Xref provides automated reference-checking software that speeds up hiring and helps verify every aspect of a candidate. Xref’s story is an abstract story. To narrate that story, Oakland Studio developed a tightly written voiceover, a clear design direction, the color palette and storyboards.

From this ideal guide we could build an abstract animation with the force and flow of a captivating story. One that bursts from the screen. Circles, pill shapes, squares were the main characters. Glows and gradients the atmosphere. And movement itself the story. The way things come together. The way elements pop up. The way everything connects through a through-line motion. Even as it moves from item to item, the movement never stops.

Turning an abstract product overview into something alive and immediate emphasizes Xref’s core message: recruit, retain, and remember your people.