ANIMAL HOUSE

2023 CASE STUDY

is a mixed-media book and short-form content series that critiques the glorification of college drinking in American media. The project uses satire, bold visual language, and guerrilla-style distribution to interrupt doom-scrolling behavior and expose how normalized and dangerous “the college experience” has become. The campaign reached 1.5M+ viewers and sparked widespread engagement and conversation among college-age audiences.

PROBLEM

College drinking is widely glamorized across film, television, and social media. While the consequences are serious, the culture surrounding it is framed as aspirational, funny, or even essential to youth. The challenge: my target audience was college drinkers themselves. An audience unlikely to engage with traditional warnings, PSAs, or educational messaging. Any overt attempt to “warn” them would be ignored.

OBJECTIVE

Spark conversation among college-age audiences around the normalization of drinking

Build engagement around my creative voice, work style, and long-term mission

Use short-form content to stop scroll behavior and drive deeper curiosity into the project

Primary Audience: College students

Secondary Audience: High school students aspiring to the “college experience”

STRATEGY

I intentionally played into the glorification rather than rejecting it.
Bold, colorful visuals that resemble “wild college nights”
Satirical framing that initially feels celebratory
A misleading hook: “This is your sign to turn your college mems into a book”

Viewers were drawn in by curiosity about how the book was made, its structure, and its aesthetic. Only once they clicked through, read descriptions, or explored further did they realize the project’s true depth and intent.

EXECUTION

I flattened red solo cups I found at my dorm onto a binder to create the cover

MY RESEARCH ESSAY FOR INSPO

Emergency hotlines to emphasize that this book is not meant to glamorize college drinking

Table of contents to show how easily college drinking is romanticized

College drinking fatal cases sandwiched between each graphic. Printed on translucent paper so "expectations vs reality" of college drinking can be seen

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Using personal pictures, I photoshopped each graphic to emulate the romanticized feeling of college drinking

5 DISTRIBUTION & IMPACT

Content was distributed organically on short-form platforms, designed specifically for doom-scrollers. The hooks were optimized to feel native to aspirational lifestyle content, making the critique harder to dismiss. This approach transformed passive viewers into active participants, people who saved, shared, and discussed the work rather than simply consuming it.

ANIMAL HOUSE

EDITING TUTORIAL

BEFORE & AFTER

BEHIND THE SCENES

1.5M+ views
194K likes
58K saves

Beyond metrics, the project successfully shifted perspective. Audiences didn’t just watch, they paid attention.

The content sparked conversation around a topic that is often dismissed precisely because it feels “normal.”

I challenged a narrative that can be genuinely harmful when left unquestioned.