Born in Italy Carolina Melis trained in choreography at Dartington College of Arts in the UK before moving into digital arts. She graduated in Communication Design at Central St Martins in London where she specialised in animation. In 2004 she worked as a creative for MTV Europe in London and started her career as creative director on commercial and arts projects. Working as an animation director at Nexus in London in close collaboration with major advertising agencies, she directed TV spots and print campaigns for clients such as Sony PSP, BBC, Microsoft, Vodafone, Prada, Barclays, Penguin, Chloè, Fendi; series of short films for Discovery Channel and music videos for Colleen, Metronomy, Four Tet, Efterklang.
Between 2007 and 2008 she worked on the ongoing BBC3 re-brand Threeworld, which won a Brand Identity award at Eurobest. Other awards include a Clio Bronze for the campaign Made With Passion for Pashey with Saatchi&Saatchi and a nomination for a BTA Craft Award for the campaign Hands for The Council of Europe also with Saatchi&Saatchi.
In 2010 she designed and art directed the identity, set design and title sequence for the reality show The Arrangement, produced by MTV New York. In 2012 she moved to China to work with the production company Pixomondo.
Besides her career as a commercial director Carolina is also an internationally known illustrator and director. In 2005 she was commissioned by Channel 4 and the Arts Council the short animated film As The Crow Flies. In 2012 she directed Regarding Gardens Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund for Ham House and Garden, UK, and in 2013 she directed Le Fiamme di Nule, a live-action and animated film commissioned by the Institute of Ethnography in Sardinia.
She directed the short animated film s'ozzastru in 2023, which was supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture, ISRE, and the Sardinia Film Commission.
In 2015 she started a textile and surface project in collaboration with local artisans in the textile and ceramic industry aimed at supporting the local craft of Sardinia.
Her work has been featured by major publications and exhibited in venues such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.
Today Carolina is represented in the USA by WEARESNYDER and collaborates with major international brands and international production companies. Recent clients include Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, Elizabeth Arden in New York, Fendi Italy.
SELECTED CLIENTS
BBC, Barclays, Chloé, Clinique/Estee Lauder, Condè Nast, Council of Europe, Elle, Elizabeth Arden, Drunk Elephant, Fendi, IKEA, J20, LeSportSac, MTV, Mall of Emirates, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Miu Miu, Pashley Bikes, Penguin Books, Persil, Prada Candy, Robinsons, Silhouette, Sony, Talbots, Tommy Hilfiger, Tumblr/Yahoo, Unilever, Vodafone, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Volkswagen, Wall Street Journal
AGENCIES
0.1% (New York), BBH (London), Fallon (London), Laird+Partners (New York), Mullen Lowe, MC Saatchi (Beijing), Saatchi & Saatchi (London), TBWA (London), Y&R (Dubai)