The North Face

Providing gear for athletes and modern-day explorers.
The North Face

Art Direction

Motion Direction

Experience Design

Interface Design

To celebrate the launch of the Ventrix™ Jacket and its heat-release technology, The North Face, Spotify and musician Maggie Rogers collaborated to create "The Release Project," an immersive digital experience that allowed Rogers' track, "Split Stones" to be released layer by layer through movement.

It worked by first prompting Spotify listeners to engage with The North Face Ventrix™ ad on their mobile device. The more the user moved, the more of Maggie Rogers’ track was released.Only walking? Just the bass line was audible. But with more movement, more layers of the song were played until ultimately the full-length track was unlocked and available for download.

The North Face engaged Darling to design this one-of-a-kind digital experience from start to finish. We worked closely with The North Face and Spotify teams to create a rich, visual atmosphere for the campaign. The heat-releasing technology of the jacket was mirrored throughout the experience by layers of motion, color, texture and sound. We then created a toolkit of brand assets The North Face team could easily integrate into their full campaign.

The North Face
The North Face
The North Face
The North Face

“I took the first sound samples for ‘Split Stones’ on a month-long backpacking trip in Oregon during the summer of 2013; I’ve been collecting samples and piecing the song together in bedroom studios and trails ever since. I’m super excited about combining the two things I love—technology and the environment—to create a way that people can hear the song, but also feel a little bit a part of the action and process that inspired it.”

—Musician, singer-songwriter, and producer Maggie Rogers

The North Face
The North Face