As an award-winning tech journalist for InformationWeek magazine, Jeff Sweat quickly moved to the marketing industry. He led the content marketing team for Yahoo!, directed PR for agencies Deutsch LA and 72andSunny, and now he runs his own PR and marketing agency, Mister Sweat. Above all that, he has a huge passion for writing and he does it “even when there’s not a desk.”

Just like the rest of us, the writer is constantly looking for progress. But what happens when things around turn against you? What if everything is forced to stop at a specific moment in time? The answers lie in Mr. Sweat’s futuristic thriller “Mayfly.” Within the novel, the author succeeds to awaken readers’ most chaotic emotions: from rage and desperation to what-ifs situations, the story will horrify you but it will probably become an obsession for you, making you not take your eyes off it.

But is it really that “WOW?” It is. And now you can admire it in a series of GIFs Mr. Sweat developed in partnership with GIPHY Studios.

So, book and GIFs? What kind of sorcery is this? Don’t you worry, there’s no witchcraft involved, we promise. Brands use GIFs to promote their products all the time, so why not try using them to speak about books? As a world first, GIPHY Studios created a series of these animated images to describe both the post-apocalyptic plot of the Mayfly novel and evoke different feelings amongst readers, who would want to share them with friends on social platforms.

Mayfly presents a dystopian future, one in which no human being lives past the age of 17. In such circumstances, kids have to mature very quickly and also become parents sooner than expected. The scenario that shows the gradual extinction of humankind convinced Samantha Scharff, former CEO of GIPHY Studios and current creative advisor to the company, to create these visuals that capture not only the readers’ reactions but also the book’s key themes.

“We’ve always wanted the challenge of promoting a work of fiction, but hadn’t found the right project,” says Scharff. “Mayfly provided a great visual backdrop to work with and an opportunity to create original creative for the young adult reading community to use and share,” she explains GIPHY’s interest in the novel.

The reaction GIFs spin around emotional response book enthusiasts get while reading the book. The lighting is synonymous with the mist that shrouds Mayfly’s world in mystery, whilst the colors borrow shades used to dress the book’s cover.

As for the other series of GIFs and stickers, GIPHY conceived a post-apocalyptic QVC channel where different ruined objects get to be presented by a well-manicured hand. And if the studio’s and Mr. Sweat’s favorite is a GIF in which a hatchet is used to sharpen sticks and spread butter on toast, we prefer the one with the birthday cake with only 16 candles.

What started as an informal conversation between Sweat and Scharff at a cocktail party a year ago is now a reality. The collaboration is now live at GIPHY.com/Mayfly and the GIFs can be used on any platform that supports GIPHY like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or Slack. If you love GIFS, definitely check them out.

Mr. Sweat said in an email to branding.news that some of the GIFs are on trending on GIPHY. “The “WOW” one has had more than a million views.” What’s even better is that Mayfly GIFs have a total of 37.3 million views as of now. Wow, indeed!

Credits:

Client: Mister Sweat
Author: Jeff Sweat
Agency: GIPHY, Inc.
Advisor to GIPHY and Former CEO of GIPHY Studios: Samantha Scharff
Head of Studios: Sadie Novello
Creative Director: Henry Agyekum
Art Director: Parker Jackson, Natalie James, Josh Freydkis, Nicky Rojo
Executive Producer: Ben Loescher
Producer: Stephanie Weber
Head of Audience: Simon Gibson
Content Partnerships: Becky Dole
Photography: Chris Vavra
Editors: Leroy Patterson, Natalie James