Big.Really Big. by XXL
For my Journalism 4228 campaign project at the University of Missouri, I reimagined XXL Wine as a brand built for YAYAs.​
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The ask was to raise awareness of XXL Wine by repositioning it to appeal to young adults who value boldness, humor, and visual storytelling.
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Rather than treating it like another quiet wine brand, I framed it as something loud, confident, and unapologetically oversized. Mirroring the personality of the audience itself.
The campaign centered on the line “It’s big. Like really big.”, using hyperbolic visuals, bright color blocking, and playful tone to turn XXL into a lifestyle statement rather than a label. From in-your-face OOH to scroll-stopping digital placements and a hippo-centered brand world, every touchpoint exaggerated the idea of “big flavor” and “bigger personality.”
This project allowed me to build a full-scale visual identity system, from logo and typography to OOH, web, and mobile experiences—while pushing my art direction toward bold simplicity and brand humor with cultural edge.
I wanted XXL Wine to feel intentionally excessive rather than just another fruity label on a shelf. By exaggerating its size and personality, I created a tone that made “big” a brand virtue instead of a flaw.
I introduced the hippo as a visual anchor for scale and humor, giving the campaign an instantly recognizable mascot that could live across digital and physical touchpoints. This character grounded the absurdity of “really big wine” in something visual, fun, and cohesive.
I built out a cross-platform presence—OOH, digital, AR, and packaging—to make the humor feel immersive rather than surface-level. Each execution aimed to show that conceptual art direction can carry an entire brand voice, not just a look.
Isaac Lewis (AD)