Slick digital campaigns and AI-generated imagery dominate our screens these days, but Brazil-based visual arts studio Black Madre has carved — quite literally — a compelling case for the power of craft. Their latest work, a collaboration with Africa Creative for Corona’s “Fisherman Storytellers” campaign, proves that branding rooted in authenticity, tactility, and human touch still reigns supreme.
Unfolding through a stunning blend of hand-carved woodwork, stop-motion animation, and book design, the campaign captures a rarely seen intersection of branding, folklore, and social responsibility. It tells the story of Brazil’s coastal fishing communities, where seasonal fishing prohibitions leave families without income and where Corona is stepping in to offer an alternative: storytelling.
Rather than relying on tropes or digital spectacle, Africa Creative and Black Madre chose a narrative-driven path by translating the region’s rich oral traditions into physical storytelling experiences. At the heart of the campaign lies a series of wooden key visuals and a 60-second animation crafted entirely by hand. Each visual piece reimagines traditional fisherman’s tales: “The Cracked Island,” “The Smallest Fish,” and “The Fisherman of Fishermen”, through dimensional carved layers that evoke both wonder and weight.
The boat is the symbol that ties everything together. It’s the vehicle between the fisherman and the sea, and in this campaign, it also becomes the metaphor for bridging past and present.
André Maciel, creative director for Black Madre
From the swirling tentacles of an octopus to a giant hand reaching through the sea, every detail was sculpted from raw wood. The textures are sunworn and weather-beaten, a deliberate nod to Caiçara aesthetics and the coastal realities that frame these stories.
What elevates this campaign beyond beautiful visuals is the painstaking method behind it. Every object — fish, boats, hands, islands — was hand-carved using traditional gouges. Each layer was lit individually to create depth and dimension, then composited into richly cinematic scenes that feel at once intimate and epic.
The stop-motion animation for “The Cracked Island” is particularly compelling, turning a parable about greed and respect for nature into a gorgeously fluid narrative. It’s also a nod to Corona’s evolving brand ethos, which increasingly centers on environmental stewardship and local impact.
For a brand like Corona, which has long used idyllic beachscapes to sell serenity, this campaign marks a meaningful pivot that pairs aesthetic polish with purpose. Not simply showing a picturesque snapshot of a beach, it invites us to hear its stories, understand its people, and consider how our consumption affects real communities.
For Corona, it’s a chance to expand storytelling across touchpoints while grounding it in genuine cultural exchange.
As if the carved visuals weren’t enough, the campaign will soon launch a handmade pop-up book to further immerse audiences. Designed to resemble a boat and built using nautical materials such as sailcloth, fishing nets, and bamboo, the book transforms five traditional stories into three-dimensional experiences.
In a media landscape where digital scrolls have replaced page turns, the pop-up book is a tactile rebellion and a branding masterstroke. For Corona, it’s a chance to expand storytelling across touchpoints while grounding it in genuine cultural exchange.
From a branding and design perspective, the “Fisherman Storytellers” campaign is an exemplar of how creative direction, craft, and cultural insight can elevate a brand far beyond product placement. It’s a reminder that when visual identity stems from place, tradition, and material truth, it doesn’t need to shout to be heard.
Black Madre, known for its analog-first approach to visual storytelling, has once again shown why its work resonates across industries. Their ethos is simple: build beautiful things, by hand, that make people feel something.
In this case, what they’ve built is more than a campaign. It’s a bridge between worlds — digital and analog, myth and reality, community and consumer. And like all good stories, it sticks with you long after the last page (or frame) is turned.
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