nick Kempton, Jordan Harrison, Eva Munnich, Romain Braccini, Jae Yeon Kim, Loulou João, Studio Private, Dan Woodger, and Electric Theatre Collective (ETC) – make sure to check out Loulou João, Sam Lyon, Yonk and ETC’s brilliant recent work in our previous interviews with the artists.

According to the Droga5 release, each artist was briefed with only the book genre and the specific word or illustration to visualise, “leading to a rich combination of styles which mirrors the multifaceted and idiosyncratic nature of reading”.

The campaign concludes with an ongoing social challenge, encouraging readers to post their favourite book using animated stickers created by the campaign artists, which are currently available through Amazon’s social channels.