After more than twenty years in advertising sales, marketing, and promotion for the likes of Turner Broadcasting, UPN, and Fox Sports West, Bonnie Stone decided her career needed a creative makeover.

So three years ago, Stone said goodbye to the world of ad sales and launched LA-based Butter Studios (tag line: “Butter makes everything better.”)

“While some might say that it’s a big switch from ad sales and management into creative, I felt that given my background working within networks—particularly my years working with promotional teams, brands, and agencies–that that sensitivity, knowledge, and expertise would work well on the creative side,” Stone said.

She teamed up with Emmy Award-winner Kory Jones who had spent 13 years at Reality Check Studios, helping a Who’s Who of television sports brands from Fox Sports to ESPN, to CBS Sports, to NFL Networks, realize the power of real-time 3D graphics in their broadcasts.

Jones signed on as Creative Director and Executive Producer at Butter, and along with Creative Director David Dozoretz, the trio have built a company that specializes in original design and animation for on-air promos and show packages.

In addition to their LA-based team, last year Butter partnered with Australian firm Girraphic for VizRT work, which allows them to embed real-time 3D graphics and visualizations into their work.

Through Jones’ work teaching at Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles, Butter is also able to tap a large pool of designers and animators for a growing list of clients that includes pivot, Disney, Fox Sports One, and DirecTV.

For pivot, the two year-old channel targeting millennial viewers, Butter has designed a number of promo packages, including ones timed to Earth Day and Pride Month last year.

“We used different elements of nature on a macro level so it becomes more textural,” Jones said. “I think the thing we really liked about this—in addition to the more formal geometric shapes—[was that] we added the yellow circles. We felt that humanized the look and made it feel like someone was there circling things and defining what’s important.”

Butter incorporated short-form storytelling into their packages through brief anecdotes dubbed “random acts of awesome.”

“it’s a really good example of matching the right design with the right client,” Jones said. “My personal style is much more 3D, but I think this shows off that we don’t have to do 3D to do good work. It’s about good timing, and the emotion you can create with 2D shapes.”

Butter also created the complete show package for Fox Sports 1’s The Jones & Moseley Show, including art direction, animation, design, and VixRT work. The goal was a modern take on the Wide World of Sports, with a very organic and textural feel.

Butter also worked with Disney to help celebrate the holidays last year, with a 2014 holiday promo package that integrated animation into live-action spots featuring Disney talent:

“For us, everything really comes together when we partner with our clients,” Stone said. “When you’re partnered with a client, you come to understand what their needs and internal challenges are. That partner relationship enables both sides to come together to make something magical or special. As we grow and continue to expand, it’s our goal to be that partner. A lot of studios have talent. When you can bring good talent with that partner attitude—that’s really what Butter is about.”

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