Prime Day Box World — Ryan Schmidt

Why not make it out of cardboard?

The biggest sales event in the world deserved a world of its own—so we built it entirely out of cardboard. Literally.

If we wanted something to look like cardboard, act like cardboard, and carry the same playful magic that cardboard does, why not actually make it that way? The result was a fully realized Prime Day world that prompted a genuine reaction from viewers: “Wait… is this real?”

I led a creative team of designers, copywriters, and a large production crew—including fabricators and stop-motion artists—to bring the environment to life across channels.

A parade of new faces

To scale the cardboard world across onsite, social, OOH, and brand touchpoints, we needed a full cast of characters.

I began by sketching each character by hand, adding small details to give them personality and narrative weight. Those sketches were translated into 3D models that served as blueprints for physical builds. Once constructed, each model was posed, lit, and photographed—creating a rich, tactile asset library.

It’s not the fastest way to create assets—but it might be the most joyful.