My Role: Lead Interaction Designer
Services: Ideation, Interaction Design, Visual Design, Animation, Flash Development
Platform: Interstitial Ad Format
Agency: Eyecatcher AG, Zurich
Client: Publicis Schweiz / Amnesty International
Timeline: 4 Days , May 2013
Digital takeover – through authorized provocation
Amnesty International needed to demonstrate how fragile online freedom of expression is. Through coordinated homepage takeovers of major Swiss news sites, we literally showed censorship in action – replacing content with Amnesty's message for brief moments. Provocative. Authorized. Unforgettable.
Core shift: From telling about censorship to showing it – through experiential disruption.
3 Min. Read
How we solved problems
Three challenges, three breakthroughs
Standard ad formats can't demonstrate censorship. Takeovers can.
Amnesty wanted awareness about digital freedom. Standard banners feel ignored. We proposed something radical: briefly replace news homepages with Amnesty's message. Show censorship, don't describe it. Advertising restrictions said no. We worked directly with media outlets' dev teams to build custom interstitials outside standard ad systems. Permission beats convention.
Provocation requires trust. Authorization preserves it.
A fake takeover would destroy credibility. We coordinated with participating media outlets. Clear communication. Authorized execution. Timed perfectly. Brief disruption. Lasting impact. The takeover lasted minutes. The conversation lasted weeks. Trust enabled boldness.
Execution: Authorized by media partners Timed coordination Brief duration (minutes) Clear Amnesty branding Instant media coverage
Flash animation brought immediacy to the message.
Design Role: Publicis: concept + visuals Eyecatcher: animation + technical implementation Media outlets: dev integration
Publicis created the concept and visuals. My role: translate static designs into animated takeover experience, build Flash interstitials, coordinate technical implementation with each media outlet's dev team. Cross-team collaboration under tight deadline. The campaign succeeded because design, development, and media partnerships aligned perfectly.
Key Learnings
What this project taught me
Provocative campaigns demand flawless execution
One mistimed takeover or technical glitch would kill credibility. The pain: coordinating across multiple media outlets' dev teams with zero room for error. What worked: detailed technical specs, rehearsal runs, and backup plans for every failure scenario.
Working outside ad systems requires custom partnerships
Standard ad networks couldn't support this. The pain: convincing media outlets to build custom integrations for a one-time campaign. What helped: Amnesty's credibility and framing it as editorial innovation, not just advertising.
Flash skills had a deadline – learn what's next
This was 2013. Flash was dying. The pain: building in a deprecated technology. What I learned: master current tools, but always watch what's replacing them. Today it would be HTML5 canvas or WebGL.
Why this still matters
The best campaigns don't tell you the problem. They make you feel it.
Amnesty could have run banners saying «censorship is real.» Instead, they demonstrated it. Experiential campaigns create emotional resonance that facts alone cannot. This takeover proved that bold ideas require three things: creative provocation, technical execution, and partner trust. Remove any one, and the campaign fails.