01Agency team
One Navy. Many ways in.
Recruiting campaigns for a 50-state VR tour, Snapchat, Reddit, and Sneaker Con.
- Client
- U.S. Navy
- Role
- Art Director, VML
- Year
- 2023–2025
- Scope
- Experiential graphics, Social AR, Print + OOH, Digital, Pitch development
The situation
The Navy was working to reach digital-native, culturally fluent audiences who would never go looking for a recruiter.
That meant showing up in very different places at once: on tour, on social, on Reddit, and at SneakerCon.
The idea
Don’t ask for attention. Issue a challenge.
The strongest pieces asked people to prove something: crack the hunt, play the role, read the ad that’s hard to read on purpose.
My role
Who made what.
Made by me
- The official Strike Group logo
- Frog and SEAL insignia redrawn as vector art for SneakerCon
- The digital badge awarded to Subreddit Hunt winners
- Design of the Subreddit Hunt’s Cannes Lions entry deck
- Conceptual, event, and Special Operations print ads
- Digital banners and placements
Shared with the team
- Strike Group signage and graphics for the VR modules, built out from the creative director’s designs
- Two Snapchat recruitment lenses, co-concepted with a copywriter and an art director
- SneakerCon: pitch concepts that informed the final boot designs and the activation space
Made by others
- Campaign leadership: VML’s U.S. Navy team
- Strike Group design direction: VML’s creative director
- Lens build: a third-party production team
- SneakerCon boots: designed by John Trottier; campaign produced by VML
- Final Strike Group badges and coins: other designs were selected; mine were early exploration
The Strike Group
A recruiting station that tours the country.
A traveling VR recruitment experience touring all 50 states. Working from the creative director’s designs, I designed the rest of the signage and graphics across the VR modules.
Subreddit Hunt
Only ten people finished.
A hidden scavenger hunt across Reddit, created by the VML team; only ten people nationwide finished it. I designed the winners’ digital badge and the Cannes entry deck. The campaign won a Gold and a Silver Lion in 2025.
Campaign visuals remain confidential.
Snapchat lenses
Recruiting that feels like play.
Two lenses, co-concepted with a copywriter and art director: one turned users into the football mascot, the other let them play Special Operations roles with head movement.
SneakerCon
From pitch to produced.
Custom Nike SEAL boots people earned through challenges at Sneaker Con Houston and Denver. My concepts helped shape the final designs and the activation space, and I redrew the frog and SEAL insignia as vector art.
Print + OOH
Some are hard to read. That’s the point.
Print for magazines, programs, and posters, each aimed at one career path. The Special Operations series dares readers to prove they have what it takes.
Digital + OOH
One message, every placement.
Digital banners and out-of-home, each tuned to its placement.
Outcome + scale
8.8M
Combined reach of the two Snapchat lenses: 2.2 million for football, 6.6 million for Special Operations.
10
People nationwide who completed the Subreddit Hunt.
50
States on the Strike Group tour.
Credits
- Design
- Theodora Trandafir
- Agency
- VML
- Client
- U.S. Navy
- Snapchat lens concepts
- Theodora Trandafir with a VML copywriter and art director
- Lens build
- Third-party production team
- SneakerCon boot design
- John Trottier (Johnnyskicks)
- SneakerCon photography
- Sneaker Con
Next project
USA Streetlifting
