Shermy

Seattle Power Pop Band — A hand-crafted Instagram Reel that helped pack the room.

Shermy — Instagram Reel (final design, created to promote their Seattle show)

Client Need

Shermy, a Seattle-based power pop band with a chaotic live energy and a strong DIY aesthetic, needed an Instagram Reel to promote their upcoming show in a way that felt as alive and handmade as their music.

They wanted a video that captured the messy joy of a house show flyer — something grainy, fun, and tactile, not polished or corporate. They needed a promo that would:

  • Match their chaotic, analog-leaning style without losing legibility or punch.

  • Work seamlessly on Instagram Reels — sized right, with key info clear despite vertical overlays.

  • Show off the lineup and location without sacrificing personality, texture, or movement.

Challenge

We started with a pile of mixed-quality concert footage and a general direction: “lo-fi, chaotic, fun.” The band’s aesthetic lives somewhere between Nickelodeon slime, photocopied show flyers, and old Mac desktop interfaces — so I leaned into that spirit.

Originally, I was going to just color correct and cut the footage to music. But the more I played, the more it became about layering — textures, logos, text in motion, and type that wiggles like it was photocopied too many times.

My goal became clear: make it look effortless and messy, but only after obsessing over every pixel.

Creative Direction

I cut together the concert footage, unified it with black-and-white treatments and grain overlays, and built the aesthetic around Shermy’s chaotic, analog energy.

Shermy’s bubble-letter logo became a hand-animated, squiggly loop layered over purposeful cuts and stop-motion-style text blocks. Everything was designed with Instagram’s vertical format and UI overlays in mind.

The goal: keep it raw and handmade, while ensuring every detail — lineup, location, and timing — remained clear, scannable, and shareable.

Final hand-crafted Reel (Vimeo embed) — designed for Instagram Reels, optimized for vertical format and UI overlays.

Shermy Reel as shared on Instagram — screenshot from the band’s official account, showing audience engagement and comments. View the original post here.

Results

  • Reel received 77 likes and strong audience engagement, with comments like “Love the vibe in this shot” and “Aw I love this vid!”

  • The show was standing room only — well-attended and high energy.

  • Reel was used as Shermy’s official promo across Instagram, posted with a public thank-you from the band.

  • Captured Shermy’s tone — grainy, fun, stylishly chaotic — while making all show details readable and Reel-optimized.

“Matt made something really special — it felt like the kind of gig we wanted to have, and helped build genuine excitement with our fans leading up to our show!”

— Shelby Turner, Singer/Guitarist, Shermy