“A year ago I got a call from Nintendo, as absurd as it was pleasant. They asked me to draw some islands of Animal Crossing “: to say it, with a hint of disbelief in her voice, is Alessia Utzeri, aka AzalinaJpg or simply Aza, a young graphic designer and creator from Milan who has found a singular profession through video games. Azalina, strong of almost 150 thousand followers on the Twitch platform, is the first Italian to have created islands for commercial realities such as Gq Italia and Avvera, shaping the colorful imagery of the Nintendo title. It is an advertising practice, a different way of communicating to an audience refractory to traditional messages, which overseas has seen successful operations such as that of Gillette or the campaign staff of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
After a short career as a video game designer, Azalina worked as a Ui-Ux designer, but she was neither happy nor satisfied: “I had no more time to play and cultivate my passions, so I opened a Twitch channel, where I forced myself to be present at specific times. The live streaming allowed me to meet people who like me love video games that are often snubbed because they are considered for a female audience “.
A career born on Twitch
Su Twitch e Instagram, Azalina talks about her days and what she thinks and the dialogue between her and the public is the basis of her use of social networks: “I like to bring live games that I feel mine and I want to show to my community, also telling the memories of the first time I played them. In addition to chattering, I played a lot of Animal Crossing, making my personal and Prismatic island, that one built together with the community in a 9 day live marathon“.
Aza is very proud of her audience: “She gathers different types of people with whom you can also talk about feminism, politics, queer issues and pop culture. I love to think that on the other side of the screen there could be anyone, of any gender, age, culture or sexual orientation “. A no longer niche audience that has replaced the television screen with other channels, used to interacting, light years away from the traditional advertising language, as Azalina told us: “Video games are an incredible medium for communicating, unlike video. or an image, they are interactive, so you can create a small experience to talk directly with the players. “
Those islands born in video games
Making an island of Animal Crossing it gives a brand the opportunity to tell about itself in a new way, Aza explained to us: “In a period like that of the pandemic, it can allow a person to visit a place and get in touch with the values of a brand”. To communicate effectively within video games, however, you need to know that language thoroughly: “Gamers are mysterious lovers, they love video games and grow up with them, applying a brand t-shirt to Nathan Drake’s chest will not put the your brand “, because” as much as it gives them visibility, it is very difficult for a gamer to love seeing their iconic designs ruined by an advertisement “. Therefore, “the only way not to break the balance is to respect it, know it and remember that we play to imagine different worlds and dynamics from everyday life, so being creative and telling a story is the only way”.
Gucci launches sneakers at 12.99 euros, but the special offer is only virtual
Bruno Ruffilli
The history of the islands in video games starts a long time ago: at the beginning of the 2000s they were up Second Life and they belonged to brands like Adidas and American Apparel or bands like Duran Duran. Today the cyclone arrived Fortnite and the Marshmello concert to speak to Generation Z, while Louis Vuitton signs capsule collections for League of Legends e Animal Crossing New Horizons, with over 31 million copies sold, is ready for the Uniqlo shelves with a new collection of t-shirts, bags and tote bags. Because more and more the dimension of the videogame and reality merge and confuse, paving the way for new languages and new professional figures. As AzalinaJpg knows well.
.