Tricky time: Music video explores break-ups using optical illusions

Brooklyn – Los Angeles-based band OK Go's latest single, The Writing's on the Wall, is an ode to that moment when a person realises his or her relationship is an unhappy one and it is time to end it.

Translating that moment into a music video, the band created a dizzying set of optical illusions, all shot in one four-minute take in a Brooklyn warehouse. Watching the music video is both wondrous and tiring on the eyes as the viewer's mind races to catch up with constant illusions and shifts of depth and perspective. It took a month and more than 60 takes to achieve the final result, which emphasises the theme of the song – a time of emotional tumult and confusion – and keeps viewers' attention for its duration.

This reminds us of the Honda advertisement, which also used trompe l'oeil to great effect. For more on how designers are playing with tricks of the eye to tease and entice people, read our Haptic Illusion design direction.