Rewkachu

Andrex Washlets 2012 gatefold leaflet

2011-11-27T23:40:00.000Z

I really don't mind tight deadlines, they make things exciting. You really have to plan how you're going to get things done in time, and focus. This was an eight page leaflet, approximately A5 in size which was designed as a gatefold mechanism. The leaflet is to be part of the shopping centre activity, being handed out to passers-by. The leaflet itself introduces the product and an additional Facebook page where people can win health and beauty prizes.

I had only a day to turn this around, which was definitely pushing it - but I pulled all the stops out and spent my Sunday just cracking on with it. I used Photoshop and Illustrator. I'm pleased with the results, as was the client. For now, this is just a visual, the artwork will be created in the near future.

ISU Plus - branded templates

2011-11-26T21:49:00.002Z

Earlier in the year I was asked to amend my previous designs for some of the templates I created for them. The templates were used by the company when creating PowerPoint slideshows, or documents in Word or InDesign. All I was asked to do was to simply swap their old log with the new one, due to their company colours remaining the same.

After the recent large canvas print and roll-up designs, they asked me to re-amend their templates to fit the new theme - which was the wall of text graphic I created. This wall of text is a list of 60 - 70 words I felt described the ethics of the commendable ISU Plus.

So now they have matching templates, and banners and roll-ups.

Andrex Washlets 2012 campaign logo

2011-11-25T13:26:00.003Z

The 2012 campaign concepts and designs are in full swing at the moment, and we're all under tight deadlines. Fortunately I work well to tight deadlines, it's something I'm used to and working the long hours has never bothered me.

With the set designed and visualized in 3D, another vital part of the campaign was to develop logo ideas. The right logo for the campaign is vital in representing the product. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between the two agencies involved, and of course the mother ship - Andrex.

My role was to use Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to visual ideas from the agency’s Creative Director and develop them. We must have gone through thirty or so stages until we came to a conclusion, the one posted below.

Andrex Washlets 2012 set visuals

2011-11-23T13:03:00.001Z

With the year coming to a close it is time to start working on concepts and plans for next year’s Andrex campaigns. As with many of the larger companies, Andrex has many products and variants available on the shelf. One of their latest products is Andrex Washlets, a moistened flushable toilet wipe.

I had done some campaign designs for this product earlier in the year, so already had the artwork elements to work from. Working as part of a team, I worked alongside a Creative Director and a 3D visual artist to create the artwork for a presentation to show Andrex.

The branding was already firmly in place, as was the product design itself. Our job was to visualize and create printed and mounted designs for next year’s promotional campaign. I worked in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

The set will appear in shopping centres across the UK next year.

ISU Plus - 200 x 120cm Banner

2011-11-18T17:15:00.002Z

Last year I created a large 2 x 1.2m canvas print to hang in the ISU Plus office. This would be the first thing viewed by anyone visiting them, so it had to be clean, striking and stylish. After creating the recent 2 x 0.85m roll-ups for their expo stand, they wanted me to design a more generic, much larger canvas print to hang in the office in place of their old one.

The brief was explicit in saying the new design had to remain stylish and clean, yet fit in and reflect the much bolder roll-ups. The reasoning was that this much larger canvas print would hang in the foyer of the office, but occasionally be taken down and transported to the expos to hang behind the newer roll-ups.

For this we decided that the original ISU Plus blue should be used, and I then added the wall of text graphics to tie them all in together.

Finally, the client asked me to print the canvas myself and ship it to Denmark. They have been extremely happy with my prints in the past, and have had a few setbacks and flat prints when using a Danish printer. This of course was at an additional cost, but they thought it was worth it for the vibrant prints my contact is capable of. Interestingly, my contact has recently upgraded their canvas printing machinery, so their prints are now even brighter than they were before!

DSLR film #1

2011-11-17T15:59:00.001Z

Back at the end of October I was asked to direct an independent horror movie. I jumped at the chance and ever since my mind has been very busy with thoughts & inspiration. The writer of the story and I have been meeting every Thursday to discuss ideas about the plot and characters.

I'm super excited about the possibilities of having free reign over my creative juices. I've been scouting locations and taking photographs. I've already created a timeline that I'd wish to stick to. I will keep you posted with the progress.

The most important information I can give you right now would be the deadline and format. The deadline is set to be October 2013, with the view of getting it submitted and shown at the Telluride Horror Festival. That is the goal.

In regard to the format, I've chosen HDSLR film. I've been so impressed with the quality of movies shot in this format, with this kind of kit that really I have to choose this path. DSLR film is extremely hot right now; the new format gives an incredible amount of freedom to someone with a photographic background. The possibilities seem larger than that of standard film. In short, this is due to the low light capabilities of a DSLR sensor, and the ability to use DSLR lenses with their much smaller f-stops. I know that I will be spending a fair amount of new kit, which is also exciting... I mean... who doesn't fantasize about being a Director?

ISU Plus - 200 x 85cm Roll-ups

2011-11-16T15:13:00.002Z

My long term Danish client ISU recently rebranded themselves as ISU Plus. They are a company that specializes in helping the less fortunate have higher qualities of life; children, handicapped, elderly, unemployed etc.

They often appear exhibitions and promotional expos around Denmark. Due to their rebranding they needed a new set of promotional roll-up banners to shout the arrival of their company. The previous set of banners I design a couple of years ago were subtle and sleek. This time they asked for something brighter and more striking, to keep things fresh and exciting.

They needed four of these 200 x 85cm roll-up banners, each depicting one strategic word. I decided using a theme of "hands" to hold the symbolic imagery together. I also went heavy on text as a visual tool. I felt that the four words they had chosen were not representative enough of what a commendable and trustworthy company ISU Plus is. I put together a list of seventy words which describe the company’s ethics; they liked the idea a lot.

I'm looking forward to seeing these four large prints hanging in place. Loosely translated, the four words mean:

indsigt = insight
sammenhæng = cohesion
udvikling = development
med værdi for brugeren = value for the person

Advanced learning

2011-11-04T16:12:00.002Z

I've just invested in a huge bundle of advanced tutorials for many of the software packages I use daily: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premier, After Effects etc.

My reasoning being that software advances each year, and it's very easy to fall into the trap of sticking with what you know. It's so easy to get left behind in this industry. While I'm a long way from being left behind, I aim to make sure that it never happens. The way for me to guarantee this is for me to set aside a slot of time each week to do some tutorials. This will either allow me to brush up or uncover learned but forgotten skills, or best case scenario - learn something new.

I've had my most successful year to date, and I want to continue building what I have in 2012. This is one of many things I've put in place for Rewkachu.

Kinder Suprise presentation

2011-11-01T14:26:00.000Z

Kinder Surprise is a chocolate that everyone is familiar with, and it used to be one of my favourites growing up. So I was delighted when this job appeared on my lap. It was a presentation which was related to the previous Ferrero Rocher one. Unlike the previous presentation, this particular one was printed and mounted on boards. This usually means that more Photoshop work and creativity is involved. This is always a bonus in my book. On top of this bonus was the free Kinder Eggs! What a great job to be a part of.

I worked in a small team to create the concept and designs. My role was to create the designs. I used Photoshop and Illustrator, please see a couple of the visuals below.

I'll find out in the coming weeks if our presentation was successful.

Ferrero Rocher presentation

2011-10-31T10:25:00.001Z

As part of a team, I was asked to help with a pitch to Ferrero for future business. The pitch was in the form of a PowerPoint slideshow. My role was to create the background imagery for the slides.

The best part of this job was the free Ferrero Rocher! This would have made anyone happy, especially my girlfriend - who unfortunately; despite being a fan - didn't get any due to the chocolates never making it out of the studio alive!

We were pressed for time, so the imagery was created in a day. I've attached two backgrounds; they are without any text - which was included in the PowerPoint slideshow.

Pregnancy photographs: Kelly

2011-10-30T16:15:00.001Z

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by an old friend who I studied photography with at Spelthorne College. We hadn't been in contact for over a decade, this was recently rectified by the wonderful Facebook. During our decade of no contact she had married and had a child. She is now heavily pregnant (8 months I believe) and wishing to have some photographs taken. This is not my area at all, but I willingly said yes. Very excited to be seeing her again and catching up.

I was surprised that she had asked me but she said,

"I had some photographs taken of my last pregnancy, but this time I wanted some professional ones done. You were the first person I thought of."

I am extremely touched with her sentiment. We had done a lot of studio shoots together as youngsters and here we were again. I refused payment but we came to a mutual agreement, I would happily take the photographs and in return I could use her studio and lighting set up as and when I need it.

It was great to see her and try my hand at pregnancy photography. The best part of this whole thing is that like me, Kelly is a Creative - which means I'm allowed to be as artistic as I like. I definitely didn't want to churn out the standard style of pregnancy photos that we have all seen.

Director of an indepent film

2011-10-27T14:03:00.003+01:00

It was only last week I was telling a friend how I yearned to work on another independent film. I've worked on four previously as a Director of Photography, Art Director and amateur actor. It was always a lot of fun. I've been dieing to direct my own film, but have always struggled with ideas for a story - as this is not my strength. My strength is visualization, not writing. As a strange quirk of fate, I was asked yesterday if I would be interested in directing a film based on an old school friends' story.

After an informal meeting down the local pub, I of course jumped at the chance. I can't begin to explain how excited I am about the opportunity. The genre is horror, and right now this is as much as I know. Although my friend has many written stories, he wants to create a new one from scratch. We have decided to meet up each week for the next couple of months to come up with something we're both happy with. I will keep you posted.

Epsom Derby multi-media video

2011-10-26T12:13:00.001+01:00

I don't wish to sound like a broken record but I'm afraid I'm going to. This job was the same format as the previous two multi-media videos I was asked to create this month. Fortunately for the client, this was the third video - making it the fastest and cheapest for me to create.

For the last two videos I was handed some poor photographs taken by one of the account handlers which I needed to edit into better looking images. I have mentioned to the agency that booking me to take the photographs in future will benefit their cause. I'm glad to announce that they agreed!

The finished video is up on their website, but unfortunately I am prohibited from sharing a link here for copyright reasons.

Supermalt multi-media video

2011-10-25T12:05:00.002+01:00

This was a very similar job to the previous multi-media video I create for the advertising agencys' website. The project was to show off the grassroots marketing strategies for Supermalt based around Notting Hill Carnival. It was almost identical in format to the previous job, this made it very easy for me to have a speedy turnaround - which of course always makes clients pleased.

It was created from pre-existing amateur photographs (not taken by Rewkachu), and I had to edit them to appear professional. The end result worked quite well. Again, I am unable to post a link here due to copyright reasons.

OK Magazine & the Royal Wedding

2011-10-23T11:12:00.001+01:00

This job was to create a multi-media video for an advertising agencys' website. I had to use existing photographs of a guerrilla campaign for OK Magazine, which promoted their Royal Wedding edition. Their strategy was very effective, they erected large banners along the route taken by the Royal Carriage, and they gave out thousands of Ok Magazine flags with the Union Jack on it. They achieved an incredible amount of air time, at very little cost.

Unfortunately the photos that I had to work with were taken on a compact camera by an unprofessional. These photos had nothing to do with Rewkachu of course. My challenge was to make the best out of the photos I could, by creative cropping, colour correction and using clever editing. If you were to compare the original photos with the multi-media video I created - you would be surprised at the outcome.

I'm pleased with the results, as were the client. Unfortunately I can't post a clip here due to copyright reasons.

Candour Business Cards

2011-10-21T11:00:00.002+01:00

With new employees joining Candour there comes the need for new business cards. Not much to say here, but a simple job to amend the artwork I'd previously created with new names. I created the original artwork in Photoshop and InDesign, it was only the InDesign documents that needed amending.

Telluride Photography Festival 2011

2011-10-14T14:57:00.006+01:00

September usually means I take a month off, who am I to break such a fun tradition? This year I flew to Canada for five days, then onto Colorado for ten days and finally to Kansas for a further ten days. I won’t give you the details for the entire trip, I will narrow it down to the business relevant part only, Colorado.

I’ve just got home from the second annual Telluride Photography Festival. Both years I have volunteered and both years I’ve found it thoroughly rewarding. This year however, I got more involved. The first time around I spent most of my time staring in wonder at the autumn colours that the Colorado landscapes offer. I’d never seen anything like it, so last time I really didn’t do much else other than take it all in.

The festival is a great place for any photographer at any level to build contacts and learn new techniques. I made full use of that this year. There were many symposiums and seminars, of which I managed to attend most of – learning about the correct application and creation of HDR imagery, photographic techniques for styles such as landscape and adventure, how to fund a conservation project, how to maintain a successful photography business and how to make stock photography a viable income etc. It really was a wealth of knowledge, and it was handed down by the very best of each field. The line-up included successful conservation photographers such as Ian Shive, Garth Lenz, David Fitzsimmons and many more – some of which were fellows from The International League of Conservation Photographers. There were high end landscape photographers such as Adam Barker. Numerous photo editors from magazines as established and respected as National Geographic and many more industry experts getting involved in the festival.

The festival is quite small, it’s only the second year. As a self employed photographer/designer this is fine by me, the small size of the festival allowed everyone to mingle freely and build their contact lists. I couldn’t be any happier with the contacts I have made this year.

I also attended a three day workshop with Adam Barker. This proved to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I learned an incredible amount from this self taught landscape wizard. He has a way of delivering his knowledge in a humble and friendly way. I believe that everyone on this workshop evolved into a greater photographer. I definitely feel that I have gone up another level. The 4:30am starts were all worth it, there aren’t many things in life that are more satisfying than being in a vista as beautiful as the San Juan mountains as the sun rises.

Luckily enough, on one of the days of the festival there was a mini DSLR film festival. I believe I must have sat and watched about 30 short films that day. The majority of them were very interesting, and all of them were shot creatively. There were three movies which made a lasting impression however:

Wild Life: A New Generation of Wild / Filmmaker: Ian Shive

WildWater / Filmmaker: Anson Fogel,

Whose Wilderness Is It? / Filmmaker: Gabby Garcia-Pardo, Taylor Estape

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the directors/photographers of these films, I will remain in contact with them all and track their progress. There will be many exciting films in the future from each of these creatives. Ian and Gabby especially, are great human specimens, and I find them utterly inspiring. Thanks to these guys, in the near future I am going to start shooting DSLR films myself. This will translate into the films I currently shoot for my clients, and also as a personal interest.

Go to Telluride Photography Festival 2012, you won’t regret it.

New lens investment

2011-09-18T23:55:00.005+01:00

For the last couple of weeks I've been researching photographic equipment. It is about time I upgrade some of my gear again.

I finally decided on the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8, the top of the range wide angle lens. I picked it up a couple of days ago and I've been playing with it. It is beautiful! Worth every penny.

First dip into Keynote

2011-09-12T10:30:00.001+01:00

This was indeed my first dip into Keynote - the Apple Mac competitor to Microsofts' Powerpoint. I was asked to amend some slideshows for one of the companies that regularly hire me. The employee that had previously made the files had recently found another job, leaving them without anyone proficient in the software. Obviously I took up the challenge armed with my knowledge of Powerpoint. I actually found Keynote a breeze to work with. I'm not sure why I might have been expecting otherwise, Macintosh software is usually far more user friendly than PC.

With the job done and clients happy, I can now safely add Keynote to the list of software I'm comfortable with.

V Energy concepts 2012

2011-09-11T12:05:00.002+01:00

I've recently been a part of taking concepts from stage one to artwork stage (see previous posts). This week I have been helping those in the office out by helping illustrate a powerpoint document with some custom photoshop designed diagrams. The aim is to prove to V Energy that we are indeed the team to keep working with for next year. The presentation is packed with projections and ideas for next year.

Fingers crossed!

Andrex Classic White - Let's Grow

2011-09-09T08:23:00.004+01:00

Let's Grow is a commendable project run by Morrisons supermarket. Click the above link to find out more - I won't go into it here. The Andrex Classic White 9 roll pack includes a pack flash with the information about Let's Grow. I was asked to create artwork and visuals for a double sided A6 leaflet, using elements from the pack. The artwork was signed off by Andrex and Morrisons alike.

Startsæt Pitch

2011-08-24T14:53:00.003+01:00

My Danish client asked me to design the visual concepts for a pitch called Startsæt. This word roughly translates to "starter pack". The pitch was against a competing company in Denmark to try and win government sponsorship for a project to help teenagers reach their potential. The starter pack would be presented in the form of a website, not unlike a social network. The website would include all the information a teenager needs when taking their first independent steps in life. From health to employment, social skills to accommodation.

I decided the best route to take would be to focus on what is popular on the web with the intended age group. Social networks and gaming. After researching, I loosely based my concepts on various existing sites feeling this would be the most attractive solution for the demographic.

I also pointed out that this age group is currently fixated on phone apps and this should be an avenue we need to address. I drew on my previous experience with phone app design to put the visual in effect.

Unfortunately, despite my work being completed on time, we failed to meet the pitch deadline. There was an unavoidable technical issue with one of the other departments back in Denmark. It's a shame, but these things happen.

V Energy e-mailer

2011-08-08T11:35:00.001+01:00

I have posted a few times about the V Energy drink recently, so I won't go into details this time in case you have read the previous ones.

This job was a straight forward conversion of existing artwork and concepts I initially created, into an emailable promotional material with the dates and venues of the up-coming events.

Andrex Washlets water feature

2011-08-04T20:37:00.001+01:00

This was a relatively small, straight forward two day job. I was asked to create the artwork and visuals, for a temporary water feature which would stand in the Andrex head office lobby. The artwork would be fitted around the feature to create the illusion of a single structure.

The artwork was created using a mixture of the Washlets package design, and a previous activity stand I worked on.

V Energy artwork

2011-08-04T16:16:00.001+01:00

Recently you might have read the two posts I wrote documenting the concept phases for this job. I am very happy to announce that the V Energy guys liked our concepts and we were given the go ahead to start the final artwork stage.

If you haven't read the previous two posts, I will explain it breifly. V Energy drink is a soft beverage made from Guarana berries. The promotion has been created to make use of the building olympic fever amongst the population by building a touring beach volley ball activity.

I was asked to create all of the artwork and visuals. The artwork included: A tarpaulin sheet, fridge artwork, banners, leaflet, volleyball, uniform, ten-card etc.

Kleenex Balsam Winter concepts

2011-07-21T19:17:00.001+01:00

Kleenex are wanting to start thinking about their Winter campaign for Kleenex Balsam tissues. They leave behind a micro-fine balm which soothes the nose and helps prevent soreness. The concept we are playing with is the evocative notion of motherly love. Those moments as children when we are sick and looked after.

I was asked to create graphics for the second stage concept, which you can see below. The idea was to regress back to the childhood era of the brands target audience.

With the concepts done, I just have to wait now to find out if we got the campaign.

Very.co.uk activity

2011-07-10T12:58:00.003+01:00

Very.co.uk is an online store which has quite a large catalogue of products from: clothing, electronic, home & furniture, toys, sport & leisure etc. Part of a small team, my role was to illustrate second stage visuals and then finally artwork.

The activity was a great idea, which I can't take credit for I must admit. Very will be putting a team of specialists together to tour the country and help out the public with advice on shopping and style. They are going to be called the "V Team". Due to their name, we are decorating their vehicle with "A Team" style graphics, see below. I think it's really clever.

I've also had to create the main artwork which is a six page fold out leaflet. The best part of this job was retouching the photograph of Fearne Cotton, it didn't need much to be fair!

Priors Field School - Video documentation

2011-07-09T18:43:00.001+01:00

This is the fifth year I have been asked to do this particular job. You will see posts about it for a few of the previous years.

Essentially, I am asked to be the cameraman at an end of year presentation put on for the parents of the pupils. Each year the production of the presentation gets bigger and more impressive. I have attached a couple of snaps of the production table, and camera which I was using.

In previous years, I have sang the praises of Priors Field School very highly. I will spare you this year, in case you have read my previous posts.

Visit Britain pitch

2011-07-06T18:18:00.001+01:00

This is another one of those jobs which I doubt I can talk about in detail. All I will say is that it was a pitch, delivered as a slideshow and A4 prints. My role was to create all of the artwork. I also had to choose ten British attractions and landmarks to include images of. This was fun, but very difficult. Can you choose just ten British attractions?

Rule Britannia!

V Energy concepts 2

2011-07-05T16:32:00.004+01:00

V Energy drink, the soft beverage made from Guarana berries. In a recent post I mentioned we were pitching to V Energy to show them that we are the team to market them. Well, the response was good and they are interested in relaunching the drink and they would like us to pitch some specific ideas.

The creative director on this particular job came up with the clever idea of creating a beach volley ball scene (while olympic fever is starting to take hold). There would also be a branded bar and branded rig. We looked into the costing of dying the sand green, but it was too high. Afterall, there would be alot of sand and it would need to be packed away each time - in theory due to the activity touring festivals and outdoor events.

Fingers crossed V Energy will like the idea and give us the go ahead.

Andrex Limited Collection video

2011-07-04T18:24:00.001+01:00

Having done the artwork for the Limited Collection shopping center activity, I was asked to also create a video documentary of event at three locations around southern England. The project has taken approximately four weeks from planning to final edit.

My role was director, producer, cameraman, graphics creator and sound engineer. It sounds a lot of work. Believe me, it was. But film is one of the most fun (yet stressful) mediums to work in. I absolutely love it. I must say, I also had alot of fun remixing the soundtrack - this is a hobbie of mine and I've never thought I'd have to do it in a job one day.

I assembled a small team of colleagues to create the video, and the final product was a polished broadcast quality 3 minute film.

All in all, this was very rewarding. I will start to seek out more work like this.

ISU Plus branding

2011-07-02T09:12:00.001+01:00

The Danish company that I often do work for has just changed it's name from ISU, to ISU Plus.

I was asked to ammend all of their existing branded materials with the new logo. This was easy enough because I created the original materials. I also redrew their new logo and output it as high resolution artwork for them.

V Energy concepts

2011-06-17T13:26:00.002+01:00

I love concept work, you can really let your imagination run. For me especially, it's about the Photoshop work. Concept boards always come with extremely tight and pressured deadlines, but they are fun.

The pitch itself was a a slidesow, plus A3 prints. In this very early stage we are just trying to illustrate to them that we are interested in marketing their brand, and we are the best people to do so.

20:20 Direct Mailer

2011-06-07T20:04:00.001+01:00

Working as part of a small team, my role was photo retouching existing artwork. A direct mailer is a form of marketing, it really is as it sounds. You mail your information, promotion, portfolio etc directly to a chosen party.

This mailer was for one of the agencies I do work for, so I guess I shouldn't name them or show a visual.

Everything Everywhere Everyday pitch

2011-06-02T14:51:00.004+01:00

Because this is at pitch stage I really shouldn't say anything about it other than it was delivered as a slideshow and A4 prints.

I will however attach a couple of visuals for you to see.

Ladies' Day at Epsom Downs Racecourse

2011-06-01T17:03:00.002+01:00

The title of this post sounds alot more interesting than it actually is, so I will keep this one short. I did not get to go to Epsom Downs. All I had to do was create a large backdrop for people to stand in front of and get their photograph taken.

The wall was made in three panels, and it was merely a tidy, repeat pattern of various logos.

Supermalt advert

2011-05-23T11:34:00.000+01:00

This job was suprisingly quick. I was asked to find an advert that I created several years ago and ammend it. It actually took me longer to locate the advert in the filing system, than to make the amend. It really was years ago, I count myself lucky for having a secret compulsion for tidying and keeping files.

Andrex Gorgeous Comfort activity

2011-05-18T16:41:00.002+01:00

This last job has been another large shopping centre activity. A promotional tool for brands to use experiential marketing tecnique to increase brand or product awareness. It was the latter in this case, everybody knows Andrex. The basic set up was very similar to the Skin Kind activity. In size at least. This meant that the work load for myself, and indeed everyone in the team, was quite demanding. My role was to create second stage visuals and all of the artwork.

The Gorgeous Comfort range is probably the softest toilet tissue there is. Trust me, I felt it and it's like a pillow! We had to drive home the notion of extra comfort to the general public. You will see in the photographs that some of the flooring was padded to illustrate the quilting of the tissue. There is also a large tissue roll in the center of the set, in which the general public could play lucky dip for the chance to win various prizes.

The artwork included, floor mats, posters, wallpaper, stickers, badges, uniforms and leaflets.

Andrex Skin Kind floor plans

2011-04-14T15:20:00.002+01:00

I was previously involved in creating the artwork and visuals for a large 15 x 15m shopping centre activity for the new Skin Kind range. (See previous post) As I had mentioned, it had been designed with the forethought that as it toured the countrys' shopping centres - each centre would have different restrictions on what footprint size was available.

With this in mind, I was asked to create various floorplans of the activity for the set builders to refer to in each location. The sizes differed from 15 x 15m, to 7 x 8m.

Not the most exciting job, but still something a little different than I'm used to - so I'm not complaing, it keeps me on my toes.

Health Lottery Presentation

2011-04-14T14:35:00.003+01:00

This was one of those jobs that was huge, yet had a very tight deadline. I worked a few 15 hour days, one of them was an 18 hour stint. The end product was well worth it though. The client was happy, and I felt proud to have been a part of it.

I'm not sure I can say too much, so I will keep it brief. The Health Lottery is a new forthcoming lottery game playable natiowide. A percentage of the profits will go directly to charities involved within the health sector. When it was explained to me it sounded like a very good system, I've never been a lottery player but I will probably become a regular to this particular lottery. The chances of winning are alot greater than that of it's main rival (which I won't name by name).

My job was to help visualize an additional idea in the medium of A4 prints, and a powerpoint slideshow - which was to be pitched to various important people. I don't think I can tell you the idea due to not personally knowing the actual outcome of the pitch. Therefore I will post a few visuals for you to see at least the colour scheme and styling of the job, without giving anything away.

Andrex Limited Collection

2011-04-07T11:45:00.001+01:00

Limited Collection is the third and final of the large jobs that I was involved in at the same time. I was part of a sizeable team creating a large shopping centre activity to promote another new range from Andrex.

The Limited Collection range boasts to be the only toilet tissue which has uniquely printed rolls in each pack. Something to brighten up an otherwise dull room.

The activity itself needed alot of artwork creating from exsiting branded material. The original pack artwork was quite complex, which meant maximum concentration was needed when adapting it for each item. These items included: a bag for life, t-shirts, badges, 3x double sided A6 leaflets, large banners, a marquee and unit, and a scaled up model of the tissue rolls standing 1m high.

Canada / Niagara Falls

2011-03-30T13:39:00.001+01:00

I've been very busy lately, too busy in fact for a vacation. However, this break had been prebooked for quite some time. My clients had all been prewarned also. So I decided to turn off the work side of my brain and enjoy visiting my girlfriend eight days and having a short photography trip.

I've uploaded some of the photos to my flickr account.

Andrex Skin Kind activity

2011-03-09T16:51:00.003Z

Skin Kind is a new toilet tissue product from Andrex. This range has a scented inner core, and the tissue itself is enriched with Aloe Vera and vitamin E. The clear message in the brief was for us to get across - "be kinder to your skin". I worked as part of a relatively large team, my role was creating all of the artwork and second stage visuals. This was one of the three large jobs I had on.

We created a large activity stand which will be able to be assembled and reassembled in different sizes, depending on which shopping centre it was in. It will be touring the country promoting the product. It has a hand massage area, for you to sample the Aloe Vera scent and receive a professional massage, there is also an area in which you can meet the Andrex puppy and have a
photo taken

In terms of what artwork was needed for the activity, it was really involved as there were t-shirts, floor mat, various posters, wallpaper, leaflets, branded photo frame & bags.

I've said it before on other jobs, and I'll say it again - the packaging colours were shades of greens which makes me happy. This always makes jobs even more enjoyable for me.

Biotrue t-shirt

2011-03-09T15:38:00.003Z

We created the shopping centre stand previously (see earlier post), and now it was time to design and create the artwork for the t-shirts. These t-shirts would be worn by the brand ambassadors. We decided to keep the design minimal to complement the overall feel of the brand.

Nissan Freeride World Tour 2

2011-03-09T14:18:00.000Z

Back in January I posted about a brief from Nissan, the promotion "Freeride World Tour". The promotion has been extended to include Italy. This means that I had to re-layout the original artwork with Italian instead. I think that makes five languages now. The artwork included a poster, a leaflet, a banner and a TV splash screen.

Biotrue stand

2011-03-04T12:18:00.003Z

I've been juggling a couple of larger jobs over the last three weeks - and this is one of them. I thrive when given large jobs to sink my teeth into, I feel very fortunate indeed.

I digress, Biotrue is an innovative solution for contact lens care. It has a lubricant that is found naturally in the eye which matches the pH of tears. It sounds impressive to me. I don't wear contact lenses so it doesn't mean to much to me personally, but anything that's natural is great in my book.

Using existing product material from Bausch & Lomb, we had to create a promotional stand for positioning in shopping centres. The stand itself stood 1.2m high and was designed in a series of panels. Unusually, the printer wanted these large panels supplied at 100% and 300dpi. It's typical for a printer to ask for scaled down artwork so the files are manageable - ie. 50% or 25% at 200 or 100dpi. I double checked and triple checked this with the printer, and they insisted I supply the full resolution, full size files. This meant the design process was painfully slow. I believe the largest file was a massively unweildy 9Gb!

Guess what happened when I supplied the files? They complained that they were too large and had ground the printer to a halt. They asked me to resupply them at 10% and 300dpi. The moral of the story is, when you call a printer for specs - make sure you speak to the right person.

The final printing did work out great however.

Andrex Skin Kind bag

2011-02-20T13:14:00.002Z

I won't say much at this point, because the main bulk of this job is approaching fast. Suffice to say that it's one of Andrex's new ranges of toilet tissue. For the moment, I was just asked to create a goodie bag from the pack artwork.

The goodie bag would be packed with goodies (suprise suprise) and handed out at various marketing events as way of beginning promotion.

This packing to this range is green, green and green. Most people that know me, know that I love green!

Nissan Freshtracks 2

2011-02-18T14:21:00.000Z

This Nissan promotion has been expanded and now includes resorts in two new countries; Germany and Spain. The existing artwork that was created was adapted, translated and created to work in these two new locations.

Working with text in different languages is something I've got used to. All of that work I've done for my Danish client. When you design materials in different languages you realize that word flow, letter spacing and line breaks can differ greatly. This is something I enjoy, it keeps me on my toes!

Nissan Freshtracks

2011-02-09T09:41:00.001Z

This was quite an unusual brief. We had to create promotional materials for three separate locations: Verbier, Livigno & Avoriaz. Each of these are ski resorts. Nissan’s promotion was for a select few enthusiasts at each location to win the chance to be the first onto the snow, a whole hour before the general public. This wasn’t the unusual part.

The folk at Nissan told us to “dumb down” our designs, we had to create a promotion that didn’t look thought out. I know, this sounds strange. We still had to create clear and concise materials however. Nissans’ reason was simple, and I agree – the average snowboarder is a free spirited human who doesn’t like “the man”. Hence why the designs had to look less funded and branded.

The materials included: 3x A1 posters, A5 leaflet, 2x large hanging banners, and two tv screen presentations.

I won’t show them here because someone skimming over this post might think they are the best designs I could come up with. They do however do the job.

Sandwich bar in India

2011-01-25T11:24:00.000Z

I can’t say much about this one at all at the moment. It’s not because I’m sworn to secrecy either. It’s simply because a name doesn’t exist for this job yet! The client is opening a chain of trendy, up market, European sandwich bars in the business districts of India. All things European are somewhat of a craze out there at the moment apparently. For the last few days I have been working in a very small team to come up with a brand name, font, colour pallete etc. If I knew more at this point I’d tell you, we currently have around 50 ideas for brand names! Watch this space, or atleast watch the spaces in India.

Andrex PuppyWorld

2011-01-22T09:39:00.005Z

Back in November I mentioned some Andrex concepts, I also stated I didn't want to talk about it and give myself bad luck. Well, it turns out Andrex loved the concepts and we've been full steam ahead.

I've been part of a fairly large team, having the role of artworker & punsmith (I'll get to that later). Andrex PuppyWorld is a parallel dimension where puppies walk upright and live and act like humans. This is shown in the tv commercial where our star puppy (which is animated) had his own house. My job was to artwork this house into reality.

Let me put that another way. We built a replica of the animated house, standing over 2m high and over 15m wide. Yes, it's actually almost house sized! The point of it is for the general public to enter it an experiencial couple of minutes, thus increasing the impact of the campaign strategy.

I had to artwork the floor, the outer walls, the inner walls, the archway. You name it, the lot. Twas a massive job, and I loved it.

I mentioned earlier that I was also a punsmith. In one of the rooms in the house, there is a full bookshelf. I was given the additional task of coming up with some doggy puns for book titles. Which of course I relished because I love punnery. Paw & Peace, Bone with the Wind, A Pugs Life etc. I came up with 45 of these beauties. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed my favourite...

The Lion, The Bitch & The Wardrobe.

Nissan Freeride World Tour

2011-01-14T00:01:00.006Z

This was a set of four, double sided postcards & a single data capture card. Nissan work closely sponsoring several Ski & Snowboarding events around the world. I'm lucky enough to get to work on these. Most of these Nissan jobs have to be done more than once over with various translations. Great news for me of course!

The postcard set promoted the Freeride World Tour and competition for this year. Each of the postcards had a different Ski or Snowboarding champion on the front. You've got to love Winter Sport photography! Unfortunately I had nothing to do with the photography on these. I might try my hand at Winter Sport photography at some point, it looks a lot of fun.

On the back of the postcards can be found the details for the competition.

Leaving cards

2011-01-06T16:54:00.000Z

This was a small but fun job. I had to create two humorous leaving cards for a couple of employees at Kleenex. The employees in question were the long standing senior account handler, someone equally important from their production team (who were now moving to Coke-Cola). They took a day each to create, and were graciously received with sniggers and chortles. I won't post them here because they have some personal information on pertaining to the two folk in question.

Needless to say, it's a nice change to do a non serious job once in a while.

Candour stationery

2010-12-18T11:31:00.002Z

The recent MAA advertisement highlighted to Candour that they needed some new stationery - letterheads, compliment slips, business card etc. They are moving offices in the new year (to a much plusher settlement I must add), therefore they needed all the details updated.

After doing the initial re-design of the stationery, we are putting the job on hold until after Christmas. The reason being they are currently unsure of who will have which telephone numbers in the new offices. I have however created the signage for the office ahead of time.

Candour MAA advertisment

2010-12-08T21:41:00.004Z

The MAA - Marketing Agencies Association (previously MCCA) publish a yearly book. Well it's more of a bible of who's who in the UK marketing world. Hundreds of marketing companies jockey for work inside it's pages. As you can imagine with such competition in one place, it's important to have a clear and stylish looking bio. Actually, I must admit, the MAA send very strict guidelines for how ads are to look. Each company's ad is layed out exactly the same, it's just the content that differs.

Andrex - "It's the little things" postcard

2010-11-24T23:07:00.004Z

This was a fairly straight forward job, which was a welcome break - most of the other work this month has been highly technical, demanding and in-depth. This was however as simple as it sounds. A simple promotional two sided postcard, the kind you might find stuffed into your Sunday newspaper. The postcards purpose was to raise brand awareness and highlight Andrex's new campaign.

Kleenex - Sore to Soothed

2010-11-17T15:46:00.004Z

This has been an extremely involved job - spanning over two weeks of non stop graft. It's jobs like this that makes me realize how lucky I am to be doing something I enjoy!

Sore to Soothed is the new Kleenex campaign for their latest product, Kleenex Balsam. You might have read on my blog, back in May, that I was involved with the concept boards. There's a larger chance that you didn't read my blog back in May of course. None the less, Kleenex loved the concept boards, and this month it has been full steam ahead.

I was the artworker for the entire campaign, things got very tecnical for a while. Alot of two-ing and fro-ing from the printers while we strived to get the job right.

Why was it such a demanding job? The final prints involved a 4x4m floor media, a 2m high dumpbin for the product to sit in, a couple of different concourse stands (one of which was 3x2m). Each of these had to be cut a specific shape, and I had to do the maths along with the artwork. I'd forgotten how to use that part of my brain! The team involved was fairly large also, what with the tv commercial, illustrations, specialist printers, acount handlers, production teams and ofcourse.... client.

A huge job, it all ended great and now, thank god... I can blink!

Omega / 2012 Olympics pitch

2010-11-17T10:16:00.003Z

With the 2012 Olympics just around the corner, there are of course various opportunities to get new business. I remember a couple of years ago a Spanish friend of mine told this exact same thing. He said that business opportunities in Barcelona during the lead up to the Olympics were plentiful, for those that were looking for them. Anyway, I digress. Omega, the time piece specialist, are the official time-keepers for the 2012 Olympics - aren't they always?

The pitch was created on A2 boards & and an accompanying Keynote show (Apples' version of Powerpoint). We have yet to hear back if the pitch was successful, time shall tell!

Andrex PuppyWorld concept

2010-11-03T16:56:00.002Z

I don't to say too much about this one in case I give myself the kiss of death! Needless to say, I have spent a couple of days working in a small team (as the artworker) to come up with a new campaign for Andrex Tissues. The concept is PuppyWorld, and if they like it then I will of course be blogging about it in the near future! Wish us luck.

Goal exhibition stand

2010-10-30T21:36:00.003+01:00

I was approached to design an exhibition stand by the Danish company ISU. The stand was 2 x 3m. The brief was to come up with an illustration that was simple, stylish and that conveyed the message "goal orientated". The exhibition was placed in the business district and aimed at residential homes for the elderly. There are some translation difficulties with me trying to explain this here, but in a nutshell the goals were:

Goal oriented treatment of the citizen

Goal oriented exploitation of resources

Goal oriented management of economy

To put it even simpler, staff at residential homes should use goals to increase the welfare and happiness of the elderly.

After toying with several ideas we agreed to go with the cheering crowd illustration you see here. The arrows point towards an actual goal that was placed in front of the stand for impact. Using brand colours, everyone was happy with the end result.

Candour staffing emailer

2010-10-15T13:04:00.003+01:00

This promotional emailer is Candour Marketing's first of many newsletters, which is to be sent out regularly to all on their mailing list. Being the first of many, this particular job took a fair amount of setting up. This was also my first promotional emailer. The design had to be created within the constraints of the medium in mind. This layout was then passed over to the HTML specialist who created the template. So in future, the various other mailers will be incredibly quick and easy to create. It will be simply a matter of changing the content to suit the news.

Rewkachu Green development

2010-10-07T21:30:00.003+01:00

A rather good by-product of the inspiration I brought home from the Telluride Photography Festival is that I have decided to take an active conservation role with my spare time.

In the last couple of weeks I have decided to offer my experience and skill-set to conservation organisations for next to nothing or free. I just want to cover my costs. The venture is called Rewkachu Green. I have been busy designing the website and blog, I have also started contacting non-profit organisations telling them of my existence.

When the website is up and running (another few weeks) I will step up another gear and promote the service to those that need to know. As soon as it is online I will be redesigning my my main website also, uploading newer work that's of a higher standard, and decluttering it for ease of use.

Here's the Rewkachu Green logo, I love it.

Rewkachu takes a step forward

2010-10-02T09:58:00.003+01:00

Still filled with fire in belly from the recent Telluride Photography Festival (see my last post). I've decided to create a more defined online presence for my company. I've created a Rewkachu photography & design facebook page, feel free to go ahead and "like" it. I've created a Rewkachu twitter page. I've also created a pro flickr account. Each of these are interlinked too, in true "web" fashion - so I update one, and they all update. My tech friend Mark has been on at me for ages about such advances, I'll listen to him next time perhaps!

I'm currently mulling over an idea for a sister company too, I'll probably mention this again soon in much more detail.

Telluride Photography Festival 2010

2010-09-28T08:50:00.002+01:00

I just got back from Colorado, again. I flew back out there for the Telluride Photography Festival. I worked as a volunteer for the week. I was scheduled to work two days, but I ended up loving the festival and other volunteers so much that I worked more than I was scheduled for. I had the best time and look back with the thought - "flying out especially for the festival was one of the best decisions of my life". I will do again next year for sure. I'll get to why it was such a good decision for me in a moment, but I have to advise you (if you enjoy photography) this is an event you need to put on your calendar.

There were numerous galleries of high class work dotted around the small beautiful town. Seminars, workshops, photography nature walks, competitions and hundreds of interesting people to talk to and network with. I usually feel uncomfortable networking, but everyone there was so interesting.

The highlight for me were the portfolio reviews. Some of the worlds leading photographers were there doing said reviews. I was lucky enough to sit down and hear thoughts about my work from three of the five photographers I set out to speak to. Robert Glenn Ketchum and Carlton Ward Jnr. the two I missed - I'm sure I'll grab them next year.

I spoke to Tom Mangelsen, heavyweight mega-fauna photographer from the iLCP and he was very honest and gave me some amazing tips. I spoke to Emily Loose, the director of communications for the WILD foundation and she was extremely cool to speak to (pretty witty also). From her I got tips on how to get involved with conservation and contacts. Most impressive of all, I managed to secure the very first portfolio review of the entire festival, a 9am slot with no other than Cristina Mittermeier. Somewhat of a personal hero of mine. I won't go into too much detail but she is the president of the International League of Conservation Photographers - who do an incredible amount of good for our planet. She was very pleased with my photography, pointed out a few ways of making it better. She also openly preferred my photographs of the Arabic asylum seekers to my wildlife shots. Which is food for thought.

Needless to say, speaking to these incredible people and listening to them in seminars really reminded me of my younger self. The guy that once actively sought conservation, only to let it drift away over the years due to the "rat race" and city life. Well, I can confirm that I'm back! I am now contacting several non-profit organisations offering my services. I have been fired up, and I'm dieing to help out.

Thank you Telluride Photo Festival, but most of all, thank you Cristina & the iLCP!

ISU welfare for the elderly poster

2010-09-20T12:34:00.000+01:00

A nice easy job. It's a small world nowadays, I'm from England, the client (ISU Plus) is from Denmark - and I did the job whilst in Colorado. I needed a little bit of assistance from my housemate, I needed a few files sent to me from my home PC before I could begin. I had to talk him through my complicated filing system and arrange for him to upload the needed images.

The job really was a simple one, which was welcomed because I was on holiday. All I had to do was convert the front page of an 8 page brochure I had previously designed into an A2 poster. The brochure itself was A4. At the time designing it I used forethought and created it at A3 (then scaled it down), in case this scenario ever arose. I'm glad I did, converting an A3 image to A2, is easy with a bit of "jiggery-pokery" (yes that's a technical term). Converting an A4 image to A2 is slightly scary due to print resolutions and pixelation.

212 VIP Fragrance

2010-09-13T13:05:00.003+01:00

I had to artwork an A6 flyer for a Carolina Herrera fragrance called "212 VIP". The promotion was for people who found themselves in the position of said flyers - they have to go to the website and enter a game for a chance to win. The prize was "Win a private party in New York".... yes please!!

Luxury Buggy concept boards

2010-09-08T08:07:00.003+01:00

Last year I created some A3 concept boards, ten in total. It was a for a new company called Luxury Buggy based in Portugal. The company plans to be the most affordable, green, and luxurious taxi service in the region. I'm not sure I'm allowed to give any further information out due to the company not being launched yet.

However, this week I had to revisit the concept boards and change some of the information. Technology moves so fast, it seems as if new technology is being put in place to make the Luxury Buggy idea even "greener" than first envisaged. Exactly the kind of news I like hearing.

As with most concept board jobs, this one was on the tightest of deadlines!

America photography trip

2010-08-21T22:12:00.002+01:00

I am currently in Colorado for my what seems yearly photography trip. Colorado is VERY photogenic I can tell you. I'm here for a month and I have taken nearly 2000 photos already, I still have about 8 days left.

I've been staying in a town called Telluride. This place is an artists / photographers heaven. Everyone here is a Creative. It's very inspiring!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=460157&id=621210323&l=1ba7ba05ba

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=465179&id=621210323&l=3c79926b5f

Priors Field School - Video documentation

2010-07-05T22:07:00.002+01:00

This is the forth year in a row I've been asked to be involved with this Priors Field School event. I've posted about it each year but I will briefly describe it again.

It's actually a highly enjoyable job which takes an incredible amount of concentration. This is a good challenge for me because I'm used to working alone at my own pace and listening to music, great for creativity but not great for concentration.

It's a two day event where the pupils of this all girls boarding school put on a bit of a show for the parents on the last day of term. The pupils leaving this year play the songs they have written, play in orchestras, show their art, and give speeches. The teachers also give a round up to the years progress and give out prizes to exceptional students.

My role changed this year slightly. I was given control of a free roaming broadcast quality camera. A huge thing on a tripod with wheels, the kind you see in studios broadcasting live. The hardest part is to get to grips with the running order of the show by being at the rehearsals on day 1, and on day 2 I have to film and edit LIVE to a 30 foot screen at the head of the hall - broadcasting to over 1000 parents. I control two broadcast quality camera's and a basic live mixing desk. The sound, probably the most important part of the production is done by a friend and sound engineer who runs the company Kinetic (based in Woking).

As I've said before, if I have children, and if I have a girl, I will be thinking about paying for her education at this incredible school. Very impressive indeed.

Sorry there is nothing to show you, but it's all mixed live.

Andrex - Fresh sampling leaflet

2010-07-01T22:04:00.003+01:00

The graphics for the stand were created, and that part of the Andrex Fresh job this yeah is complete. I needed to create an A5 leaflet which accompanied the exponential stand. The leaflet was to be handed out by the staff, to passers by in shopping malls.

Andrex - Fresh stand

2010-06-25T22:02:00.002+01:00

Work resumed on the Andrex Fresh exponential stand. The concept boards were approved by the client, and the artwork files were needed as soon as possible!

My role was to create said artwork files, ready to be printed and built. It's been fun seeing this job evolve from start to finish.

Vintage Marque stand visuals

2010-06-15T21:57:00.005+01:00

Vintage Marque are a high quality alcoholic beverage brand. Ports and Madeiras being the main bulk of their stock and sales.

I had to work as part of a small team to create some 3D visuals for an exponential stand. The stand was created to resemble a bar.

Andrex - A6 Invite

2010-05-25T21:54:00.003+01:00

This was an in house job. By that I mean, it was an invite that was to be given out to Andrex employees, for a yearly staff event. It had to be a mixture of corporate and fun. A very simple and small job.

Kleenex - Hay Fever

2010-05-16T21:50:00.002+01:00

Kleenex Hay Fever, is one if the Summer campaigns from this giant brand. The job I was part of was very simple as the campaign is yearly and already set in place.

I simply had to create the graphics for a "dump bin" which is a large tube that is full of product samples for the general public to take. I also had to create a sticker to accompany the dump bin.

Kleenex - Sore to Soothed concept boards

2010-05-16T21:43:00.003+01:00

Sore to Soothed, a new product from Kleenex. The product has Aloe Vera in it, and is said to sooth a sore nose. I worked with the creative director to make his vision a reality on the computer. We had to create a set of concept boards, working in a small team, with limited time as usual! The concept had to include branding, product placement and an exponential stand.

Andrex - Fresh creative

2010-04-10T21:31:00.002+01:00

Back in March I was part of a small team working on a concept for this years Andrex Fresh Campaign. The concept boards were accepted by Andrex, which is GREAT.

So this week we have been honing the concept, researching possibilities and evolving the idea. You will see that the process has come along way. It's exciting for me to see it evolve. Working with the creative director is a humbling experience as always.

Nina L'elixir - concept boards

2010-03-29T21:26:00.001+01:00

Nina L'elixir is a new fragrance from Nina Ricci. I was part of a small team that worked on creating a some concept boards for an exponential event stand. Consumers would be welcomed into the stand to sample the new fragrance. The stand had to obviously suit the fragrances class. Again, as concept boards are - time was short!

Nissan - Freeride

2010-03-16T11:37:00.004Z

Nissan Freeride is a collection of sporting events held worldwide. Mainly centering around the likes of snowboarding and skiing related events.

The branding is very well set in place, so the job I was given was to simply amend and update various posters and leaflets in different languages. This is something I am very used to, due to all the work I get from Denmark.

The client was very pleased and their mind was set at ease, as I was not flustered in the slightest by working in different languages.

Kleenex Idol - Bits and bobs

2010-03-13T13:20:00.004Z

Kleenex have so much going on all year around, this week I have been doing a lot of smaller jobs for them. Jobs that only take an hour or two, but when they are all added together, they bring a real sense of weight to the Kleenex Idol campaign in general.

The bits and bobs I've been working on have been :

1) an Idol t-shirt. To be worn by the staff at the exponential stands placed in the shopping malls.

2) graphics for an instructional page, informing employees how to construct a showcase stand.

3) a goodie bag, to be handed out at shopping malls to passers by.

4) graphics for a powerpoint slideshow.

5) retouching images for a huge roller banner to be displayed in shopping malls.

6) Judges cards for a staff dancing event.

Itty bitty work, but varied.

Andrex - Fresh concept boards

2010-03-10T21:09:00.000Z

Each year Andrex output various campaigns. "Fresh" is a yearly creation, and arguably one of their biggest campaigns of the year.

I've been working alongside a creative director to make his vision reality. I must say, seeing him come up with the ideas is quite awe inspiring. It's been alot of work, many many hours. But the concept is quite exciting. Watching it evolve and its various elements is really interesting.

Andrex - Christmas concept boards

2010-03-04T10:06:00.002Z

Another set of concept boards, created in a mad rush of three days. It's strange isn't it, rushing in March to get concepts for a Christmas campaign output. I'm not going to argue with the big boys in the industry however. You simply do what they say, and happily!!

If Andrex like the pitch, then the actual job will begin around September I imagine.

Andrex - Get Closer

2010-02-26T21:01:00.002Z

"Get Closer" is another campaign from Andrex. My role for this was to create the graphics for the logo. The logo to symbolize the campaign. Again, working alongside a creative director to simply create ideas and visuals at this stage.

Andrex - Mothers Day

2010-02-24T20:51:00.001Z

Andrex, another tissue giant! I had to work alongside a creative director to create some graphics for their Mother's Day campaign.

The idea was to have an exponential experience placed in shopping malls before Mother's Day. The stand would classily advertise the brand. There would be a photo wall, with a Mother's Day relevant image, and people (mainly children) would have their photo taken in front of the wall. The photograph would then be instantly printed onto a Mother's Day card. A very simple idea, but a good one for subtle branding.

My role was to create the artwork files for the card graphics, and the large image on the photo wall.

HomeSense - concept boards

2010-02-21T20:38:00.002Z

Concept boards are always stressful and exciting. You are always given no time to create a wonderful concept for a campaign, regardless of the client. It always means long hours and alot of pressure. I'm thankful that its part of a team, rather than a solo endeavor!

My role was to make the creative directors vision become a graphic reality. Working closely with an experience mind like that is always a truely sobering experience. I learn a hell of alot from him. To turn around a job so quickly is an art I'm getting more and more accustomed to.

Kleenex Idol stand

2010-02-21T20:26:00.001Z

The is the first job in a string of many to come with the tissue giant Kleenex. Kleenex have many campaigns underway at the same time during the year. This campaign is labeled as "Kleenex Idol". I'm not sure how much I can say actually, so I will keep it fairly brief.

I was part of a small team creating various stand graphics. These included various elements, as you will see from the 3D visual. The idea was for the stand to be set up in various shopping malls, for passers by to sample the new line of Kleenex goodies. The job involved, or me, was retouching imagery, and creating huge, high resolution artwork print files.

Kleenex - Let It Out storyboard

2010-02-11T20:33:00.002Z

Another one of Kleenex's campaigns. This particular job was a promotional video showcasing a new improved hand pack of tissues.

I worked part of a small team, my particular job was to layout an in depth storyboard, based on teh creative directors vision. This story board was to be given to the video department for them to work from. So communication was key, I also also had to liase with various departments and collate the elements needed for the film.

Candour Marketing website

2010-02-08T20:19:00.002Z

I can't take credit for designing the Candour website, I'll make that very clear! It's quite a nice website actually, I think it's very well built. My role was simply to retouch the photographs, and create the buttons.

The job was for one of my very first clients, we re-connected this month, after a years absence. It's funny how a simple phone call can snowball your work load. I'm NOT complaining!! Work for this client was always extremely interesting to me.

The website has still to go live, I will add a link here when the developer has it up and running.

Analyzer brochure

2010-01-30T16:08:00.001Z

Another ISU brochure, with 8 pages of text. The idea with this brochure was to be a lot less "fun" looking than the previous brochures. This one had to have an air of professionalism and corporateness that the previous brochures had avoided. I decided to achieve this I needed to not have any distracting imagery / photographs. I would include only graphical imagery and create everything from scratch.

The reason it had to be "corporate" was due to the nature of the content. It was a brochure which was to showcase the last years results of ISU's endeavors.

Everyone was pleased with the results, including myself.

2x 8 Page brochures

2010-01-28T20:12:00.003Z

ISU approached me at the start of the year to ask me to come up with a new theme for what has become a fairly regular job. The creation of an 8 page brochure, promoting the work that ISU do in improving the welfare of the elderly, in care homes.

Previous themes have been oak leaves, blossom and red apples. This time around, due to the time of year, they asked me to make it in tune Spring. After various attempts and ideas, I researched flower types, and came up with Crocuses. ISU loved the idea, and we ran with it.

This time around, they wanted two versions that were almost identical looking, but with different text in each. I suggested that we make them different colours, as you can see. This worked gr

eat for them, and was also a much cheaper option for them than having me redesign a new layout.

Det Gode Partnerskab Show

2010-01-25T19:45:00.005Z

Det Gode Partnerskab is a Danish project which translates to "The Good Partnership". The project includes a range of public and private companies jointly trying to bring more dynamism and flexibility in public-private cooperation so that there will be more focus on service and quality.

To promote the venture, it was decided that project needed an exhibition launch. This is where I came in. I was asked to create exhibition graphics based on the website layout - to continue the branding ofcourse.

I was asked to create four huge banners, four A2 posters, and graphics for a table.

Return of the ISU Man Illustrations

2009-10-28T19:12:00.004Z

Last month I created a concept and some illustrations to aid some of ISU's seminars. The illustrations depicted amusing scenarios to help convey various points made by the speakers - to help keep the attendees awake!

The illustrations went down very well, so well infact I was asked to create another six this month.

ISU Man Illustrations

2009-09-30T11:26:00.003+01:00

ISU strive to improve the care sector in Denmark, this includes the sub-sectors of elderly care, child care, handicapped, asylum seekers and the unemployed. To achieve their goals the give alot of talks, lectures and seminars around the country. We all have been sat in such events and felt ourselves nodding off. Not to belittle whichever seminar you are attending, its simply being sat in one spot having to focus on a human voice at the other end of the room for hours on end - its this that sends us into a trance.

The director of ISU approached me to discuss ideas on how to keep people awake! A fireworks show was out of the question so we came to the conclusion that amusing illustrations would help the cause. I would come up with a set of cartoon characters which could be illustrated into various amusing scenarios - which would be used to illustrate points that the speakers were trying to convey. These drawings became known as the ISU Man Illustrations.

They were very simple, as you will see. They were also fun to create. The idea is for more of these drawings to be made over time. The style will be developed also, while maintaining ISU's branding

A2 Posters

2009-09-28T22:31:00.003+01:00

Previously I had designed 12 page and 8 page brochures promoting the welfare of the elderly in Denmark. The client (ISU) wanted me to convert the covers of each of the brochures into A2 posters. The posters were to be printed at put up across Denmark to promote the availability of the brochures.

This was a very quick job indeed, very easy. It was also my first job completed in a different country. I was in the United States at the time, proving to myself that I really can work for anyone, from anywhere!

America photography trip

2009-09-25T18:39:00.000+01:00

It's been a long time dream of mine to publish a book of photographs depicting various parts of American culture. I figure these photographs taken with an English eye would create some interesting results. We all know that American culture is full of absurdities and uniqueness, or maybe that is just me - because I'm English. Either way, I've thought about it a lot.

This month, I traveled to the States and spent twenty five days driving around, meeting people and taking photographs. I had a whale of a time. You can see some of the photographs in the portfolio section on my website.

I started the trip in Kansas City, Kansas. I ventured East through Missouri, Ohio, and stopped for a while in Michigan. I then continued on to Pittsburg, PA for a few days which was an eye opener. I stayed in the ghetto. My last stop was Virginia, before turning back to Kansas City for my flight home.

All in all, I had driven 5500 miles and taken over 2000 photographs. I learned alot and it was ALOT of fun, I will be doing it again for sure.

ISU Promotional 8 page leaflet

2009-08-21T13:32:00.002+01:00

This was a relatively quick job, only a couple of days in fact. The client needed a previous 12 page brochure adapted to an 8 page layout.

The client in question (ISU) is a delight to work for, as they don't expect the impossible. For such a job it's reasonable to understand that losing four pages of space will cause havoc for re-laying out text. What I'm saying is that ISU edited their text down, to which I am extremely greatful! I could have, and would have, fit the original text in - however it would have required a microscope and shoe horn!

Prior's Field School speech day

2009-07-07T16:57:00.003+01:00

I must be doing something right, this is the third year in a row I've been asked to be involved with this event. I've posted about it each year but I will briefly describe it again.

It's actually a highly enjoyable job which takes an incredible amount of concentration. This is a good challenge for me because I'm used to working alone at my own pace and listening to music, great for creativity but not great for concentration.

It's a two day event where the pupils of the Priors Field all girls boarding school put on a bit of a show for the parents on the last day of term. The pupils leaving this year play the songs they have writtem, play in orchestras, show their art, and give speaches. The teachers also give a round up to the years progress and give out prizes to exceptional students.

My role is to get to grips with the running order of the show by being at the rehearsals on day 1, and on day 2 I have to film and edit LIVE to 6 plasma screens broadcasting to over 1000 parents. I control two broadcast quality camera's and a basic live mixing desk. The sound, probably the most important part of the production is done by a friend and sound engineer who runs the company Kinetic (based in Woking).

As I've said before, if I have children, and if I have a girl, I will be thinking about paying for her education at this incredible school. Very impressive indeed.

Sorry there is nothing to show you, but it's all mixed live.

Q Holidays business cards

2009-06-30T11:34:00.003+01:00

Q Holidays were one of my very first clients as a sole trader a few years back. I designed their logo and branding. Over the the last 2 years I've had the pleasure of designing their stationary and various other posters and magazine adverts.

There's something pleasing about designing things using imagery of beautiful far off places.

Anyway, this month they asked me to create three more business cards for them. The same as the previous ones, only this time for their new employees.

Shavings Carpentry branding

2009-06-18T10:55:00.007+01:00

Shavings Capentry is a new company formed from one of my previous clients from a few years ago. I designed some business cards which, apparently, he still gets compliments for. So this saw him come back to me and ask me to design his new branding.

It was an interesting brief for three reasons;

he's usually doesn't have any pre-thoughts on what he wants and likes me to come up with something unhindered (this is always fun),
his business has two sides to it, a capentry side and then an aquatic side, so therefor it involved a common theme but a different concept for each,
not only was it a logo he needed, but brand colours, 2 business cards and finally some headers for his website. (The website itself was designed by a friend of mine, however the headers were from me.)

I was two things, to make the design funky, and most importantly different from every other company in his industry.

I decided on the colour pallette and set to work. His carpentry side should have an element of seriousness, less playful perhaps due to his client base and target market. Whilst perhaps I should make his aquatic side the funkier of the two, as this was the smaller parts to the business. The bulk of his income comes from carpentry, and fish collectors are less critical than someone having a cabinet or patio decking built. Also on the same note, I convinced my client that it was worth spending a little extra on the carpentry business cards compared to the aquatics. They were printed double sided with a matt laminate, while the aquatics cards were printed 1 side.

12 Page Sales Brochure

2009-05-20T16:17:00.003+01:00

Last year I created an 8 page Sales Brochure for ISU promoting the welfare of elderly people. You can see the design and write up for it in last years blog entries. This year, they want to continue the theme but they needed to increase it to a 12 page brochure.

They also asked me instead of using Oak trees as symbolic imagery to use Apple Blossom instead. So this year, that's exactly what I did. The theme and colour scheme is the same, only this time we've used blossom.

The brochure was also adapted to an 8 page emailable version which is slightly heavier with text. The 12 page printed version is led via imagery, which makes it more interesting and appealing.

Year 2009 - 2010

2009-04-24T11:24:00.002+01:00

I'm quite excited about this new tax tear, infact no, I'm very excited about it. Getting involved with the data entry work for the last 3 months turned out to be exactly as I thought. Mind numbing, but an opportunity not to be missed. I got my head down and now I have payed ALL of my debts off, yes, I'm debt free, a free man. Now the money I earn isn't The Man's but it's mine. So I have plans to make and I'm very happy.

By the way, ISU were extremely pleased with the quality of work from me and the team I put together.

This tax year, I have decided to do something I've always wanted to but never been able to. That's to get involved with some charity work. I can do that now I have no debts, I feel safer. So my first task is to choose a charity or organisation. My heart is with green issues and animal welfare so that's a good place to start. I have browsing to do!