LEVI'S TOOLSAgency: AKQA San Francisco
Client: Levi’s USA
Role: Creative Director, Senior Copywriter
Cannes Lions: Silver, Bronze
Clios: Bronze
One Show: Bronze
“Levi’s shows technology is the new Wild West.”
Levi's marked 150 years of tradition by retracing the founder's original trail, journeying from East to West. Over three weeks, a train travelled from New York City to San Francisco, making nine stops along the way. The tour featured a dynamic mix of cutting-edge visual artists, dancers, chefs, engineers, writers, and musicians, each contributing to a unique experience at every stop. Our role was to engage the community and bring them along for the ride. To connect these artists with followers online, we introduced Levi’s Tools—vintage art objects reimagined for today’s world. Custom RFID bracelets enabled artists to upload their creativity directly to social media, allowing fans to engage in real-time. As events unfolded, users could follow the journey on Instagram, X (Twitter), and SoundCloud.
Case Study Video
Each Tool had a story and was unique in it's own right: a 1939 Bolex; 1939 Graphlex; 1956 Gibson; and a 1901 Underwood. Re-tooled to push digital moments from the cross-country journey to fans and creators worldwide.
A 13-car vintage train travelled cross-country, packed with musicians like Cat Power, Jackson Browne and Beck, alongside works by renowned artists such as Doug Aitken, Urs Fisher, and Kenneth Anger. Every few days, the train pulled into a new stop, and all these incredible creative minds put on a show.
Musician Ariel Pink tweeted this by typing on the Underwood typewriter.
A SoundCloud clip made with the Gibson guitar
Each tool is equipped with a Verizon Hot Spot and an RFID reader. Whenever anyone wants to use one of the tools, they simply scan their RFID band on the device, and it automatically logs them into Instagram, SoundCloud or Twitter.
