Hail the Villain - 360° Campaign
Hail The Villain "Take Back the Fear" Music Video
Hail The Villain "Runaway" Music Video
A fully interactive website for the band that encouraged exploration to discover clues to the deeper narrative we created for the campaign
The Who:
When Warner Music signed Hail the Villain, the industry was shifting—CD sales were tanking, and bands needed more than just good music to break through. Enter the Hail the Villain experience. Instead of just making videos and promo materials, we built an entire world for the band, one that spanned animation, live-action, comics, an interactive website, an app, and a fully integrated merch line. It was transmedia before the term became a buzzword, and it gave HTV a distinct identity that set them apart from the pack.
I was there from the start, working directly with the band to shape the world—both visually and narratively. Their early concept was more of an aesthetic mood than a structured story, so I helped flesh out the characters, their motivations, and the stakes. The result was Metal City, a grimy, analog, steel-town nightmare where digital technology never took hold. A place of muscle cars, cigarette smoke, dive bars, and relentless violence. I art-directed the entire campaign, co-directed the second music video, storyboarded most of the cinematics, and even wrote and designed the Hail the Villain comic book series.
The campaign rolled out in two phases. The first introduced the world through an animated music video and an award-winning interactive website—a 3D snapshot of Metal City frozen in time, where users could explore the aftermath of a murder while the band’s music pulsed through the environment. Then came the next wave: a hybrid live-action/animated music video (Runaway), a mobile app, a two-issue comic book, and a merch line built around the production art. Every piece was connected, feeding into the same grim, high-octane world.
The What:
This approach paid off. Runaway was nominated for Best Rock Music Video at MuchMusic, the website won a Cannes Lion and multiple other industry awards, and the campaign propelled the band into a North American tour. It even caught attention overseas, leading to new creative opportunities in Singapore.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans—the band’s frontman suffered a career-ending vocal injury, cutting their momentum short. But Hail the Villain left a mark. The music, the world, and the art still resonate, proof that a well-crafted vision can outlive the band itself.
Drake Carter, a hardened blue-collar worker from the depths of Metal City, Drake Carter is a man haunted by his past and drowning in his vices. Raised in the unforgiving grind of the steel mills, he’s spent his life fighting—against his demons, his dead-end job, and the slow collapse of his marriage.
Thea Landa, seductive, cunning, and dangerously unpredictable, Thea Landa thrives in the chaos of Metal City. Raised in a broken home and hardened by a world that never gave her anything, she learned early on to take what she wanted. Her affair with Drake Carter isn’t about love—it’s about control, power, and playing the game on her own terms.
The album artwork merges the raw intensity of Hail the Villain with the intricate beauty of Japanese tattoo artistry. Designed as a sleeve tattoo worn by Thea in the videos and story, the illustration isn’t just decorative—it’s a narrative in itself.
The Hail the Villain merch line wasn’t just band tees—it was a way to wear the world of Metal City. Featuring bold, hard-edged illustrations straight from the campaign’s artwork, the designs channeled the grit, danger, and raw energy of the band's universe, turning every shirt and hoodie into a statement piece.
The smog-filled city view of the main industrial setting: Metal City
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