HEED Sports Tomorrow UFC keynote performance directed by Jon Morris at Amazon AWS conference Las Vegas

Case Study

HEED: Turning AI Sports Data into Spectacle with UFC, Bundesliga, & Euroleague launches

Sports-tech startup HEED partnered with creative director Jon Morris and The Windmill Factory to make real-time AI data thrilling — UFC keynote spectacle at AWS Las Vegas, a Bundesliga keynote at AWS Summit Berlin, and the brand identity and real-time motion system for HEED's launch with Euroleague Basketball.

2

AWS Keynote Spectacles — Las Vegas & Berlin

18,500+

Combined Live Keynote Audience

30+

Real-Time Motion Templates for Euroleague

1st

AI + IoT Platform in a Major Sports League — Reuters

"This latest partnership with HEED provides fans with a dynamic digital experience that brings the action closer than ever before, whether in-arena or at home."

Ari Emanuel — CEO, Endeavor

UFC fighters and giant digital avatars in HEED Sports Tomorrow keynote by Jon Morris
HEED UFC data visualization keynote performance by The Windmill Factory
Digital avatars synced to live UFC fight at HEED AWS keynote
140 foot video wall for HEED Sports Tomorrow keynote directed by Jon Morris
HEED UFC keynote spectacle at Amazon AWS conference Las Vegas
Edson Barboza vs Marc Diakiese UFC performance for HEED
HEED CEO Danna Rabin opens the AWS Summit Berlin keynote designed by Jon Morris
Thousands attend the AWS Summit Berlin keynote featuring HEED's Bundesliga launch
AWS Summit Berlin mainstage during the HEED Bundesliga keynote directed by Jon Morris
The Windmill Factory design frame for the HEED Bundesliga keynote at AWS Summit Berlin
Heed Vision Euroleague brand identity motion design by Jon Morris
HEED Euroleague real-time motion graphics templates by The Windmill Factory
HEED Euroleague basketball micro moments design by Jon Morris
HEED Euroleague brand identity designed by Jon Morris and The Windmill Factory
No items found.

Signature Moments

Signature Moments

Giant Avatars, Real Punches

Two world-class UFC fighters battling live on stage while their 12,000-pixel digital twins fought above them on a 140-foot screen — every strike mirrored, measured, and amplified in real time. A keynote that behaved like an arena show.

The Blackout & the Yellow Wall

Berlin's keynote opened in total darkness with the bass-heavy roar of a football stadium shaking the room — then Dortmund's Yellow Wall exploding across the screen. A tech keynote that started like a match day, not a product launch.

Data as Choreography

Punch force, momentum, energy depletion, historical kick strength — analytics staged as spectacle, timed to the rhythm of a real fight. The visualization didn't explain the technology; it performed it.

"Heed Vision"

The pitch-winning brand concept: sports seen through a galactic yet playful lens, somewhere between Space Jam and Tron Legacy. A visual world flexible enough to be generated live, thousands of times a season.

Moments as Collectibles

Thirty-plus motion templates fired in real time by AI-detected "micro moments," delivered to fans' phones as the play happens — collectible, like digital baseball cards. Brand identity as a live broadcast system, not a style guide.

"Brilliant social social videos!"

Mati Kochavi — HEED Founder & Main Investor

Timeline

The Arc of the Collaboration

November 2017

Sports Tomorrow. Amazon invites HEED to headline AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas. Jon conceives and directs the UFC keynote spectacle for 15,000. Amazon CTO Werner Vogels calls it "Fantastic!"

April 2018

Heed Vision. TWF beats top global digital agencies to design HEED's Euroleague brand identity and 30+ real-time motion templates. HEED's first consumer release launches for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs — the first AI + IoT experience in a major sports league. That fall, SoftBank leads HEED's $35 million funding round.

February 2019

AWS Summit Berlin. HEED returns to the AWS mainstage — this time in Europe, first slot of the keynote program — to launch its Bundesliga partnership with Borussia Dortmund and SV Werder Bremen. Jon designs and storyboards the keynote, from the Yellow Wall blackout opening to the closing product story.

The Through-Line

From a Vegas stage to a Berlin summit to millions of fans' phones: the same design philosophy, applied at three scales. Make the moment legible. Make it emotional. Make people want to keep it.

"Fantastic!"

Werner Vogels — CTO, Amazon

The Model

01

Continuity, Not Gigs

One creative partner across album cycles, not a new production company per tour. Someone who knows the DNA of the artist and how to connect to their fans.

02

Accumulated Meaning

The crowd-surfing duck is amazing cause it's a duck, but also becomes legend as it's applied over time in different inflatable form factors; duck, llama, palm tree, flamingo... it becomes legendary because fans have watched it evolve across ten years. "What's he gonna ride this tour!?"

03

One Thread, Everything

Continuity helps build the world of the artist, concert elements become merch, album art becomes the stage, a social post a music video, a joke on the bus inspires the TV appearance — because one person holds the thread.

Instead of a vendor for each tour, Andrew has had the same creative partner for a decade. That's the model Jon can bring to every artist partnership.

Live performer and giant superfan screen moment in the HEED Bundesliga keynote at AWS Summit Berlin, directed by Jon Morris

Let's Build Something

Jon Morris is available for creative collaborations from album strategy, creative direction, production design, and tour direction for touring artists and their teams.

Get in Touch