The North Face: Trango

Blending Art and Adventure: A Show Package for a Historic Descent.
Services

Creative Direction
In-Film Graphics
Animation
Custom Map Design
GFX Package Design

Credits

Client: The North Face
Creative Director: Brian Long
Design / Animation: Jason Oberg

"It's Dr. Seuss-looking stuff... I've never seen a line quite like this."
                                                    — Christina Lustenberger


For TRANGO, The North Face asked Nifty to match the audacity of the first ski descent of Pakistan’s Great Trango Tower with equally bold design. We built an entire visual language: surreal 3D topography, playful animated maps, and a full show package. Together, these elements turn the Karakoram into a living storybook for athletes Christina Lustenberger, Jim Morrison, Nick McNutt, and Chantel Astorga.

Using bold graphics, intricate animated maps, and detailed 3D terrain reconstructions, we transformed real-world topography into a surreal, otherworldly landscape as wild and impossible-looking as the lines these athletes skied.

Beyond the film’s animated maps, we developed the complete show package, crafting a distinctive visual identity from the title sequence to the closing credits. Every motion element was carefully designed to complement the expert cinematography, seamless editing, and custom composed music, elevating the story at every turn.

Festival run and recognition

TRANGO premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in the BrandStorytelling program, played to full houses at Telluride’s Mountainfilm and the Outside Festival in Denver, and captured the Grand Prize at the 2025 New Zealand Mountain Film & Book Festival. Ski Magazine called the feat “the most impressive first descent of the decade.” The film is still on the festival circuit, with a wider public release slated for late 2025.

We don’t just make things look cool. We make them matter.

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