Mixed Media at Aceable

Animation of an Instagram carousel created in a mixed media style, featuring real-life photos combined with vector graphics. Each slide transitions seamlessly, with design elements connecting across frames to create a cohesive visual flow.

Timeline

2022-Now

Company

Aceable

Role

Graphics Design, Motion Design, AI Generative Design

Tools

Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Audition, MidJourney, Gemini, Sora

Deliverables

Promo videos, website visuals, paid and organic social media assets

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Project Overview

In 2022, Aceable’s marketing team asked for a new promotional video for the Real Estate course. It began as a single project, but it quickly became an opportunity to define a stronger visual language for the brand.

At the time, Aceable already had clear brand colors and typography, but no distinctive visual style for marketing content. Together with another motion designer, I helped develop a mixed-media design approach that combined photography, illustration, and motion. This new style proved to be flexible and engaging, and it has become Aceable’s primary visual language across campaigns, landing pages, and social channels since then.

The Challenge

As Aceable expanded its media presence, the lack of a clear visual identity became more noticeable. Marketing assets across different channels felt disconnected and didn’t fully reflect the brand’s playful and accessible personality.

The goal was to create a visual system that could make Aceable stand out in the e-learning space while remaining flexible enough to scale across multiple formats, platforms, and course verticals.

My Role & Collaboration

I collaborated closely with another motion designer during the early development of the visual style. After an initial brainstorming session we were both leaning toward collage-style visuals, he created the first storyboards while I helped refine the direction and visual language.

We split animation work for the first promotional video, and he took care of the sound design and final delivery. From there, the mixed-media approach became a shared toolkit for our team. Depending on the project, we would either collaborate or take ownership of different pieces while maintaining the same visual system.

Over time, I continued expanding the style across sales campaigns, landing pages, and social content.

The Process

Discovery & Inspiration

We initially explored a fully illustrated style but quickly ruled it out due to the time and specialization it required.

Collage and mixed media stood out as a better solution. It allowed us to combine photography, vector graphics, and playful compositions to create something visually attractive while remaining efficient to produce.

One of the artists who influenced the direction was Ariel Costa, whose work blends bold vector design with photographic elements.

Workflow & Tools

The workflow relied on a mix of design and motion tools:

  • Adobe Photoshop for photo editing and compositing
  • Adobe Illustrator for graphic elements
  • Adobe After Effects for animation
  • Adobe Premiere Pro for final assembly
  • Adobe Audition for sound design

Iteration & Feedback

Throughout development, we explored a few visual directions before presenting options to the marketing team. While alternate styles were also on display, the mixed-media approach stood out immediately for its energy, flexibility, and production efficiency.

After the first promo video launched, the style continued evolving as we applied it to new campaigns and formats. Each new project helped refine how photography, vector graphics, and motion worked together, gradually shaping a more consistent visual system for the brand.

Feedback from marketing and leadership played an important role in this evolution, helping us adjust composition, pacing, and messaging so the visuals remained clear, engaging, and aligned with campaign goals.

AI Integration

Early versions of the style relied heavily on stock photography, which quickly started to feel repetitive and limited.

To expand the visual possibilities, I began integrating AI tools into the workflow, including:

  • Midjourney for generating new characters and scenarios
  • Gemini for quick image variations
  • Sora/ChatGPT for concept exploration and object generation
  • generative AI tools in Adobe Photoshop for image refinement and compositing

These tools allowed me to create more unique visuals while maintaining consistency across campaigns and reducing reliance on repetitive stock imagery.

The Solution

The first Real Estate promo video launched successfully and was soon followed by a Teen Drivers Ed campaign. As Aceable expanded into additional verticals, including Mortgage and Insurance, the mixed-media style carried through seamlessly.

When the marketing team later pushed for a web redesign, I adapted the visual language for landing pages by creating a set of mixed-media illustrations designed specifically for web layouts.

This work led me to build the Core Image Library in Figma, a centralized collection of brand imagery organized by size and use case. The library would now allow marketing, product, and design teams to quickly access consistent visuals and reduced the need for repeated design requests.

Over time, I created dozens of mixed-media assets and motion pieces across campaigns, social platforms, and product experiences.

Image grid showcasing a collection of mixed media assets designed for various platforms, including emails, Instagram stories and posts, TikTok videos, and Facebook ads. The visuals combine photography and vector graphics to create cohesive, branded contentImage grid showcasing a collection of mixed media assets designed for various platforms, including emails, Instagram stories and posts, TikTok videos, and Facebook ads. The visuals combine photography and vector graphics to create cohesive, branded content

Impact

The first campaigns using the mixed-media style showed improved engagement and conversion performance compared to previous creative.

Internally, the response was overwhelmingly positive. The approach quickly became the defining visual language for Aceable’s marketing content and is now used across:

  • landing pages
  • organic and paid social campaigns
  • CTV advertising
  • in-course content
  • email marketing

The Core Image Library continues to support brand consistency while allowing multiple teams to work faster and more independently.

Reflection

This project showed how a visual system can shape not only how a brand looks, but also how teams work together. By creating a flexible mixed-media style and supporting tools like the Core Image Library, we were able to build a design language that scaled across both marketing and product environments.

Exploring AI tools as part of the workflow also became an important step in expanding the creative possibilities of the style. By using them thoughtfully, these tools help speed up production, generate new visual ideas, and keep Aceable’s content feeling fresh and modern.