i’ve got a secret
2D Animation & Design – Lee Beauchamp
Music – ‘Rush’ by SEATBELTS
⭐ BRONZE ADDY ’26
After Effects, Illustrator
the brief
Showcase Georg Oldenʼs noteriety in the advertising and television industries despite an unconventional beginning and success prior to the Civil Rights Movement.
research
Georg Olden made his name at CBS, designing iconic title screens while also being the first African-American Art Director. In 1963, he was the first African-American to design a commemorative postage stamp for the US Postal Service, which was then presented in the White House. From this accomplishment, he appeared as a contestant on “Iʼve Got A Secret,ˮ a popular primetime game show. He also created memorable design assets for said show, from title cards to the notable ‘Truth Teller‘ icon (blue characters in left most picture).
Oldenʼs style is simplistic; typically involving photography. His color palette ranges only between light sand to dark brown and black. Typography is reminiscent of Swiss-style, leaning towards sans-serif.
who is Georg Olden?
narrative development
Playing off of the gametime show, I decided to highlight Olden’s many ‘secrets:ʼ
- dropping the ‘eʼ from his first name
- being the .2% of African-Americans in the TV industry (1950s)
- sketching the prominent stamp in 15 minutes with one idea
In short, the narrative would present his notable accomplishments integrating the style of ‘Iʼve Got A Secretʼ and in other storytelling aspects using motion.
visual development
Olden’s most notable works primarily relied on striking black and white visuals. I reflected his limited color palette in my chosen colors, adding blue and red hues from his stamp design for variety.
For the typography choice, while Olden had a wide range, I wanted to reflect a classier look for heading choices and chose a more reserved sans serif for the body work.
Olden also tended to use photography within his work, so a healthy balance of vector graphics and photo stills would pay homage to his style.
social media campaign
Created to be used on Instagram, these posts/stories featured Olden’s individual secrets one by one, building anticipation for the final animation. Each opened with the same tagline to create cohesion.
post+story #1
With his title card created for “I’ve Got A Secret,” I chose to pay homage whilst highlighting his ‘secret’ name.
Olden previously worked in the OSS (pre-CIA) before becoming an art director. I juxtaposed said facts through their respective logos.
post+story #2
post+story #3
This particular shot highlighted Olden’s time at CBS. As he has this particular storyboard as a still, I thought it would be best to animate it.
To pay homage to his photographic title cards, here I used a shot of his hand and his actual stamp for this ‘secret.’
post+story #4
post+story #5
As a letter can’t go without a stamp, I chose to depict this ‘secret’ through a letter.
translating shorts into scenes
After the social media campaign, I compiled all the respective shorts together into one singular animation. enjoy!