There’s a good chance that “psyop” doesn’t necessarily mean anything to you, but maybe it’ll help if I write it like this: psy-op, as in psychological operations; as in some spooky government stuff that you don’t really want to know about. Their slogan is “[p]ersuade, change and influence.”

I’m telling you about this because PSYOP is also that name of an advertising agency which seeks to “win the hearts and minds of the public through creative content.” They make really pretty animations, you see, for companies like Target, Adidas, Toyota and others. In their employ is Cut & Paste-participating designer Mate Steinforth, who recently re-launched his site, and it’s quite nice. You can browse through his whole portfolio and see what he’s up to, but the most rewarding way to use mateuniverse — as it’s called — might be to look at his PSYOP slides, such as this one for Mastercard, and then to watch the full, prepared video on the PSYOP site; it’s a little like watching the entire creative process itself unfold. Also, watch this and tell me you wouldn’t give MTV another shot…I guess I have some episodes of The Hills to catch up on now. Damn.