Creative Boom https://www.creativeboom.com/ Creative Boom is a UK-based online magazine for the creative industries, offering inspiration and ideas for creatives worldwide Coolman's latest character antics captured by CASETiFY Thu, 28 Mar 2024 07:45:00 +0000 Jon Everall https://www.creativeboom.com/news/coolman-creates-for-casetify/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/coolman-creates-for-casetify/ Viral animator sensation collaborates with the designer phone accessories brand and unleashes more of his surreal cartoon illustrations. Hong Kong has been a centre of trade for centuries. The cit...

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Viral animator sensation collaborates with the designer phone accessories brand and unleashes more of his surreal cartoon illustrations.

Hong Kong has been a centre of trade for centuries. The city's very foundations are built on commerce, and they surround a rich environment of globalism writ large. It is also a metropolis of extremes, with some of the world's smallest and unquestionably tallest living conditions. More than 9,000 towers scrape the sky across the wider territory.

The global art world, never shy of significant financial markets (of which Hong Kong is the world's fourth largest) and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, has become truly embedded in the region over the last decade or so. The art fair Art Basel launched its Hong Kong edition in 2013, and a swathe of blue chip galleries, undeterred by shrinking democratic rights – largely avoidable for the internationally wealthy, have opened outposts in the years since.

It was last year at Art Basel Hong Kong that Danny Casale, a West Coast residing Long Islander better known as Coolman Coffeedan became a sensation. "It was life-changing. It felt like a dream." Through a hallucinatory bout of jetlag following a twenty-hour flight, the artist hit the city gorilla style and was firmly embraced by Asia's World City. Catching the attention of local property tycoon, philanthropist and art collector Adrien Cheng at an artists' dinner, Coolman's status rapidly escalated. He is 28 years old and has ten million followers on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Last week, he returned to the city to launch his collaboration with high-end phone accessory brand CASETiFY almost a year to the day since discussions first began. CASETiFY has cornered the market by creating a brand with international youth appeal – they sold over $300m of collective revenue in 2022. The company has achieved a rare coup in making something relatively cheap and universal, a covetable or even collectable essential.

Market saturation means that smartphone uptake is in decline – almost everyone likely to get one has one – making phone accessories more popular. In a nod to sustainability and the inherent capabilities of contemporary phone models (cameras, storage, size), people keep the same handset longer. CASETiFY sells products to customers wanting to refresh their phones without committing to buying a new one. They are choosing this brand because of its association with high-end retail. Physical stores, not a common entity for something as ubiquitous as a phone case, are all unique and more like colourful Apple Stores, sandwiched between international designer labels.

What makes the brand stand out is the near-endless collaborations with other worlds and labels like Marvel, Hello Kitty, K-Pop, the Museum of Modern Art, and The Met in New York, which already benefit from a huge fan base or footfall. Coupled with endless customisation and massive influencer exposure, the brand's text camera lens frame is immediately recognisable. Like a t-shirt, like a designer t-shirt, the product is a blank canvas that anybody can adopt for anything.

While the big-name partnerships are set to continue, CASETiFY's Artist Programme is the reason Coolman's back in Hong Kong. Danny's art is purposefully simple, universally appealing and overwhelmingly positive. Repeated characters and phrases are focused on promoting self-love and self-worth. Spesh, a character sometimes simplified to a continuous line of a cat-like pair of ears, is short for (you are, shortened further to 'ur') special. The Spesh montages are an endlessly repeatable and expansive field: Forever Coolmans are all individually different, like Antony Gormley's Field For The British Isles reduced to its simplest elements and made feline.

'Forever Coolman', Central, Hong Kong © 2024 Creative Boom

'Forever Coolman', Central, Hong Kong © 2024 Creative Boom

The image's prevalence is still found in Hong Kong on murals and digital screens around the Lan Kwai Fong area in Central, and it is presented as both a mirror and a coloured mirrored phone case in the new collection. Some of his other characters offer wry observations brought to life in ProCreate, Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro. Asked about his practice varying from laptop animations to murals, Danny's keen to express the benefit of straddling different methods and how each can inform the other. What's important to him across all mediums is his level of complete control – from image to audience.

He never went to art school. His key inspiration was not, as you might imagine, Keith Haring, so much as watching The Three Stooges' slapstick when he was five or six years old with his grandfather. This and the Cartoon Network informed his school desk doodles and school book sketches kept him awake during an uninspiring education. "No matter how old I get, I like to keep that goofball energy." Despite working digitally with increasing regularity, feeding the demands of social content, he always returns to pen and paper. The tactile nature of drawing or binning something grounds him. "If you hate an idea, you scrunch up that paper and throw it into the trash can. Timeless".

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

It's not merely the immediacy of Danny's art that appeals to people. The cute characters experience real emotions – depression, anxiety, ennui, sadness – as well as upbeat positivity and sunglasses-wearing bright happiness. It's been suggested Coolman's popularity in Hong Kong coincided with the city's strict Covid-19 response. He talks of validating emotions. "If you don't cry, the laugh on the other end doesn't feel so sweet."

2022 was the worst year of Danny's life. "I've been very blessed most of my life, but I think that was the first time I saw the true ugly sides of reality." He continues, "My own beliefs were challenged in their truest form." What did he do? He doubled down on his own philosophy. "I started looking at my own art, my own animations, as a guide."

Collaboration helps him work with a different perspective, "I collaborated with more creatives during that dark period of my life than ever before because I had such a hunger for how other people see the world – the same world that I was looking at, but maybe see how it would change and influence, add a new dimension to my work." Exploring new depths and angles when working with others is a lesson for us all.

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Photo: Ada Chan for CASETiFY © 2024

Another of CASETiFY's Artist Programme alumni, Messy Desk, a mural artist and illustrator, spoke about what an incredible platform it is for upcoming artists. It's not just getting your work out there; it's making personal connections with thousands of people choosing your art to adorn their ever-present phones.

Before signing off this time around, Danny's been able to drink in some of his work. M+ only opened in 2021, and last year, it saw 2.8 million visitors, making it the most popular museum in Asia. At a pop-up at its Curator Creative Cafe, his characters, following the latest craze from Korea, have been printed on the milk foam of coffees.

Coolman Coffeedan at Curator Creative Café at M+

Coolman Coffeedan at Curator Creative Café at M+

A final thought, looking over the stunning tower views of Victoria Harbour, thinking about his beloved characters: "I want to do a giant inflatable on the water." Maybe next year, he muses. With this much energy and enthusiasm, it's a good probability.

]]>
Output develops new platform to help musicians reclaim their passion Thu, 28 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/news/output-develops-new-platform-to-help-musicians-reclaim-their-passion/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/output-develops-new-platform-to-help-musicians-reclaim-their-passion/ Temple gives artists one place to unify all their operations. Discover how Output helped them develop and brand this exciting new platform. For today's musicians, the constant grind of promoting t...

Temple gives artists one place to unify all their operations. Discover how Output helped them develop and brand this exciting new platform.

For today's musicians, the constant grind of promoting themselves across multiple channels can overshadow their true passion: creating music. Enter a new platform designed to simplify an artist's business operations into one powerful tool.

Temple allows musicians to have a single destination for releasing new music, advertising events, selling merchandise and connecting directly with fans. By consolidating these functions in one place, it aims to free artists from the continual promotion mode that never seems to end.

"While streaming platforms have democratised access to music industry tools, they've pressured musicians into an 'always-on' promotion mode, which can lead to burnout," the company explains.

"At that point, musicians spend an increasing amount of time, money, and energy finding, growing, and engaging their fans across a multitude of platforms. This pressure is particularly acute when musicians want to turn their hobby into a career, power up, and establish themselves."

To bring their vision to life, Temple partnered with brand and digital design studio Output. Their mission was to create an identity and user experience, positioning Temple as the "ultimate support act" empowering artists.

Design language

Building out from the brand concept, Output defined a digital design language for the marketing website. As well as championing the artists already using Temple, the site showcases powerful product features through the brand framework.

Temple's graphic language embraces its musical roots. Inspired by a record sleeve, the 1:1 format seamlessly transitions to evoke a hole-punched ticket or serrated-edge receipt.

Data harvested from the platform is presented using design cues borrowed from music technology. This approach builds subtle consistency for the brand while remaining endlessly adaptable.

Focus on musicians

Over a four-week sprint, the team developed a vision for the core Temple product: a powerful 'link-in-bio' experience where artists take centre stage.

Here, the brand language is applied with best practice digital design principles to create a flexible system. Each profile shares fundamental components but can be personalised through colour, artwork and content structure, each as unique and expressive as the artist.

By focusing on musicians, Temple remains virtually hidden from audiences. Subtle clues acknowledge being part of this supportive club. Through artist success stories and discreet, practical merchandise, the brand builds credibility as a trusted partner.

Reductive approach

Inspired by the concept of the white label, the Temple brand system is deliberately reductive. Taking a back seat, it becomes a catalyst for others. A blank canvas for musicians to showcase their unique identity.

This design framework is filled with the energy, passion and individuality of the musician. Every moment can be customised to celebrate and champion each artist, imbue their vibe and adapt to the language of their own marketing.

"It was energising to work alongside the Temple team right at the beginning of a business that will help so many artists," says Patrick Staunton, senior brand designer at Output. "That enthusiasm was infectious, and it fed into the design response. Having worked with content platforms representing multiple artists, we were familiar with the challenge of finding the right balance between brand and creator.

"Here, the blank canvas of the white label felt like the perfect metaphor. It allowed us to build a framework that really celebrates the artists and empowers them to express their unique identity."

"Output did an incredible job crafting Temple's brand and visual identity from the ground up," adds Omar Ismail, Temple's co-founder and CEO. "The result was above and beyond our expectations."

With a rising mental health crisis looming over the music world, Temple's streamlined solution arrives as a potential lifeline for artists looking to power their fandom without sacrificing their passion.

]]>
Ivan Toth Depeña's new public art captures the ethereal beauty of light Thu, 28 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/news/photon-s/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/photon-s/ Artist Ivan Toth Depeña pays tribute to the essence of light and energy in Photon/s, a new concept-driven public art installation in Charlotte, North Carolina. Blending screens and sculptures, the...

Artist Ivan Toth Depeña pays tribute to the essence of light and energy in Photon/s, a new concept-driven public art installation in Charlotte, North Carolina. Blending screens and sculptures, the piece is designed to be a permanent beacon for the city's vibrant cultural landscape.

If you're walking down the streets of Charlotte in North Carolina, you might have spotted a new fixture by the Duke Energy headquarters. Towering over pedestrians like illuminated metal trees, the new sculptures commissioned by the energy holding company symbolise its contributions to the city and its electric cultural scene.

Inspired by the microscopic particles that make up light itself, Photon/s is the brainchild of Depeña Studio artist Ivan Toth Depeña. Composed of two parts, including the massive groundbreaking sculptural forms with state-of-the-art LED endpoints and a four-story illuminated facade panel, Photon/s is an innovative and beautiful homage to the dynamism of light and energy.

Photon/s is the result of a competitive proposal process. Ivan's idea was developed by art consultant Lauren Harkey with Hodges Taylor Gallery. After beating off other artists to make the shortlist, Ivan's proposal was finally chosen, and he set to work bringing it to life.

As a project, Photon/s played into Ivan's interest in the "quiet profundity" of nature. "I often delve into environmental mechanics and biomimicry, drawing upon the inherent designs and processes of nature to inform and shape my work," he explains.

These observations of the natural world form a conceptual foundation for much of Ivan's work. Previously, his research has touched on everything from the microscopic architecture of cells to the tectonics of geology and the complex systems of cosmology.

"Using this natural inspiration, I begin layering imagery, exploring composition, phenomenon and harmony," he adds. "By bringing these contrasts into my work, I seek to evoke a sense of wonder and provoke contemplation on the intrinsic connections between space, memory, and perception."

Indeed, this creative approach would be carried over by Ivan into Photon/s. "The photon, as the smallest particle of light/energy, seemed like an obvious point of departure given the commissioning company Duke Energy," he says.

"Although it is an essential part of our daily lives, the photon is essentially intangible. I was fascinated by the invisible, making things visible. So it was used as a source of inspiration and not intended to be an exact depiction."

Thankfully, as an artist who strives to have his work interpreted on a "universal level," Photon/s did not run into many roadblocks from conception to creation. "Conceptually, there weren't any constraints," he reveals. "Pragmatically, safety and long-term maintenance were a priority for us."

This meant that the beguiling metal structures with their twinkling armatures could proceed as planned. And what's more, they would interact with a towering screen facade. "The facade is intended to be a backdrop for the entire installation in the open plaza," Ivan adds. It is intended to frame the sculptures and add to a sense of scale via a sort of forced perspective."

He adds, "It is made of roughly 50 sheets of perforated metal and backlit with programmed LED nodes. We are really happy that Duke decided to go in this direction with the facade because it really adds to the overall depth and impact of the experience."

As for how his work is received, Ivan always hopes everyone, from young and old, can take away their own appreciation. "I am most content when complexity is reduced to reveal the spiritual essence of a creative undertaking and meaning is subtly revealed through contemplation of the work," he concludes.

]]>
The creatives' guide to finding happiness Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:45:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/tips/the-creatives-guide-to-finding-happiness/ https://www.creativeboom.com/tips/the-creatives-guide-to-finding-happiness/ If your creative work is causing you to feel down, do something about it. We share advice from the Creative Boom community to help you feel more optimistic. Finding happiness in the ever-demanding...

Image licensed via Adobe Stock

Image licensed via Adobe Stock

If your creative work is causing you to feel down, do something about it. We share advice from the Creative Boom community to help you feel more optimistic.

Finding happiness in the ever-demanding world of the creative industries can often feel like it's just out of reach. We pour our hearts and souls into our work, often grappling with the pressures of deadlines, self-doubt and the relentless pursuit of perfection. And so even if we love what we do, our work can often be frustrating, exhausting, worrying and stressful.

So it's important to stop and step back now and again. We may believe we love our work and our career. But do we love our lives? Are we truly happy?

Of course, there's no shame in being unhappy. It's a natural part of life, an impulse that compels us to improve things. And as long as we react to it in a positive, constructive way, unhappiness can be a force for good.

When it becomes a problem, though, is when we wallow in unhappiness or let it defeat us. So, in this guide, we'll get some advice from fellow creatives who have navigated the ups and downs of the creative journey. Along the way, we'll offer insights and strategies to help you find true contentment amidst all the chaos.

1. Find fulfilment in expression

The first point is perhaps the most obvious. The very act of working as a creative has the potential to bring you happiness.

As a creative designer, researcher and tester Sajad Sergio Sadick puts it: "Happiness as a creative can stem from the process of bringing ideas to life, finding fulfilment in expression, and connecting with others through your creations. It's about embracing the journey of exploration and growth and sharing your unique perspective with the world. For many creatives, the act of creation itself is a source of profound joy and satisfaction."

Illustrator Ewelina Wolnowska echoes this sentiment, stating, "Happiness is inside. One can find it by diving deep into themselves. As creative work and process can become very meditative and allow us to explore the inside, it can help us find happiness."

Illustrator and comic artist Rebecca Burgess tells a similar tale. "Pouring my feelings and experiences into my art and stories drives me to keep making and brings me happiness," she explains. "When others connect to it and feel the same, you no longer feel alone. And you worry less about the stressful, out-of-control parts of creating. Even if my career stops in the future, I'll always treasure the conversations I've had with readers who've connected and related to my stories."

If you're trying to make a living, of course, that's not always so easy. The demands of the commercial world mean that much of what you do, at least at the start of your career, will be boring, grunt work and not particularly fulfilling.

So the trick is to find ways to combine your own sense of self-expression with serving the client's needs, at least some of the time. And if that's not possible, well, that's where side projects come in, or maybe even setting up your own creative business.

2. Strike the right life-work balance

While immersing ourselves in our creative pursuits can be exhilarating, balancing work and other aspects of life is equally important. Designer Kultar Singh Ruprai emphasises the importance of finding equilibrium. "For me, happiness has always been an inside job," he explains. "It's about finding a good balance of friends, family, and me-time. That means a mix of doing things you enjoy. For me, that includes going to the gym, gardening, yoga, reading, gaming, walking, and listening to music."

By nurturing relationships, engaging in recreational activities, and allowing ourselves moments of solitude, we can cultivate a well-rounded existence that prevents burnout and fosters our overall sense of well-being. For more on this, read our article on how to deal with burnout.

3. Be mindful

In the fast-paced world of creativity, it's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of deadlines and expectations. But ultimately, that can end up making you exhausted and miserable. Hence, mindfulness can be a powerful tool for grounding ourselves and finding moments of peace and happiness.

By consciously disconnecting from the constant stimuli and taking time to be present in the moment, we can cultivate a sense of calm and clarity that allows us to tap into our inner reserves of joy and inspiration.

Graphic and motion designer Mads Sæløen follows this approach. "I stay positive by blocking the world out," he explains. "I find that spending a full day meandering around the apartment listening to music and letting my thoughts wander is a great way to recharge." Alternatively, you can try a more formal approach with our guide to mindful exercises.

Being mindful also means taking a measured approach to the time spent on our phones. As Claire Rodrigues Lee, founder of Neon Army, says: "I find social media, especially scrolling through Twitter/X, quite disturbing sometimes. So I know how to avoid it. Just go on specifically searching for what I'm looking for, then exit."

4. Be honest with yourself

When you start out in your career, everyone will tell you to "fake it till you make it". But it's important not to lose your sense of self along the way because honest self-reflection is a crucial ingredient in the pursuit of happiness as a creative person.

As Pari Purohit of Studio Glyph advises: "Be brutally honest with yourself. This is crucial to get to the real core of what gives you joy. It's amazing how we delude ourselves and let superficialities drive choices. This isn't just career advice, it's life advice."

Essentially, it's only by peeling back the layers of external influences and societal pressures that you can uncover your true passions, values and sources of fulfilment. Doing so will guide your creative endeavours and help you align your life with what truly matters, fostering a deeper sense of contentment and purpose.

For example, we often come to a crossroads in our careers: Should you seek promotion to creative director or go it alone as a freelancer? Should you stick with your chosen discipline, learn a new skill, or forge a new path? Only by being truly honest with yourself will you be certain you've chosen the right path.

For more on this topic, listen to our podcast interview with Alison Haigh on Why honesty is better for everyone in the creative industries

5. Don't try to control everything

When you work as a creative, you often have a high degree of control over your output. But it's important to remember that you can't control everything elsewhere in life. Consequently, understanding and accepting this is often the key to a happy life.

As illustrator Florence Sabatier of Atelier Mouette reminds us, "Accept the lows, and keep in mind that you can't control everything and that life isn't a linear path. That's easier said than done, especially in our field, but it's true!"

Embracing the fluidity and impermanence of our lives might sound scary, but it can also be very liberating. By relinquishing the illusion of control and allowing ourselves to adapt and flow with the ebbs and tides of inspiration and circumstance, it's easier to find joy in the present moment and cultivate resilience in the face of challenges.

6. Be positive

Finding happiness is a struggle at the best of times, but it can be especially tough when things go wrong. Graphic designer and illustrator Charrish F, aka Olli Illustration, is in that situation at the moment. "Right now, things are really difficult for me," she explains. "I got let go from my job, and it's not easy to find a new one."

But while staying positive isn't easy, it's certainly worth trying because it will ultimately pull you through. Often, the key is to forge specific habits that will reinforce a positive perspective on the world. Charrish gives an example. "I stay positive by recognising my hard work," she says. So, at the end of each day, I say my top thing, that I'm proud of myself for doing it, and give myself an internal high five."

For more on this topic, read our article How creatives can stay positive during darker times.

7. Look after yourself

Even when things are going well for us as creatives, it's easy to neglect our minds and bodies. Late nights and skipping meals to meet deadlines might make us feel like we're "going the extra mile" to achieve our goals, but eventually, we're going to pay for it.

Instead, let's make an extra effort to nourish our minds, bodies, and spirits with proper rest, nutrition and self-compassion. And by doing so, we'll fortify ourselves against the stresses of the creative life and cultivate a sense of self-worth that transcends external validation.

In the words of illustrator and designer Cat Finnie: "Eat properly, exercise, and sleep. Find ways to make a small difference." Or as Claire puts it: "We have so many challenges thrust upon us: without a healthy mind and body, how can we be happy or be our best selves?"

For more on this, read our article 10 clever ways to make your workspace healthier and more productive.

Conclusion

So, what's the secret to happiness? In truth, it lies less in one strategy than a combination of approaches, and there's no easy silver bullet. As Claire says, "Being happy and positive is always a work in progress, and the key to happiness falls under many categories.

"I lost myself in a long and unloving relationship for many years, and my life went nowhere," she reveals. "I came out of that relationship with no self-confidence or esteem. It took hard work to change my self-perception and outlook. But when you start to believe in yourself, you see how the world around you changes. That encourages more good feelings and positivity and drives you to keep moving forward."

]]>
Illustrator Marc David Spengler publishes the ultimate collection of his sketchbook pages Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/features/marc-david-sketchbook/ https://www.creativeboom.com/features/marc-david-sketchbook/ Stuttgart-based illustrator Marc David Spengler has sifted through 11 sketchbooks from the last six years to create Marc David - Sketchbook, the ultimate collection of his work so far. Published b...

Stuttgart-based illustrator Marc David Spengler has sifted through 11 sketchbooks from the last six years to create Marc David - Sketchbook, the ultimate collection of his work so far.

Published by Chemistry Publishing, Marc David – Sketchbook sees hundreds of the illustrator's sketchbook pages from between 2017 and 2023 reproduced at their original size. Accompanied by text written in Marc's distinctive style, the book allows readers to see his imagination go all out and trace the evolution of his style.

For Marc, a self-confessed habitual illustrator who enjoys drawing all the time, these sketchbook pages hold a deep, personal connection as they have accompanied him during different periods of his life. "They are like an abstract diary," he explains. "So I can't imagine cutting out pages to exhibit or sell them. The only way I could think of is to share this collection of work with people by reproducing them as a book."

Another benefit of releasing his sketchbook pages in one collection is that they're now all digitised, too. "A big fear of mine is that they could get destroyed in a fire or something similar," Marc adds. "In that case, they wouldn't be lost completely."

The idea of releasing a collection of his sketchbook pages began when Marc graduated from ABK Stuttgart. For his diploma, he completed several projects, one of which was an early version of this book with less content.

"I'm always drawing, but I thought I would have less time for that after leaving university," he explained. "That's one reason why I wanted to publish this book. I started editing the book at the end of 2021 and graduated in 2022. Since it takes some time and a lot of effort to publish a book, we decided to publish it in 2024 so that we could include pages I've made in the meantime."

Marc says the book includes work from 2017, which allows it to show the development of his drawing style. "Looking back at older sketchbooks, it felt right to start in 2017 because I started to evolve into a certain direction," he reveals. From this point, I was concentrating on working with shapes and abstract compositions. I guess at this point, I found what really interests me."

While his older work may look different to how he currently draws, this does not phase Marc because he can still remember why he made those creative decisions. "Today, I would probably do things differently because my approach and style have changed in some ways," he says. "Looking at the number of drawings I have done over the years makes me feel proud because I really enjoy drawing and creating."

Enjoyable as it may be, the process of scanning and editing every single page was admittedly really exhausting. "Imagining the outcome keeps me going during these long processes," he says. "It's the same approach that I also work with my sketchbooks.

"There's one sketchbook, which is also in the book, that I started at the beginning of 2020 and have filled in about 70%. I like these long-term projects because, in the end, it's worth all the effort."

The experience of looking back over old sketchbooks also proved enlightening for Marc, as he realised that he tends to perfect things. "More recent drawings are much cleaner than older ones," he says. "To balance that out, I like working on multiple sketchbooks at the same time. I always have a main sketchbook for drawings that I put a lot of effort into and side sketchbooks for quick and rough sketches. I also learnt that investing much time in something you enjoy can be worth it."

When it came to selecting which pages would appear in the book, Marc concluded by saying that they were all his personal favourites. "It's a balanced mix of simple black-and-white outline sketches that took me a few minutes to complete and sketchbook pages that I worked on for weeks.

"It's a full insight into my sketchbooks, my way of thinking and designing. A sketchbook is very personal because it is a visual representation of your own thoughts."

]]>
Terrarium: New Ant Hamlyn exhibition explores the human need to preserve things forever Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:15:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/ant-hamlyn-1/ https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/ant-hamlyn-1/ Contemporary London-based artist Ant Hamlyn is back with a new solo show at Berlin's Weserhalle art gallery. Called Terrarium, it features fabric flowers pressed behind Perspex in a moving meditati...

Contemporary London-based artist Ant Hamlyn is back with a new solo show at Berlin's Weserhalle art gallery. Called Terrarium, it features fabric flowers pressed behind Perspex in a moving meditation on permanence.

It's impossible not to be captivated by the works of Ant Hamlyn. We've previously seen how his flower sculptures have reflected on memories, magic and mythology, and now he's taken these themes one step further with Terrarium, a new exhibition which runs at Weserhalle until 13 April.

The pieces in this show feature miniature worlds of hand-sewn flowers in corked glass jars, inspired by the accidental Victorian discovery of terrariums. Ant creates a sense of attraction and repulsion with these works as the flowers wrestle with their confines. Paused in motion, they appear to be both at home in their sealed bottles while simultaneously straining to break free at any moment.

This push and pull speaks to a broader human desire to preserve beauty. Whether by chilling, salting, pressing or pickling, people have long wanted to take something at the peak of its existence and save it for prosperity. Yet, in doing so, the essence and spirit of the object are often lost in the process.

"To press pause on perfection is an endeavour of human desire that unrelenting persists," says Weserhalle's Olivia Rumsey. "The problem with preservation is that in pursuing it, we can alter what we seek to capture, turning it sickeningly sweet or salty with brine. Retaining its condition at the cost of its presence, beyond touch or smell, held apart from us to maintain its perfection."

These ideas can clearly be seen in the meticulously sewn succulents, fungi and flowers. Pressing up against one another and the walls of their glass homes, these synthetic plants appear both alive and artificial at the same time, their beauty equally present and also lost. It's an idea that was excellently realised not just in its subject matter but also in Ant's choice of materials.

"In one work, a collection of carnivorous plants push back at their encasement," adds Olivia. "Flytraps are pinned at their most animated and vulnerable. Mouths perpetually a-jar in an uncanny stillness. Behind the Perspex, the texturally complex work is held back from touch.

"Sharp cactus spines made of wooden sticks protrude from the sewn forms, but the threat of their spikes is dulled behind the screen. These contrasts are ever-present in Hamlyn's work, spikey and smooth, joyful and morbid, the garish colour of PVC against the seductive quality of velvet."

Adding to this sense of cute unease is the composition. The hand-sewn flowers are safely stuffed away, but that doesn't stop the odd leaf or petal poking out from behind their encasement. Perhaps a suggestion that even the best efforts to preserve beauty are also doomed to fail?

Along with exploring terrariums as domestic objects, the works in this exhibition also tap into themes of temporality. "Preservation, the action of pause, makes the presence of time even more persistent," Olivia concludes. "In refusing mortality, the ever-looming threat of death presses closer.

"The works encapsulate the human need to keep things, maintain beauty, and halt the passing of time. Hamlyn's bright fabrics create a cheerful façade underpinned by a longing for a moment that doesn't exist."

]]>
Universal Favourite's limited-edition puzzles celebrate JOMO: the joy of missing out Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/features/universal-favourite-launches-puzzle-series-celebrating-jomo-the-joy-of-missing-out/ https://www.creativeboom.com/features/universal-favourite-launches-puzzle-series-celebrating-jomo-the-joy-of-missing-out/ It's not every day that a design agency releases its own range of puzzles. But Aussie studio Universal Favourite's new series, Piece of Mind, has a philosophy behind it that stressed-out creatives...

It's not every day that a design agency releases its own range of puzzles. But Aussie studio Universal Favourite's new series, Piece of Mind, has a philosophy behind it that stressed-out creatives will warm to.

You've probably heard of FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out. But have you met its virtuous twin, JOMO, which stands for the Joy of Missing Out?

That might sound like a contradiction in terms. After all, evolution has programmed our minds and bodies to crave being part of the group. So missing out on something – whatever that may be – instinctively feels wrong and something to be avoided.

But while our instinct to participate in group activities may have made sense on the plains of primaeval Africa, it's less rational in the modern world, where the number of groups to join and activities to partake in has multiplied beyond what we can realistically manage.

And those of us who've, say, experimented with a digital detox will have experienced first-hand how blissful taking a step back can be.

Rise of JOMO

Hence, the rise of the JOMO movement, which embraces purposefully missing out on activities and social engagements to enjoy being present at home and savouring life's quieter, simpler pleasures.

It's about resisting the pressure to constantly be busy and instead finding contentment and rejuvenation in downtime and quieter, solitary activities such as reading, puzzling or tending to house plants.

Now, to help promote this new way of thinking, Sydney-based creative agency Universal Favourite has launched a limited-edition puzzle series called Piece of Mind, which encourages people to embrace JOMO and savour life's simple pleasures.

It's an unusual project from a studio that's best known for its client work, ranging from baking brand Color Mill to fintech company x15ventres and theatre company Monkey Baa.

Illustration concept

To design the three-part limited-edition puzzle series, Universal Favourite briefed three of its in-house illustrators – Joy Li, Lucy McGinley and Jack Forrest – to depict what JOMO means to them. Drawing on their own individual styles and sprinkling their illustrations with Easter eggs that reference past clients, they've all created a distinct and relatable expression of the art of doing nothing.

Each 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle depicts a scene meant to spark feelings of serenity, playfulness, and escape from the stresses of modern life. They also help you do two important things: stay in and slow down.

"This means proudly living life in the slow lane and is the antithesis of hustle culture and traditional views on a 'good time'", the studio explains. "It's a celebration of switching off, indulging in self-love and taking a break."

Three to choose

The first puzzle, The Homebody Club by Joy Li, invites you to happily lounge at home while the outside world carries on. The second, Jack Forrest's Room with a View, captures the blissful feeling of witnessing chaos unfold from the comfort of your abode.

Meanwhile, Lucy McGinley's A Still Life highlights the tranquillity and joy of staying in and doing the mindful little tasks that bring you peace and make your house a home – caring for your plants, burning a nice candle, and doing a puzzle.

With varying levels of difficulty, the series offers an engaging, unplugged activity for puzzlers of all skill levels. The limited-edition collection is now available on the Universal Favourite website.

In our constantly buzzing world, these puzzles remind us to occasionally lean into the quiet and rediscover the simple joy of staying in.

]]>
New book by Ben Tallon explores what creativity is, and how to embrace it Tue, 26 Mar 2024 07:45:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/features/the-creative-condition-new-book-by-ben-tallon-explores-what-creativity-is-and-how-to-embrace-it/ https://www.creativeboom.com/features/the-creative-condition-new-book-by-ben-tallon-explores-what-creativity-is-and-how-to-embrace-it/ The author, illustrator, and podcaster spent a decade researching and writing his new book, The Creative Condition. We outline why it was time well spent. In a world that often feels turbulent and...

The author, illustrator, and podcaster spent a decade researching and writing his new book, The Creative Condition. We outline why it was time well spent.

In a world that often feels turbulent and uncertain, a new book aims to inspire readers by highlighting one of humanity's greatest gifts: creativity.

It's a subject that many have tackled, of course. But in our view, author and illustrator Ben Tallon has gone the extra mile and created something quite special.

And that's not so surprising once you learn he's spent ten years researching his subject and conducting 64 exclusive interviews with experts across various disciplines.

After two years of writing, Ben is now finally releasing The Creative Condition: a body of work exploring human creativity. In a way, it's a bit like a biography: not of a person but of the very idea of creativity itself.

Untapped potential

Creativity is a subject dear to Ben's heart. For 16 years, he has illustrated and written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Premier League, Unicef, WWE, and the BBC, among many others. Throughout this time, his love of human creativity has grown exponentially.

Yet he's also become frustrated because he recognises that creativity's potential role in improving the lives of all is dramatically unfulfilled, owing to deeply entrenched misconceptions and fears about its nature.

Consequently, in 2013, he began conducting a series of conversations to better understand how creativity behaves from person to person and its value in broader society and business.

Following the release of his debut book Champagne and Wax Crayons: Riding the Madness of the Creative Industries in 2015, he launched the Arrest All Mimics podcast: a formal home for this series of candid long-form interviews. This evolved into The Creative Condition podcast, which now boasts more than 250 episodes.

Now, the new book pulls together everything Ben has learned in his continuing work to help people understand and embrace creativity in their lives and the world around them.

Key to the future

Because let's be clear: creativity isn't just about creative professionals. Ben believes that elevating creativity's value can become a key asset in overcoming the collective challenges we face as a society.

"Creativity is a fundamental pillar of happiness," Ben explains. "The human race would not have survived without it. And yet in 2024, despite the presence of previously unimaginable technological advances bordering on wizardry in our trouser pockets, we continue to look upon it as mere artistic talent – or worse: hobbying – at great personal and collective cost."

"Society has taught us that innate artistic talent is a pre-requisite for creativity," he adds. This damaging misconception has left a worryingly high percentage of people believing they are not creative, suffering alienation and frustration in education, careers, and communities."

Instead, he argues, creativity is a fundamental pillar of human happiness and an inevitable part of the human condition. "It is the very reason for our continued survival on this planet and must be better understood and embraced if we are to overcome the global challenges we face today. The Creative Condition is my contribution to this vital cause."

What's in the book

Through a diverse array of interviews, case studies, and personal insights, the book pulls back the curtain on this vital facet of the human experience that has allowed our species to survive and thrive. It features an eclectic mix of voices from neuroscience, public service, athletics, education, psychology, and the arts.

Across its pages, we hear from firefighters, reformed criminals, Olympic gold medalists, rock stars, sensitivity experts and others about the role creativity has played in their lives and work.

They include advertising legend Sir John Hegarty, graphic designer for film Annie Atkins, Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder, Google Creative Lab's Steve Vranakis, Human League and Heaven 17 founder, musician/producer Martyn Ware, Creation Records founder and former Oasis manager Alan McGee, former eBay chief curator and Moodrise founder Michael Phillips Moskowitz, and psychologist Kimberley Wilson.

As the thread that weaves these disparate voices together, Ben makes the case that embracing creativity is key to solving modern problems and leading more fulfilling lives in the face of upheaval.

]]>
PJ Riley's first solo show is a portal to a world of emotional intensity Tue, 26 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/news/pj-riley/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/pj-riley/ Caribbean-based British artist PJ Riley is coming to London's J/M Gallery this spring with his first solo show. Brimming with abstract paintings designed to challenge the viewer to reflect on their...

Caribbean-based British artist PJ Riley is coming to London's J/M Gallery this spring with his first solo show. Brimming with abstract paintings designed to challenge the viewer to reflect on their emotions, it promises to transport you to the splendour of island life.

Running from 24 - 30 April, I'm Always Better when I'm Next to You is a showcase of PJ Riley's most vibrant and meaningful artworks. In them, he creates a world of beauty and introspection by fusing abstract expressionism with narrative storytelling. Woven together with soulful reflections on the human condition, these sometimes bold, sometimes melancholic paintings span the entire spectrum of emotions.

Inspired by the vibrancy of Matisse and the spontaneity of Jackson Pollock, PJ Riley's paintings also reference the distortions of Picasso and the textured brush marks of van Gogh. On top of this, he also fuses his paintings with the emotive storytelling of a Goya.

"This blend of characteristics has paved the way for reshaping the dialogue around abstract art, as seen in Riley's art, which is deeply personal and explores the energy that links us and the possibility of a higher power," the gallery explains.

Acting as a "portal into a world of emotional intensity and introspection", these paintings also brush up against themes of passion and contemplation. "Through his masterful use of colour, form, and composition, Riley creates a visual symphony that speaks directly to the heart, transcending language and culture."

This can be seen in the fiery passion of I'm Always Better Next to You and the contemplative depths of You Carry the World. In these paintings, Riley invites viewers on a journey of self-discovery by delving into themes of companionship, regret and resilience.

"PJ Riley's method of layering adds further depth and complexity to his artworks, which are then peeled back for viewers to discover the hidden narratives within," the gallery reveals.

"Each brushstroke reveals passages of time and the layers of memory that shape our lives, creating an engaging dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. The exhibition is a testament to Riley's status as a visionary storyteller whose canvas serves as a mirror to the complexities of contemporary life.

"Through his art, he challenges viewers to confront their own emotions, experiences, and perceptions, inviting them to find meaning and connection in the midst of chaos and uncertainty."

Chaos and uncertainty are fitting themes for PJ Riley, whose life journey has taken some unexpected turns. Having previously worked in industrial design, he went on to create innovative products, such as a plastic spoon for Haagen Dazs and a keyring for Vivienne Westwood, before moving into painting.

A move to the Caribbean in 2014 shifted his focus in this direction though, where he drew inspiration from the Welsh Hills and the light and colour of the area. He has since created a new strand of modern art with a Caribbean twist, one that reflects his resilience and a desire to make being alive "mean something."

"It is an exciting challenge to bring together this poignant selection of works, to make sense of an organised chaos, to revaluate the artwork's – and my own narrative(s) – in doing so," says PJ Riley.

"My work very much reflects on my turbulent past while acknowledging the beauty in the present, and gift of the future. It is this process that aids the storytelling, the varied narratives, and all the complexities of what makes us human. I want my art to inspire others to make every day count and to help quieten the voices of self-criticism."

]]>
New IKEA campaign finds an original way to talk about its low prices Tue, 26 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/news/new-ikea-ads-put-the-spotlight-on-guilty-pets/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/new-ikea-ads-put-the-spotlight-on-guilty-pets/ You wouldn't think pet ownership has much to do with shopping at IKEA, but a clever new series of ads created by INGO Hamburg makes the connection in a fun and original way. Swedish furniture gia...

You wouldn't think pet ownership has much to do with shopping at IKEA, but a clever new series of ads created by INGO Hamburg makes the connection in a fun and original way.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA doesn't just make good-quality, affordable products. It's constantly innovating in its marketing too, from teaming up with Swedish House Mafia to spoofing its high-end rivals. And now comes another slice of fun that will go down well with pet lovers.

The latest IKEA campaign comes from boutique creative agency INGO Hamburg, who recently garnered acclaim for their Proudly Second Best ads, which saw IKEA products taking the backseat in celebration of the special bond between parents and children.

Now it's the turn of our furry friends. A new series of commercials created for the United Arab Emirates, entitled Don't Worry, You Can Afford It, puts pets and the havoc they create squarely in the spotlight.

Accidents and affordability

In these new ads, we see a variety of IKEA products, including planters, mugs, cushions, and vases, being knocked over by adorable cats and dogs.

The ads reassure pet owners that, given these items' affordability, replacing them after a pet-related mishap is no big deal.

It's a smart move to target this market, given the boom in pet ownership worldwide: the UAE alone is estimated to have around 1.5 million pet 'parents'. The ads cleverly link the domestic chaos that sometimes entails with the cheapness of IKEA products – all wrapped up in a blanket of cuteness.

More broadly, these ads find an imaginative way to solve an age-old problem in marketing: how to talk about your low prices without promoting the idea that your products are low-quality. By staging these scenes in attractive-looking surroundings, the ads position IKEA firmly as a middle-class, quality brand that just happens to offer excellent value.

Challenging conventions

"For the past few years, we have noticed a growth of pets in households in the region, and we wanted to introduce this topic through this campaign for the first time," explains Carla Klumpenaar, GM marketing, communication and interior design for IKEA in the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman. "Over the next few days, we will also launch a collection of household products for pets."

The campaign will be rolled out across various media throughout the region, including out-of-home, print editions, a range of screen formats, and the brand's own social channels.

"We are excited about this campaign, which, on one hand, brings the unskippable cuteness of pets, and on the other hand, challenges marketing conventions by showing the products damaged," says Tobias Ahrens, global chief creative officer at INGO. "An honest story that refreshes the usual IKEA price communication style."

]]>
Sex meets sustainability in new lubricant brand designed by Blurr Bureau Tue, 26 Mar 2024 07:15:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/news/blurr-bureaus-bold-rebrand-of-bed-intentions-blurs-the-lines-between-sex-and-sleep/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/blurr-bureaus-bold-rebrand-of-bed-intentions-blurs-the-lines-between-sex-and-sleep/ The Department of Bed Intentions is doing sexual lubricant differently, and a striking new identity by Blurr Bureau helps them get their message across. When it comes to buying lubricant for sex,...

The Department of Bed Intentions is doing sexual lubricant differently, and a striking new identity by Blurr Bureau helps them get their message across.

When it comes to buying lubricant for sex, generic branding and packaging have long been the norm. But one startup decided to do things differently. Their founder, Sophie McGrath's innovative product idea was to create the world's first microbiome-friendly lubricant.

To develop the concept, they turned to Blurr Bureau, a brand design and venture studio based in New York and Melbourne founded by Jessica Dimcevski. Jessica has over 15 years of experience in the industry, working with some of the world's most influential creatives and iconic brands.

Together, they've developed a daring brand for the sexual wellness startup that blurs the lines between sexuality and sleep.

The brief

"The Department of Bed Intentions shakes up the competitive market of modern sexual wellness by carving out a new category," explains Jessica at Blurr Bureau. "With so much sex currently saturating the market, the challenge lay in how we could position this brand to be the only one people want to reach for in the bedroom."

Together with company founder Sophie, Blurr Bureau evolved the original vision – a singular sex product with a different name – to brand with a broader remit.

"With so much sex saturating the market, the challenge was positioning this brand as the only one people want to reach for in the bedroom," says Jessica. "We evolved the concept to consider both sex and sleep, designed to enhance the precious one-third of your life spent in bed."

Sensuality and sustainability

The rebrand is as bold as it is brilliant, starting with the company's name itself: The Department of Bed Intentions. A nod to the scientific approach informing the products, the name carries an authoritative yet playful air, speaking to both expertise and opportunity for pleasure.

"'Bed' Intentions plays on bedroom positivity in a double entendre," explains Jessica. "Plus, the word 'department' brings an authority that speaks to the medical experts informing the products".

As you can see from the images featured here, every element of the brand is curated to invoke the senses, from the textural feel of the embossed packaging to pleasurable UI elements that interact, surprise and reveal like human play.

These elements frame the brand as sexy and smart: a place to find professional breakdowns regarding bedtime topics rolled out across all collateral.

Sex meets sustainability

But that's only one half of it. From the outset, sustainability best practice for the packaging design was also a non-negotiable priority.

After extensive environmental research, the team settled on a single size 70ml tube and cap, made of aluminum that contains no plastic components, including the box which is non-laminate cardboard with eco-friendly ink.

Consumer recycling ease was also taken into consideration in design, with 100% mono-material used and promoted through the design, website and packaging itself.

Overall, this exciting new brand takes modern trends such as wellness, sex positivity and environmental sustainability and takes them to the next level. The first-ever B-Corp sexual wellness brand in Australia, The Department of Bed Intentions succeeds in standing out in the currently crowded, and often crass, landscape of sexual wellness brands.

]]>
Andy Warhol Museum turns 30 with fashion photos that are designed to be 'liked' Tue, 26 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/news/andy-warhol-museum/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/andy-warhol-museum/ Independent creative company BarkleyOKRP has partnered with New York-based fashion photographer James Emmerman to create a campaign celebrating 30 years of the Andy Warhol Museum. And it's desperat...

Independent creative company BarkleyOKRP has partnered with New York-based fashion photographer James Emmerman to create a campaign celebrating 30 years of the Andy Warhol Museum. And it's desperate for you to like it.

Pop art icon Andy Warhol is famous for his comments about the fleeting nature of fame, so it would surely come as some reassurance to him that the museum built in honour of his work has recently turned 30. To mark the special occasion, its exceptional collection of Warhol art and archive material has been brought to life in a new light.

Titled 'It's Not Just Art, It's an Experience', the campaign highlights the fact that The Andy Warhol Museum is not merely a place to look at his art like a regular gallery. Instead, it positions itself as a "genuinely unique, unbelievable, immersive, in-real-life experience." To communicate this idea, it commissioned a series of highly directed, fashion-forward photographs that have appeared across print and social media.

Instead of images of visitors quietly contemplating the magnificence of Warhol's work, these photographs feature models striking poses in front of classic Pop art paintings. These include Skull, The Last Supper, Silver Clouds and Andy Warhol on the Red Couch.

When snapped through the lens of photographer and director James Emmerman, who has previously shot for The New York Times, Forbes, Nike and Vogue, these images allow the campaign to serve as a testament to the enduring legacy of Andy Warhol's work and his cultural impact on late twentieth-century art.

Indeed, capturing the uniqueness of the museum via a memorable campaign was at the heart of the gallery's pitch to both the photographer and BarkleyOKRP. "We love that the resulting work reads as if your favourite social media influencers immersed themselves fully in our lively installations," says Rick Armstrong, Director of Marketing and Communications at The Andy Warhol Museum.

"We're grateful to have partnered with the talented team at BarkleyOKRP on this effort and look forward to welcoming new visitors to experience The Andy Warhol museum themselves this year."

As for BarkleyOKRP, creating these photographs saw them entering into the mindset of Warhol himself. "When digging into this project, we asked ourselves, 'If Andy were to promote the museum, how would he do it?'" says the studio's creative director Cathy Bowen.

"So we embraced his love of fashion, fantasy and multimedia, high and low culture, creating images that presented The Warhol as an immersive experience that will blow you away."

Emmerman himself added: "Andy Warhol famously said that Pop Art is all about 'liking things.' This is how many people most often experience photography now — as something to 'like' on social media.

"For this project, I was interested by the oddly appropriate challenge of creating images in that vein. Work that celebrates Warhol, the museum, and the Pittsburgh community surrounding it. Work that inspires the audience to like. And I like to think Andy would've liked that."

]]>
Surrealism and '70s sci-fi nostalgia: how graphic designer Hello Rabbit made it in the music business Mon, 25 Mar 2024 08:30:00 +0000 Abbey Bamford https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/surrealism-and-70s-sci-fi-nostalgia-how-graphic-designer-hello-rabbit-made-it-in-the-music-business/ https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/surrealism-and-70s-sci-fi-nostalgia-how-graphic-designer-hello-rabbit-made-it-in-the-music-business/ Northern native Hello Rabbit – aka Helen Rabbitte – tells us how she went from working at a posh popcorn brand to getting in with the top dogs in the music industry. Designer and art director Hele...

Northern native Hello Rabbit – aka Helen Rabbitte – tells us how she went from working at a posh popcorn brand to getting in with the top dogs in the music industry.

Designer and art director Helen Rabbitte's work is a kaleidoscope of contrasts. Nostalgic and contemporary, north and south, surreal and calming.

Under the name Hello Rabbit, she has worked on everything from album covers and merchandise to brand identities and stage visuals for music industry giants such as Universal Music, Warner Music Group and Columbia Records, and artists like Peggy Gou and Nadia Rose.

Her style is evocative of '70s sci-fi psychedelia, with abstract imagery that makes people look twice and warm, inviting hues and gradients that draw in the viewer, who will eventually become the listener. Contemporary cues feature in the form of quirky typefaces, sometimes direct from foundries and sometimes modified or hand-drawn from scratch.

Alaina Castillo Artwork

Alaina Castillo Artwork

Regard Troye Tate

Regard Troye Tate

Rabbitte was born and raised in Liverpool, and although the influences of northern culture still feature prominently in her work – like streetwear styles and northern slang – she always saw herself in a big city and has made a home and a career in Hackney, London.

"In London, you're exposed to a lot more culture and diversity", says Rabbitte, which she feels brings something new and fresh to her creativity. She moved to the capital after completing her illustration degree at John Moore's University in Liverpool to continue her design education and hone her skills at Shillington College. It was here that Rabbitte learned to work with Photoshop and InDesign, as she had previously favoured analogue drawing methods.

Rabbitte began her career at the snack brand Proper Corn, where she worked for three years. "At the time, there were about 20 of us all in our early 20s – it was a good laugh," she remembers. Despite this, she realised that her career would not be in brand design, as she found the brand guidelines that she had to stick to somewhat restrictive.

Her dream was to work in the music industry, where her name and distinctive style are now known and sought after. However, it was not an easy industry for a designer to break into with no connections in that realm and no music-related projects in her portfolio.

Soulection project

Soulection project

Soulection project

Soulection project

"They're everything I loved about art, culture and music."

Working as a permalancer for a couple of agencies after Proper Corn gave Rabbitte time to work on self-initiated projects like recreating album covers that she thought could be more creative. The work started to get quite a bit of traction on Instagram, and finally, Rabbitte was approached for a paid project.

British rapper Nadia Rose's manager was one of the first to contact her in 2019, a connection which led to several other projects later on. "In the beginning, I put loads of effort into projects, even if they weren't that well paid and quite small, but it paid off in the end", she says.

After listening to artist collective Soulection for around ten years, Rabbitte landed a project with them, which she took as a sign that she was on the right track. "They're everything I loved about art, culture and music, so for them to reach out to me as a client was a big accomplishment for me."

Peggy Gou Pleasure Gardens was another of her favourite projects. She describes it as "collaborative" because she was free to inject her own ideas and style with guidance from the client team. She adds that multidimensional projects like this allowed her to "create a universe around each show".

Self-initiated project

Self-initiated project

Self-initiated project

Self-initiated project

Self-initiated project

Self-initiated project

"Something that can live outside of the music."

Rabbitte's creative process often starts with listening to a track and then communicating how it made her feel to the artist. While music is always at the centre of her thinking, her view is that "something that can live outside of the music yet evoke emotion in the same way" is what makes a great album cover.

While Rabbitte aims to work across a variety of genres where possible and choose clients whose vision aligns with her own, she particularly enjoys working with artists in the dance music genre, as this allows her the most creative freedom.

"The bigger the popstar, the more people and rules are involved", says Rabbitte. Because of this, she thrives when working with smaller artists and independent labels.

Most of Rabbitte's projects involve clients in the music sector, but she still takes on projects outside of that industry to "stretch her creativity" and stop her getting "stuck in her ways". She recently finished up a branding and packaging project for a UK-based wine brand, Other World Wine. "What nice is that I'm in a position to say no to projects that I feel would be distractions," says Rabbitte.

Peggy Gou The Pleasure Gardens

Peggy Gou The Pleasure Gardens

Peggy Gou The Pleasure Gardens

Peggy Gou The Pleasure Gardens

"Surreal, quite humorous and just a bit mental."

Rabbitte has a long list of clients she'd love to work with in the future, including NTS, Nike, and Tyler the Creator. "I think Tyler the Creator is so creative himself and aligns with a lot of what I do in terms of being surreal, quite humorous and just a bit mental", she says.

"I'm starting to prefer creative direction to doing the actual designing, so I'd love to be the creative director of a studio – maybe even my own studio – in the future".

For now, Rabbitte is acting as a freelance design director at Funfair Records – a label recently founded by one of her contacts, who previously worked at Sony – working on around five releases every month in the realm of dance music.

Her work with Other World Wine is also ongoing as the brand prepares to launch a new product soon.

Peggy Gou The Pleasure Gardens

Peggy Gou The Pleasure Gardens

]]>
10 pieces of advice from famous authors to make you more creative Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:45:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/tips/10-pieces-of-advice-from-famous-authors-to-make-you-more-creative/ https://www.creativeboom.com/tips/10-pieces-of-advice-from-famous-authors-to-make-you-more-creative/ The world's best-known writers have much to teach artists of all disciplines. Here are 10 top tips to help you grow as a creative professional. If you're a parent, you'll probably still be recover...

Image licensed via Adobe Stock

Image licensed via Adobe Stock

The world's best-known writers have much to teach artists of all disciplines. Here are 10 top tips to help you grow as a creative professional.

If you're a parent, you'll probably still be recovering from World Book Day and all the shenanigans around getting your kid a costume for school. But celebrating the practice of reading isn't just for youngsters. Losing yourself in a good book is one of the great joys of life, whether you're immersing yourself in a world of fiction or broadening your horizons with the design-focused tomes in our own book section.

Weirdly, the writers behind some of the world's favourite books generally get a lot less attention and credit than others in the entertainment world, such as pop stars and actors, perhaps because their faces aren't such an integral part of the content they create.

But you don't get to sell millions of books and make people around the world fall in love with your characters by accident. And so these are creative people who we can all learn from, whatever your discipline.

Best of all, being writers, they're pretty good at sharing their wisdom in the most concise and effective way possible. So, in this article, we'll share some top advice from the world's most famous novelists and explain how we can all benefit from them.

1. Stephen King: "Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work."

Known as the king of horror, American writer Stephen King's books have sold more than 400 million copies, and many of them have been adapted into hit movies, including Carrie, The Shining, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. His advice here goes to the heart of what it means to be a creative. Put simply, it's a lot of hard work.

Although slick biographies and biopics might paint a different picture, in reality, no one wakes up one day with a brilliant idea and becomes an instant success.

It's not about waiting for the 'muse' to hit you. It's about trying, trying, trying and then trying some more to get good at something. It's about putting in the hours until you're so good at something, people will pay you. And then it's about continuing to strive until you find the commercial or critical success you seek.

In other words, don't wait for the lightning bolt to strike. Just go to work.

2. Maya Angelou: "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."

Ever heard the phrase 'running out of ideas'? That suggests there's a finite amount of creativity inside all of us. And like the fuel in a car, once it's run out, you won't be able go any further.

One of the most beloved American writers of both the 20th and 21st centuries, Maya Angelou (1928-2014) knew instinctively that this was wrong. She found fame in her forties due to the international success of her first novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. But she continued writing for the rest of her life, publishing her last book at age 85.

Her words should inspire all of us and empower anyone who fears the 'well' running dry. Instead, like Maya, we should pursue constant experimentation and engagement with our work because our creativity can only grow with use.

3. Ernest Hemingway: "The first draft of anything is shit."

When you scroll through fellow creatives' social feeds, it can be weirdly troubling. Why, you wonder, is other people's stuff so much better than yours? Well, one obvious reason is that people only post their best, finished work and certainly not the multiple failed attempts that end up in the wastebasket.

American novelist, short-story writer and journalist Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961), best known for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, was known for his economical, understated style. And this typically blunt quote from him reminds us that perfection is not a starting point but rather the culmination of a meticulous process.

For creatives of all stripes, Hemingway's words guide us to embrace our rough initial sketches, embryonic designs and nascent ideas and understand that brilliance and refinement don't emerge at the start. Instead, they're forged through an often painful, but ultimately rewarding process of revision, persistence, and an unwavering commitment to honing your craft.

4. Toni Morrison: "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was a Nobel prize-winning American writer best known for her 1987 novel Beloved, which was made into a film the following year. And her advice is one that can be translated to pretty much any creative endeavour.

If there's a website you want to exist, but doesn't, then build it. If there's a film you want to exist but doesn't, then make it. If there's an arts festival you'd like to happen in your area that doesn't exist, then set it up. Yes, you might lack the skills or resources to do any of these things. But if you have the passion and the vision you want to reach, you'll probably be surprised by how quickly you can surmount these obstacles.

Alternatively, you can shrink away from the challenge, bury your head in something mundane, and spend the rest of your life wondering, 'What if?' The choice is yours.

5. George Orwell: "Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand."

English novelist and journalist George Orwell (1903-1950) may have been dead for nearly three-quarters of a century now. But his novels such as Animal Farm and 1984 live on, many of them more relevant than ever. Yet greatness doesn't come easy. And Orwell's visceral description here of the writing process will be familiar to creatives of all kinds.

It doesn't matter whether you're working on a book, an illustration, an animation or a design project. It's typically a tumultuous, emotionally-charged journey, which can be fraught with frustration, self-doubt, and the relentless spectre of burnout.

Yet our creative passion is a force so potent, so unyielding, it compels us to persevere. And it's that unbreakable spirit that leads us, ultimately, to breathe life into our artistic visions.

6. Virginia Woolf: "Arrange whatever pieces come your way."

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was an English writer who pioneered the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Her works, such as 1925's Mrs Dalloway, have attracted attention and commentary across the world for inspiring feminist ideas.

Her advice to creatives here is based in pragmatism. Whatever plans we might make, the universe doesn't always play along. And so resourcefulness and adaptability are the hallmarks of the creative professional. We need to work with what we have.

In other words, embrace the chaos, the fragments and the seemingly disparate inspirations that life bestows upon us. And try to craft something beautiful, something meaningful, from the raw materials at your disposal.

7. Kurt Vonnegut: "To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it."

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was an American writer and humorist known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels such as Slaughterhouse-Five. His advice here goes to the heart of what it means to be an artist. In short, it's ultimately not about the results of the creative process, but the process itself, and how it makes you a better human being.

For graphic designers, illustrators and creatives of all disciplines, this quote reaffirms that the act of creation is not merely a means to an end but a profound journey of personal growth, a path to spiritual nourishment and self-actualisation.

So, ultimately, don't worry about whether your work is good or not. Ask yourself what kind of human being you've become by making it.

8. Haruki Murakami: "Most of what I know about writing I've learned through running every day."

Haruki Murakami is an award-winning Japanese writer whose novels, essays, and short stories have become bestsellers both in Japan and internationally. And the quote he provides here offers a broader lesson for creatives: get away from the computer.

Yes, you need to put in the hours at your desk. Ultimately, creativity is born from our experiences in the real world, and there's something primal about exercising out in the open that helps to unlock parts of the mind that might otherwise stay hidden.

Meanwhile, on a deeper level, Haruki urges us to embrace the mundane, the seemingly insignificant daily practices that, when compounded, can yield extraordinary results and help propel us towards creative mastery.

9. Neil Gaiman: "Start telling the stories that only you can tell"

Neil Gaiman is a renowned English author whose best-known works include the comic book series The Sandman and the fantasy novel American Gods. His advice here can be applied to every creative endeavour.

Essentially, he's saying that every one of us has a unique voice based on our own unique experience. Tap into that, and it will help raise your creative work above the crowd, get you noticed, and make content that audiences will truly engage with on an emotional level.

10. William Faulkner: "Read, read, read. Read everything: trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it."

William Faulkner was a highly influential American novelist and short story writer who was celebrated for his novels and stories exploring characters' lives in the Southern United States. His works, such as The Unvanquished, are known for their philosophical depth, rich language, and complex characters.

One of the secrets to his success is that he didn't just read novels he personally liked but instead hoovered up everything he could read, good and bad. It's a lesson that creatives today could well take note of, especially if you're living in a social media echo chamber that throws everything you like back at you.

Like 80s indie music? Try listening to metal or country for a change. Enjoy watching arthouse movies? Try a superhero blockbuster and find out why they're so popular. The more you broaden your horizons this way, the more you'll grow as a creative.

]]>
Thisaway incorporates shapes of the sport into Padel Social Club’s identity Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:15:00 +0000 Abbey Bamford https://www.creativeboom.com/news/thisaway-incorporates-shapes-of-the-sport-into-padel-social-clubs-identity-/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/thisaway-incorporates-shapes-of-the-sport-into-padel-social-clubs-identity-/ Padel Social Club's aim is to increase padel's popularity in the UK by championing "originality and authenticity" through its brand identity. Bath-based branding agency Thisaway has collaborated w...

Padel Social Club's aim is to increase padel's popularity in the UK by championing "originality and authenticity" through its brand identity.

Bath-based branding agency Thisaway has collaborated with startup Padel Social Club on its new identity as it looks to bring the sport of Padel to the UK.

Padel was launched in the 1960s in Mexico and is a cross between tennis and squash, played by four players. It is widely considered the fastest-growing sport in the world – particularly in Spain and Italy – with over 25 million active padel players in over 110 countries, according to the International Federation of Padel.

Despite its accessible and social nature, padel has not yet taken off in the UK as it has with its European racquet-sport counterparts. In a bid to change this, Padel Social Club tasked Thisaway with creating a brand that brings padel to a UK audience.

Early on, the studio noticed that the recent surge of interest in the game brought a number of brands into the market, however, Thisaway creative director Graeme Cook thinks that most of them are "quite functional" and were designed for "mass appeal". With this in mind, the studio sought to create something "more aspirational which has a clear point of view", he reveals.

Thisaway took the view that there are enough people in the know about Padel, so the brand is not focused on educating people about the sport. Instead, it seeks to communicate how Padel Social Club offers the best game experience.

When the project began, the founders already had a name and a vision to create a more premium proposition. The brief challenged Thisaway to ensure the brand was built for an audience that resonated with this offer, which involved "agreeing and deciding on what version of 'premium' would be the right approach", says Cook.

To determine the right approach, the studio had to gain an in-depth understanding of Padel Social Club's target market. This meant developing customer archetypes and examining their associated psychographics.

Thisaway discovered that the target audience was not only "fit, active and socially outgoing" but also "status-motivated", according to Cook. He adds: "They want unique experiences, like to be ahead of the curve, set trends and avoid the mainstream".

From this, the Play Original brand idea was conceived, a notion that taps into the mindset of this specific demographic. Cook describes the idea as one that encompasses both "informed Padel lovers and open-minded fun lovers".

"These are the people who want to do things differently and take pride in originality and authenticity. We wanted to put an idea at the heart of the business that encourages everyone involved to do things a little differently", he explains.

The new logo is derived from a version previously used by the founders. It has evolved and been redrawn to create a dual logo that can be interpreted as a padel racket or a location pin icon. Thisaway balanced the icon and the word mark within a holding device designed to reference the shape of a padel court.

Shapes and forms from the sport come through in the identity in other ways, specifically the lines of the court. The studio incorporated lines as graphics elements across the brand and also utilised them for Padel Social Club's art direction and brand photography.

Cook adds that "the circular aspect of the identity was inspired by the holes in a Padel racquet". When looking into the brand's competitors, Thisaway saw endless action shots of people playing and enjoying the game. In an effort to make Padel Social Club stand out, the studio worked with photographer Matt Davis on a suite of unique imagery that walks the line between still life, sport and fashion photography.

"It immediately gives the brand some stand-out and has attitude as well as an aspirational feel", says Cook.

For the headline typeface, Thisaway opted for Cy from Supertype foundry. Its alternate characters, many of which have sharp angles, allude to the markings and lines on the court, again translating the shapes of the game into the visual identity.

The decision to use a combination of sharp and round letterforms feeds into the Play Original brand idea and "not taking the expected approach," Cook explains.

]]>
Poke Marketing rebrands the world's longest cathedral in its 100th year Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/news/liverpool-cathedral-has-unveiled-a-new-look-to-mark-its-100th-year/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/liverpool-cathedral-has-unveiled-a-new-look-to-mark-its-100th-year/ Liverpool Cathedral is the jewel in the city's tourism crown and a world-renowned architectural marvel. Now, a rebrand led by Poke Marketing is recasting it in a new light. Not everyone knows this...

Liverpool Cathedral is the jewel in the city's tourism crown and a world-renowned architectural marvel. Now, a rebrand led by Poke Marketing is recasting it in a new light.

Not everyone knows this, but Britain's largest cathedral isn't in London as you might expect, but Liverpool. Based on a design by Giles Gilbert Scott and constructed between 1904 and 1978, it's also the longest cathedral in the world, at 207 yards (189m), and the eighth largest.

Whether you're religious or not, Liverpool Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool, is an architectural marvel that's definitely worth a visit. That's especially true in 2024 when the Church of England institution celebrates this magnificent building's centenary.

The landmark welcomes more than 800,000 visitors annually, drawn from local people, UK visitors, and a significant percentage of international visitors. The building is not only a place of worship but has also built a reputation for its arts and events programme, which ranges from live music sets to large gala dinners and conferences.

To mark its first 100 years in existence, the cathedral wanted to develop a new look and feel. Poke Marketing, which is also based in Liverpool, was chosen to work on the rebrand after successfully pitching against 18 other agencies from across the country.

The brief

As an iconic, globally recognised building and a jewel in the crown of Liverpool's visitor economy, the cathedral needed a brand to showcase its cultural and historical offerings as well as its religious dimension.

The cathedral needed to engage with a range of stakeholders, and the new brand needed to reflect the building's history while also appealing to new visitors. It also needed to represent the sheer depth of the cathedral's offerings and experiences – faith, arts, culture, and events.

In short, a comprehensive brand overhaul was needed to reflect the multiple and diverse offerings the Cathedral provides.

Brand concept

"Liverpool Cathedral is one of the most iconic buildings in the world, not only for its scale but also for its unique shape and double transept design," says Poke's creative director, Mark Harrington. It inspires, delights, evokes emotion, and creates pride."

This inspired Poke to create the brand theme 'Look up', encouraging a sense of exploration in visitors to Liverpool. "'Look up' encourages people to not only explore the building but themselves too," explains Mark. "Audiences can look up to the building, to God, to life, to fun, to enjoyment, to pondering, to remembering and to be wowed. From this strategic direction, we created a stunning, innovative brand identity that is inspired by the building."

"We developed their positioning, tone of voice, look and feel, identity, and branding," he adds. We also created a new website and rolled out the brand across their physical and digital assets."

Key highlights

Key highlights of the redesign are a new brand look and feel, a defined tone of voice and a sophisticated customer value proposition.

All these are communicated via the new animated 3D logo, customer-centric website, well-crafted copy, and strategic marketing campaign, reflecting the cathedral's rich heritage and cultural importance.

"The rebrand is all about representing the venue's desire to communicate that each visitor has their own unique experience," says Mark. "All they need to do is look up and encounter the cathedral experience in their own way.

"We wanted the brand to reflect the cathedral's importance to people and a sense of belonging for the community and visitors alike."

"We are honoured to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Liverpool Cathedral on this journey," says Nicola Docking, managing director of Poke. "Working extremely closely with the internal team, our goal was to honour the cathedral's legacy while ensuring its brand remains vibrant and appealing to diverse audiences. The result is a blend of tradition and modernity that we believe will resonate with the many stakeholders this important venue needs to engage with."

Stuart Haynes, director of communications at Liverpool Cathedral, adds: "The rebrand captures Liverpool Cathedral, perfectly reflecting our past while providing a platform for us for the future. We believe it works brilliantly, as through its development, Poke got to fully understand us, our values and our aspirations. So, this brand reflects the fact that we are diverse, eclectic, innovative, and welcoming.

"We feel that refreshing our brand will allow us to engage with new and more diverse people, and through it, we can welcome new worshippers and visitors to look up and discover the splendour of the building and the fantastic history within our walls. Having the rebrand for our centenary year reinforces our position as a cultural landmark, which we hope will contribute to increased engagement and awareness of the cathedral."

]]>
Treatment Studio's less-is-more look makes John Mayer gig a night to remember Thu, 21 Mar 2024 10:00:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/features/treatment-studio-deliver-a-less-is-more-aesthetic-that-makes-john-mayers-london-shows-a-night-to-remember/ https://www.creativeboom.com/features/treatment-studio-deliver-a-less-is-more-aesthetic-that-makes-john-mayers-london-shows-a-night-to-remember/ How do you make a solo show feel intimate in a cavernous venue like London's O2? Sam Pattinson of Treatment Studio explains how they went about this unusual challenge. Rising to pop success in the...

How do you make a solo show feel intimate in a cavernous venue like London's O2? Sam Pattinson of Treatment Studio explains how they went about this unusual challenge.

Rising to pop success in the early 2000s with songs like Your Body Is a Wonderland and Waiting on the World to Change, John Mayer is one of the most successful singer-songwriters of his generation. His fanbase has grown over the decades in terms of both size and enthusiasm and this week, he sold out two shows at London's O2 arena.

But for this tour, the beloved singer – who blends pop with blues-rock influences – wanted to do something different and strip everything back.

No backing band. No huge sets. Just him, a guitar and an audience.

That might sound like a dream gig if you were in the backroom of a tiny local bar. But in a venue with a 20,000 capacity? How was that going to work, exactly?

We chatted to Sam Pattinson, co-founder of Treatment Studio, the award-winning creative agency tasked with producing the shows, to find out how they went about it.

New perspective

Treatment Studio team creates experiences for live music tours, festivals, art installations, experiential spaces, branding campaigns and theatrical productions. Their expertise comprises multimedia content production, stage, lighting and set design, and the creation of interactive and mixed-reality environments. They've most recently brought all that together in U2's inaugural residency at MSG Company's Sphere Las Vegas venue.

In short, green they are not. Plus, they're old pals of John Mayer, having worked together for over a decade on his high-production tours with full bands.

So they might have thought they were in for a relatively easy ride with another John Mayer tour. When the star told them about this year's stripped-down show, though, they realised they'd have to take an entirely new approach.

"John had reached a point where he really wanted to just go out and do a solo tour," Sam explains. "For professional reasons, and musical reasons. So it was a very different brief."

Keep it simple

Whereas Treatment's past tours with Mayer involved creating big spectacles with multiple musicians, elaborate sets and large-scale visual productions, this 2024 tour represented an intentional shift towards simplicity. "John was excited by doing something very different from anything he's done before," Sam explains.

But while a more minimal approach may have seemed easier on paper, there was that huge arena to fill. Would the audience feel short-changed?

"Some people might have thought this is going to be easy," reflects Sam. "But we almost approached it in the opposite direction. We thought: it's going to be difficult to make this feel like a big show."

Accustomed to designing visuals with entire bands in mind, Treatment now had just one focal point: the singer himself.

"Normally with camera work, you've got lots of people to film," says Sam. "You've got solos, you've got different things going on the different parts of stage, different areas of the band. But ultimately we realised that we could make a very full show without doing that, just by concentrating on John's musicianship and performance. After all, he's an extraordinary, very talented man."

This revelation freed Treatment from the constraints of needing to constantly engage the audience with video content. "He's one of those artists that really doesn't need a lot of propping up visually," Sam explains. "And we learned that there are really some clear, great advantages of only having one person. It clears all the clutter out and gives you these incredible camera shots."

Unfolding set

With a clear vision of letting Mayer's artistry and personality take centre stage, Treatment began designing a set that could gradually unfold and transform over the course of the performance. They started by repurposing the roof pieces from Mayer's previous arena tour. "We took sections of these and created this wall of slats behind him, which was lit up in various changing colours", explains John. "This really helped to define the area John was performing in."

To complement this warm, textured backdrop, Treatment incorporated an LED video wall that could move, split into different configurations, and reveal new elements as the show progressed. "We divided the screen up and used it in different proportions," Sam explains. "That meant that as the show goes on, we could gradually build the look, the environment. We wouldn't have to give everything away at once."

Along with a lighting rig, a mirror installation and smoke effects, Treatment crafted a show that, as it progressed, slowly blossomed from its stripped-back beginnings into an enveloping atmosphere, all the while keeping the star as the unwavering focal point.

Video content

In developing the video content itself, Treatment committed to an artistic, avant-garde aesthetic designed to complement Mayer's performances rather than literally interpreting the lyrics of each song.

"It's mood-driven," Sam explains. "John's so open-minded, and he'll always go towards art and architecture. Over the years, we've done everything from Monument Valley to Chinese ancient ceramics to modern contemporary opera design. Kitsch, as well, he's big into that world too."

Rather than tying visuals to specific songs, Treatment produced around 25-30 versatile, abstract video pieces that could pair with multiple tracks in Mayer's ever-changing setlist.

"We don't make pieces of videos per song like we do with other bands because it's tied to that song in terms of tempo, structure, and subject matter," Sam explains. "That gives John the freedom he wants to just play whatever."

Sam notes how scaling back on production size and visual overload heightened the sense of intimacy they aimed to create. "Rather than punctuating the gig with these massive impact moments or anything like that, it was all rather subtle," he explains. "The whole thing just kind of grew quite softly."

This reflected the singer's desire to "retain that intimacy and that personal space while occupying a much bigger space," he adds. "I think we found a good balance there."

Magical night

I was lucky enough to be at the O2 for the first night, and the effect was quite magical. Rather than a typical OTT rock show, with all the bells and whistles that entails, Treatment delivered a visual experience driven by energy, emotion and artistry rather than literal narrative. This was the perfect match for John Mayer's gentle, quiet, heavily improvisational and dynamic solo performances.

By leaning into restraint and intentionally allowing frequent pauses in the visual programming, Treatment crafted a one-man show that managed to feel epic and expansive while at the same time feeling intimate and insular. In short, it was the perfect complement to the star's soulful songwriting and instrumental intricacy.

At one point, John Mayer explained how much he appreciated the audience for supporting such a quiet and intimate show. "It's one thing to fill a huge arena," he said. "It's quite another to fill a huge arena with silence. So I thank you for that."

Credit where it's due

As a long-time creative partner, Sam beams with pride over how Treatment's minimalist tour production embodied the artistic ambition for these solo shows. But he's careful to give full credit to the artist's original concept.

"John really doesn't get credited enough for the visions he has," he stresses. "He wants to approach everything with an open mind. That's part of the reason he works with us, because as a London-based agency, we're not in that world of American mainstream touring, and can think outside of the box."

But credit is due to Treatment, too. In eschewing conventional arena tour excess in favour of a more subtle atmosphere, their visual artistry raised the appeal of an already acclaimed songwriter and guitarist to new emotional heights. Truly, a case of less is more.

]]>
Why is sonic branding being overlooked in the alcohol sector? Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:43:00 +0000 Abbey Bamford https://www.creativeboom.com/features/why-is-sonic-branding-being-overlooked-in-the-alcohol-sector/ https://www.creativeboom.com/features/why-is-sonic-branding-being-overlooked-in-the-alcohol-sector/ Sonic branding agency Amp's head of research & insights, Bjorn Thorleifsson, delves into the rise of stock music in the alcohol sector and why brands could benefit from having an ownable sonic...

Sonic branding agency Amp's head of research & insights, Bjorn Thorleifsson, delves into the rise of stock music in the alcohol sector and why brands could benefit from having an ownable sonic logo.

When you think about brand design, visual and verbal elements often come to mind, but having a successful brand is about more than just how it looks and reads on paper. According to sonic branding agency Amp, having a sound identity or a sonic logo is just as important in fostering brand recognition and communicating value to consumers.

The latest set of research from Amp's Research & Insights team delves into the sonic identities – or lack thereof – in the alcohol sector. Through extensive desk research, social media monitoring, and AI evaluation provided by Amp's Sonic Hub tech platform, the studio has analysed and ranked the top 50 alcohol brands by their use of music and sound (over the last 12 months) based on the top five brands from each sector by market share.

Looking into the alcohol sector was a decision spurred by both professional curiosity and personal experience for Amp's head of research & insights Bjorn Thorleifsson, who worked as a bartender during his university years. It was during this time that he noticed how the sonic ambience played a crucial role in the success of bars.

"Music is ubiquitous in alcohol-related settings, from bars and clubs to sporting events", says Thorleifsson. "While some brands have previously experimented with sonic branding, it seemed surprising that larger market shareholders hadn't fully embraced this concept, which led us to explore the potential benefits and pitfalls of sonic branding in the alcohol industry."

Surprisingly, the alcohol sector has very little owned music, according to the research, with Pilsner Urquell leading owned music usage in the market with 27%. Havana Club, Michelob Ultra, Belvedere, and Modelo round out the top five ranking with descending sonic scores. Amp also found that beer brands claimed 50% of the top ten slots in the ranking.

Overall, though, the alcohol sector is suffering from a wildly expensive licensing habit and an overreliance on lacklustre stock music, which makes up 43% of all content in the sector.

H2 Over-reliance on stock music

Thorleifsson puts the prevalence of stock music in the alcohol sector down to a combination of factors primarily driven by cost considerations. He says: "Brands often find themselves turning to stock music as a cost-effective solution to meet their sonic branding needs".

"This reliance on stock music stems from either a lack of strategic approach to sonic branding or starting from an ill-informed standpoint." In the absence of a cohesive sonic identity, brands are forced towards licensed music, custom music, or stock music.

While licensed music is familiar, it is usually the most expensive option and often doesn't align with the brand's identity. Custom music can be cheaper, but still requires significant investment when developing a long-term sonic strategy and using stock music – the most affordable option – runs the risk of entering a sea of sameness.

While it's easy to assume that stock music is a pragmatic choice for alcohol brands lacking a defined sonic identity, Thorleifsson thinks that this approach "overlooks the potential for differentiation and brand enhancement through strategic sonic branding".

He also suggests that using stock music isn't always a cost-related choice but can sometimes be driven by the fact that brands believe they have "reached the pinnacle of brand recognition", and so they overlook opportunities to enhance it further. Amp's research found this to be particularly true with champagne brands, which use a combined 90% "stock music" and "no music" in external marketing communications.

H2 A chance to boost consumer connections

What alcohol brands are missing is the opportunity to "foster a deeper connection" and "strengthen brand recall" among consumers, which, in turn, leads to "a sense of belonging among customers" when they can instantly recognise a brand's sound, Thorleifsson explains.

Amp also infers that ownable sounds bring added exclusivity and quality to a brand, enhancing its overall image in the eyes of consumers.

Some secondary benefits of having a sonic logo include the ability to leverage these sounds to create immersive brand experiences. Thorleifsson notes how Corona has "embraced the concept of hosting venues" and can curate" a cohesive brand experience for customers, reinforcing their brand values while serving their products" using their sonic identity.

He adds that having an ownable sound identity "opens up opportunities for creative collaborations and marketing initiatives, as brands can enlist guest artists to interpret their sonic identity or even create new compositions inspired by it". Not only does this diversify brand engagement, but it also generates excitement and fosters memorability, as proven by campaigns like Just Eat's, which has featured artists like Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry.

So, while recognition is a core benefit of sonic identity, it can also allow brands to forge deeper connections with consumers, elevate their brand image, and present opportunities for immersive brand experiences.

H2 Prioritising implementation

How do you translate a brand's values into musical representation?

This is one of the main challenges when creating a sonic logo, according to Thorleifsson. The solution involves "leveraging insights from successful past campaigns or drawing inspiration from visual elements of the brand"; however, he reveals how the most effective approach typically involves "collaboration with experts well-versed in the psychology of music". These experts are the ones who can "interpret the brand's essence and ensure alignment with its multifaceted identity".

After creation comes implementation, which hinges on securing a consistent buy-in from stakeholders across all markets, as Thorleifsson says "disparities in adoption can undermine the efficacy of the sonic identity and impede efforts to cultivate brand equity". A disproportionate rollout of a sonic identity could not only dilute its impact but also inhibit the consumer's ability to associate specific sounds with the brand, meaning the whole process of finding and creating a sound would amount to very little in terms of results.

Ensuring the "long-term viability and distinctiveness" of a brand's sonic identity should always be the focus, says Thorleifsson, as the creation of a flexible and holistic sonic identity demands "meticulous planning and well-thought-out execution".

Two experts in the space – William Grant & Sons global creative content manager Fabiano Latham and Legacy Marketing head of creative April Quealy – also shed light on the state of sonic branding in the alcohol industry in Amp's latest Amplify issue: "The Sound of Alcohol".

In the issue, Latham explains how sound is a crucial asset in the content creation realm for alcohol brands, while Quealy makes the point that brands investing in sound will not only stand out but appear more authentic to consumers, delving into how sound is key in rounding out the sensorial experience of drinking and highlighting how activating the senses can secure consumer connection.

]]>
Practice develops a simplified identity for new skincare brand Remedy Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/news/how-dr-muneeb-shahs-new-skincare-brand-is-championing-skin-health-with-a-less-is-more-brand-identity-by-practice/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/how-dr-muneeb-shahs-new-skincare-brand-is-championing-skin-health-with-a-less-is-more-brand-identity-by-practice/ The New York branding agency has been working with skincare expert Dr Muneeb Shah to help disrupt an often confusing and fragmented market. The 'less is more' concept is a powerful one in design....

The New York branding agency has been working with skincare expert Dr Muneeb Shah to help disrupt an often confusing and fragmented market.

The 'less is more' concept is a powerful one in design. But when it comes to client work, it can sometimes be an uphill battle putting that into practice.

Corporate clients, in particular, may end up trying to cram multiple messages into one design; either to please all the competing parts of the business, or because they just lack focus concerning what their business is actully about.

When New York-based brand-building firm Practice teamed up with skincare expert Dr Muneeb Shah, though, they were pushing against an open door. In this case, the client wants to pursue a 'less is more' approach to disrupt the often confusing and fragmented skincare market.

Original idea

Dr Shah, who's amassed an online audience of nearly 20 million followers under the moniker @DermDoctor, first approached Practice in 2022 with an idea.

Through years of clinical work as a dermatologist, helping countless patients solve their skin issues, he'd developed a deep understanding of the most common conditions. And more often than not, he found that the brands and products people were using to treat them weren't all that effective.

In fact, they often sold customers empty promises instead of a reliable path to healthier skin. Convinced he could build something better, he reached out to Practice.

Practice, which specialises in building category-defining, mission-driven brands from end-to-end, only selects a small handful of client projects to work on every year. However, the team knew immediately that Dr Shah's idea, though nascent, had massive potential and admired his dedication to democratising skin health.

As Michelle Mattar, founder and creative director at Practice, explains: "Dr Shah was uniquely positioned to fill this gap in the skincare industry. This wasn't AI-scanning product reviews. This was someone who actively treated patients, received the biggest questions in skincare on a daily basis, had filtered through it all and asked, 'How can we do better?'"

Brand concept

Each of Remedy's products addresses a common skin condition and is formulated by Dr Shah himself. The brand's formulations are 100% vegan and safe for sensitive skin, as well as being free of fragrances, common allergens and animal testing.

"One of the key differentiators is that each formula was built from the ground up with the intention to pack as many great things in there as possible," explains Julia Ambrus, a 3D and graphic designer at Practice. "In contrast, market leaders often pick the route of adding the least possible amount of active ingredients to their products just to be able to list that they're in it, so they can maximise their margins."

In collaboration with Dr Shah, Practice ideated on and built out a twofold concept: a skincare brand with a less-is-more philosophy, which Practice later named Remedy, and a sub-brand called Skinpedia, an evergreen index making skincare knowledge and best practices accessible to all.

"This is a brand that believes you need less skincare – instead of having to purchase and layer on tons of different products, you can now rely on fewer products that are each stacked with the highest possible product efficacy," explains Michelle. "These remedies are a more powerful, streamlined, and effective way to get healthy skin."

"Remedy marches to the beat of its own drum," adds Rohan Chaurasia, a designer at Practice. "It reflects Dr Shah's joyful energy while still feeling trustworthy. It feels purposeful without being preachy and expert without being overly complicated."

Brand name

When it came time to name the nascent skincare brand, Practice wanted to evoke Dr Shah's clinical expertise as well as his warm personality. The team decided on the name Remedy: a bold embodiment of Dr Shah's humanised yet solution-oriented approach to skin health.

"When you hear the name Remedy, you immediately understand that it's good for your health; it's a remedy for your skin," says Brit Diamond, a senior designer at Practice. "The name conveys a level of emotion and authority while still evoking a human touch."

Practice then developed a pragmatic naming structure for the brand's products, labelling them 'Remedy for; plus the specific skin condition each product was developed for, such as dark spots (Remedy for Dark Spots) and large pores (Remedy for Pore Size). "We wanted to cut through the noise of skincare by crafting product names that were clear, intuitive, and easy to remember," explains Brit.

Brand strategy

Next, the team worked to develop a brand strategy that champions skin health and skin confidence. Underneath many skincare brands' claims are the unspoken promise of 'If you buy this, you'll be beautiful'. In contrast, Practice carved out a contrasting strategy for Remedy that celebrates the inherent beauty of healthy skin.

Grounded in the brand strategy, Remedy's visual and verbal identity followed suit, illuminating the brand's core ethos with an approachable yet clinically-inspired visual system and powerful statements such as 'Not a miracle. A remedy.' and 'Healthy skin is beautiful skin'.

There's even a hidden meaning baked into the brand's wordmark: Remedy's secondary lock-up, Remedy Science, features a cursive-inspired 'M' and 'S'. Emulating a doctor's signature, these two hidden letters are the initials of Muneeb Shah, the brand's founder.

Packaging and digital

To further bring Remedy's brand system to life, Practice designed several core touchpoints, including the packaging system and the websites for both Remedy and Skinpedia and built out the brand's content strategy and art direction.

As with the brand identity, thoughtful details were integrated into every part of the Remedy system. When designing the product packaging, the team intentionally selected a translucent frosted material to signal the transparency of the brand, which allowed the product to adopt a clinical appearance that felt grounded in science.

In the near future, the brand plans to start expanding its product line to address even more skin needs, as well as continually adding to Skinpedia's repository of skincare knowledge.

The Practice team sees its sustained co-creation with Dr Shah not just as a meaningful partnership but also as an impactful step towards transforming the skincare industry for the better. "Dr Shah was uniquely positioned to fill this gap in the skincare industry," says Michelle. "This wasn't AI scanning product feedback or reviews: this was someone who actively treated patients, received the biggest questions in skincare on a daily basis, and filtered through it all and asked, 'How can we do better?'"

]]>
Play Studio gives a distinct and memorable vibe to OpenAI conference Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:15:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/identity-for-open-ais-devday-conference/ https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/identity-for-open-ais-devday-conference/ The company behind ChatGPT brought hundreds of developers together for DevDay in San Francisco. Play Studio was on hand to give the event a unique visual identity. Whatever you think of AI, there'...

The company behind ChatGPT brought hundreds of developers together for DevDay in San Francisco. Play Studio was on hand to give the event a unique visual identity.

Whatever you think of AI, there's no denying that it's taking over and is here to stay. (If you don't believe us, read our special report on how design agencies are actually using AI in 2024.) So, for OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to hold its first developer conference was a major deal.

Held in San Francisco, DevDay was a one-day conference hosted for hundreds of developers worldwide. The OpenAI team worked closely with Play Studio to develop branding for the event, including a logo, visual identity system, art direction, signage, environmental design, motion design, advertising, photography and UX/UI design.

Building Blocks

Their aim was to give this inaugural event a distinct and memorable vibe reflective of the forward-looking spirit of the OpenAI brand and the diverse talent pool gathered to meet and exchange ideas. The design system centred around the basic building block of all computer data: the bit.

The team arranged hundreds of these bits together to form a radiating ring. Each bit's simple square shape gives the ring compelling flexibility and allows it to be viewed uniquely at macro and micro levels.

Play Studio set the OpenAI DevDay logotype in Söhne Mono, a typeface that invokes the look of classic computer code. The logotype's monospaced structure allowed it to shift and stack into various arrangements while maintaining a crisp 90-degree rectangular form.

The DevDay colours were selected from OpenAI's broader palette. Paired in contrasting hues, the variety of colours represents the diversity of ideas and people at the event. Colour pairings informed everything from signage to animations to swag.

When animated, the system cycles through a series of dynamic geometric movements, freely expanding, transforming, shifting, and revealing itself in fresh ways.

Event Space

In partnership with Strong Brew, the team brought the DevDay design system to life in every corner of the physical event space.

From the moment attendees entered the venue, they were welcomed by captivating wall designs, wayfinding signage, canvas artwork and digital information screens. The team also created an interactive feedback wall, directory maps, and window and mirror details.

Play Studio further incorporated the DevDay computer bit motif into the event space's primary wayfinding system. Bits were configured as a series of 3D stackable cubes featuring bit patterns, directional typography, and logos. The system appeared in delightful ways in every corner of the venue.

On the day itself, the DevDay design system also took centre stage alongside each of the scheduled presenters, with fully designed slides set against a computer-coded, bit-inspired backdrop. Meanwhile, in between sessions, playful animations took over the stage.

Play Studio also provided branded swag to commemorate the day properly. Attendees received sweatshirts, enamel pins, stickers, ID badges, and totes in a variety of colours and styles.

]]>
New Alexis Rockman exhibition is an urgent look at the rise of global wildfires Thu, 21 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/news/alexis-rockman/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/alexis-rockman/ Connecticut-based contemporary artist Alexis Rockman has returned to Huxley-Parlour with Conflagration, a solo exhibition of nine new paintings focusing on the increasing occurrence of wildfires wo...

Connecticut-based contemporary artist Alexis Rockman has returned to Huxley-Parlour with Conflagration, a solo exhibition of nine new paintings focusing on the increasing occurrence of wildfires worldwide.

What connects Greece, Canada, Spain, Russia, and Portugal? In 2023, they were all ravaged by wildfires, with Canada breaking previous records by a significant margin. These infernos led to emissions of roughly 410 megatonnes of carbon, with many areas experiencing wildfires for the first time.

Artist Alexis Rockman is responding to this monumental ravaging of ecosystems in Conflagration, his newest exhibition of paintings at Huxley Parlour. Running until 13 April, the show consists of nine new artworks, including dramatic paintings in which Alexis has chaotically applied paint to reflect the urgency of the situation.

The paintings, developed over 2023, are presented in a critical "moment of no return" regarding the global climate crisis. Putting the behaviour of humans around the world under the microscope, Conflagration presents "a pressing vision of the critical environmental state of the planet."

It also represents the latest step in Alexis's 40-year journey of developing a distinct visual language, described as "natural history psychedelia". Featuring radiant, scorching colours and an iconography which draws on everything from natural history illustrations to dioramas in the American Museum of Natural History, this eclectic style is perfectly suited to making a statement about the ongoing climate crisis.

This approach is not just art for art's sake, either. "His methodology is further anchored within rigorous scientific research, often conducted in collaboration with scientific experts and historians, and extensive first-hand field study," the gallery adds.

However, as well as tying into his interests as an artist, Conflagration also represents something of a departure. Here, Alexis brings his attention to the present moment and foregoes the post-apocalyptic dystopias that are to be found in his previous work. The end of the world isn't way off in the future; in fact, it's happening right now.

"This series, too, returns to a gestural, impasto style used in earlier works," adds Huxley-Parlour. "Using a combination of oil paint and cold wax on wood to create visceral marks enlivened with a sense of urgency, his gestural brushstrokes reference canonical landscape paintings by Turner, Courbet, and Peder Balke while calling to mind the heavily applied, textural surfaces of Clyfford Still."

Alexis contrasts this painterly language, which traditionally venerates the sublime beauty of nature, with a hallucinatory depiction of the world in ecological collapse. The two contrasting elements come together powerfully to create paintings that are at once spectacular and horrifying.

"Their monumentality is underscored by the inclusion of small-scale foreground elements such as traditional fishing vessels, recreational kayaks, wildlife and livestock," the gallery concludes. "This fundamental tension between beauty and catastrophe defines the world of Conflagration, making Rockman's demands for environmental action more compelling than ever. "

]]>
New book celebrates the brand that changed British football forever Wed, 20 Mar 2024 09:15:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/features/new-book-celebrates-admiral-the-retro-football-brand-that-changed-the-british-football-landscape-forever/ https://www.creativeboom.com/features/new-book-celebrates-admiral-the-retro-football-brand-that-changed-the-british-football-landscape-forever/ Admiral 50 Years of the Replica Shirt pays tribute to the company that first introduced replica shirts in the early 1970s. We chat with Glory Studio's Lee Nash to learn more. It's weird to imagine...

Admiral 50 Years of the Replica Shirt pays tribute to the company that first introduced replica shirts in the early 1970s. We chat with Glory Studio's Lee Nash to learn more.

It's weird to imagine now, but there was once a time when fans wearing replica football shirts of their heroes would have seemed quite peculiar behaviour. This is actually quite a modern phenomenon that began in the early 1970s.

In the 1973-74 season, sportswear brand Admiral forever changed the British football landscape with the introduction and sale of the first replica shirt. The move sparked an explosion in football design, manufacturing, and culture that continues to the present day.

And this fascinating journey has now been chronicled in a commemorative, limited-edition, coffee table-style book, titled Admiral 50 Years of the Replica Shirt.

The book is a partnership between football design studio Glory Studio, Admiral Sports and Halcyon Publishing. We caught up with Lee Nash of Glory Studio to find out more.

Why shirts are important

Lee explains what makes these shirts so special to fans. "Football shirts are, in their very essence, uniforms and something that unites all fans of a club," he says. Each season, players and fans alike wait in anticipation to see what the latest iteration of their club shirt looks like.

"It's important to remember that the home shirt is always in the traditional colours of the club," he adds. "The away kit offers more freedom with colourways, and in the modern era, the third shirt has been introduced, often seeing the more outrageous designs.

"The football shirt has importance beyond just the club's colours, though. It can often be the players who wore the shirt, the goals scored wearing the shirt, or, for the lucky few, the trophies lifted."

A labour of love

Blending newly commissioned photography with archive images, original design sketches and contributions from collectors, presented with Glory's hallmark approach to design, the book features essays on notable kits and their context from some of football's best writers, including Harry Pearson, Rob Bagchi, Daniel Gray, Andi Thomas, Ian King and Ian Plenderleith.

There are also contributions from famous fans including Maisie Adam, Mark and Paul Watson, James Brown and Guy Mowbray, along with academic insight into the design, manufacturing and socially pioneering nature of shirts from Professors Jean Williams and Andrew Groves.

The book further contains recollections from players and managers who have worn the shirts, including Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Sue Smith, Peter Shilton, Roy Hodgson, Viv Anderson, and Mark Hateley. It also includes an illustrated Admiral kit directory by designer John Devlin.

As a long-time football fan, it was a labour of love for Lee. "I fell in love with football when my parents took me to Barcelona's stadium – Camp Nou – as a seven-year-old," he recalls. "This led to a lifelong fascination with the game. I used to get three football magazines delivered to my door every week, and I studied and devoured every page.

"Fast-forward eight years, and I fulfilled my childhood dream and launched my own football magazine, Glory," he continues. The publication has been sold in 70 countries and won Best Sports Magazine at the International Creative Media Awards last year.

"We travel to a different country, city or club for each issue and document its football, travel and culture," he explains. "It's the perfect publication for any budding groundhopper. I've managed to inflict my football obsession on my sons, too – they sit with me every other week at Portman Road as we watch our beloved Ipswich Town."

Timely release

To Lee, the new book comes at the perfect time. "The growth in popularity around replica football shirts has never been bigger," he enthuses. If you attended Glastonbury Festival last year, you would've spotted every other festival-goer donned in a random football shirt."

He tells us more about that first replica shirt, which kicked everything off exactly half a century ago. "It was a yellow kit produced for Leeds United," he explains. The shirt featured blue and white tape down the sleeve and either sewn-on patches or heat transfer branding on the shirt."

And here's something you might not have guessed. "The initial shirts were only produced in children's sizes, making it almost impossible to find adult pieces from this era," reveals Lee. "Admiral took advantage of the changes in copyright law during the time to allow them to take ownership over the designs of the shirts, leading to even more unique shirt designs."

So the obvious question is: what's Lee's own favourite design? "That's a tough question!" he responds. "Possibly the Admiral Wales shirt of 1976-79. This shirt, for me, highlights everything that football shirt design became in an era. Over just three years, the team at Admiral had understood that the football shirt was a canvas to proudly display the teams' colours. With a mix of red, yellow and green, this stand-out piece is based on the hourglass silhouette invented by Admiral during this time."

As for the modern era, a watershed moment for the brand was the Walthamstow FC kit from 2023, says Lee. "The shirt featured a William Morris design throughout the shirt. Taking the internet by storm and reaching a global audience, it showed how, even in the 2020s, pushing boundaries of design will get attention and be at the heart of the Admiral brand."

Marking the first-ever year of replica shirt sales, an initial 1,974 individually numbered hardback books are now on pre-order. These will be the only books of this type produced before a softback version is released for retail later in 2024.

]]>
Ikon's new identity seeks to cut through the homogeny of the design and build sector Wed, 20 Mar 2024 07:45:00 +0000 Abbey Bamford https://www.creativeboom.com/news/ikons-new-identity-seeks-to-cut-through-the-homogeny-of-the-design-and-build-sector/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/ikons-new-identity-seeks-to-cut-through-the-homogeny-of-the-design-and-build-sector/ The workspace design and development company's new identity by Campbell Hay includes a customised typeface and a flexible graphic icon chosen to convey a collaborative approach. Campbell Hay has d...

The workspace design and development company's new identity by Campbell Hay includes a customised typeface and a flexible graphic icon chosen to convey a collaborative approach.

Campbell Hay has designed a new identity for workspace design and development company Ikon, aiming to better communicate its high-quality offering and position it as a trustworthy partner.

When Ikon decided to rebrand, it reached out to Campbell Hay as it was familiar with the studio's work. Design director Wai Ming Ng worked closely with senior designer Carolyn Ang on the project, encompassing strategy, copywriting, branding, art direction, film and photography, and website.

From the start, the studio was intrigued by Ikon's interesting offering and backstory, and there were many existing elements to draw from and ideas to focus on, according to Wai Ming Ng. He describes the Ikon team as being collaborative, adding that the company trusted Campbell Hay and valued its professional expertise, "so there was room to create something really exciting and creative".

One of the biggest challenges with this project was avoiding the homogeny of the design and build industry by creating a distinguishable and memorable identity. "To strike that balance between something fresh yet still relatable, we really had to understand the core of who Ikon is – their values, their target audience, what makes them unique – and it took some thoughtful exploration to distil all of that into a cohesive design system", says Carolyn Ang.

For the word mark, Campbell Hay opted for a customised version of Scto Grotesk A from Schick Toikka. Wai Ming Ng explains how the studio took the clean, geometric sans serif that conveys and introduced subtle curves to soften the overall appearance while aiming to retain its "modernity and confidence".

Items – the primary typeface – is also from Schick Toikka, as our primary typeface. This modern serif compliments the logotype, adding warmth and approachability and seeking to humanise Ikon's voice.

The plus sign was added to the logo lockup to highlight Ikon's collaborative nature. " They are always there for their client, working together with them and guiding them from start to finish,” says Wai Ming Ng. He adds that it also reflects how Ikon builds relationships with others in the industry.

Outside of the logo, the plus sign is used as a standalone graphic device, as an ownable detail on print collateral or as a sign-off. On a larger scale, it can create solid shapes that can be used with colours or to house images.

Ikon's new colour palette, led by rich, dark green, was devised to convey the company's "dependable nature and forward-thinking approach", according to the studio. The main hue was chosen for its depth, and Carolyn Ang interprets it as synonymous with "trustworthiness, stability, and strength".

Beige is also featured in the palette, bringing in warmer tones, while bold accents of vibrant neon yellow inject energy and optimism and seek to signal Ikon's innovative approach.

"The combination of these colours creates a dynamic yet grounded aesthetic, reflecting Ikon's duality of being a dependable partner while still pushing the boundaries", says Carolyn.

Perfecting the tone of voice of the copywriting was key to positioning Ikon as a trustworthy partner. The copy was written to spotlight the company's collaborative approach and the needs of its existing and prospective clients.

With the art direction, the aim was to highlight the process and people, whether it is film or photography for a specific project or the wider brand photography used on Ikon's website. When looking at the company's competitors, Campbell Hay noticed that the project photography is often harsh and cold, using sterile light with little to no styling or people.

Wai Ming Ng says: "What we have focused on with Ikon's new art direction is using natural light to create softer and more natural-looking images".

"We also work with stylists on the various shoots and include people in the images adding personality and warmth."

]]>
Wonderhood Design walks the line between church and charm in Sacred Ground’s identity Wed, 20 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000 Abbey Bamford https://www.creativeboom.com/news/wonderhood-design-walks-the-line-between-church-and-charm-in-sacred-grounds-identity/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/wonderhood-design-walks-the-line-between-church-and-charm-in-sacred-grounds-identity/ For the pro-bono project, the studio designed a logotype that is both "ornate and classic" and has a "contemporary setting" for the new coffee shop, which is opposite Soho's St Anne's Church. Wond...

For the pro-bono project, the studio designed a logotype that is both "ornate and classic" and has a "contemporary setting" for the new coffee shop, which is opposite Soho's St Anne's Church.

Wonderhood Design has created an identity for new Soho coffee shop Sacred Grounds, including its name, witty brand voice and a logotype that walks the line between traditional and contemporary.

The work was part of the studio's Neighbourly Fund, an annual project aimed at supporting local Soho businesses for which Wonderhood offers its expertise in branding and identity for free.

When the Soho Business Alliance shared the initiative on their forum, St Anne's Church got in touch as it had recently re-acquired the lease on an adjacent building and planned to turn it into a coffee shop. Following research into the category and competition, Wonderhood developed a brand strategy, tone of voice, name, and identity, including the logo, bespoke fonts, and colour palette, and advised interior and exterior design.

Although the coffee shop is connected to St Anne's, the brand was designed to be evocative of the church without being too religious and not to exclude non-religious people. Sacred Ground's affiliation with St Anne's Church is part of its unique offering. While the brand had to have an "inclusive, community element", Wonderhood Design co-founder Roy Barker says the studio also had to adhere to other "boundaries and sensitivities" to avoid offending those belonging to the Church.

The process of devising the name was reflective of this balancing act, as Barker feels that it "alludes to the religious aspect without making it all about the church". The play on words also aligned with the overall knowing tone of voice that Wonderhood developed for the brand, which is perhaps one of its most surprising aspects.

Like the name, Sacred Ground's leading phrase – 'Divine coffee in the heart of soho' – subtly alludes to the church affiliation while bolder phrases like 'Pick up a double ender then a double espresso' adorn fly posters in the area. This "cheeky, knowing tone of voice" is a nod to Soho's rich cultural history", says Barker.

He adds: "It must have worked, because we've had the council asking us to take the posters down, and even people coming in and asking where the sauna is".

Both the verbal and visual identities were designed to stand out and be distinctive in a world of "cookie-cutter, minimalistic coffee shops", according to Wonderhood co-founder Simon Elvins.

Sacred Ground's logotype merges more traditional and decorative detail – in homage to the church – with a contemporary, condensed type. Traditional cues of religious iconography are more visible through the brand's merchandise.

Warmth and vibrancy are key qualities of the brand, differentiating it from the multitude of monochromatic café brands in Soho. Wonderhood opted for a signifying orange hue that pairs well with the style of the font we thought it paired perfectly with the font, which Elvins describes as "ornate and classic" with a "contemporary setting".

Legibility was just as important as aesthetics when it came to the font and colours, as St Anne's wanted the brand to be as inclusive as possible.

Wonderhood Design went the extra mile on this project, going beyond branding to advise on the interior and exterior design, working with St Anne's parishioner and operations manager Jake Lee's vision. Fortunately, the previous leaseholders had left behind "bits and pieces worth incorporating", says Elvins.

Due to a limited budget, Lee had the final say, but the studio consulted and guided him throughout the process he had the final say. This resulted in "a peaceful, thoughtful space which is not too cluttered or too loud, retaining a simple design aesthetic", according to Elvins.

Sacred Ground is also due to open a secret garden in the next couple of months, ready for the summer season.

]]>
Two Deserts: From Form's latest exhibition traces the changing shape of the Californian desert Wed, 20 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/two-deserts/ https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/two-deserts/ Ahead of the release of a short film that has been six years in the making, creative studio From Form has exhibited a series of photographs that chart the ever-shifting shape of the Californian des...

Ahead of the release of a short film that has been six years in the making, creative studio From Form has exhibited a series of photographs that chart the ever-shifting shape of the Californian desert.

Over the last six years, Ashley Govers and Jurjen Versteeg, the husband-and-wife team behind independent creative studio From Form, have been busily working on a short film chronicling the Californian desert. Titled Two Deserts, the documentary promises to playfully explore the relationship between humans and nature.

Six years is a fair old time to wait for a premiere, though. So, to whet appetites, the pair are currently exhibiting photos from the film at the Hofbogen creative hub in Rotterdam, which, as fortune would have it, is the exact same space where From Form first started their studio.

"Tracing the transforming Californian desert in the past and present, Two Deserts is a 25' documentary that playfully explores the relationship between humans and nature," the pair explains. "A combination of analogue film and photography, stop-motion animation, paintings, letterpress printing, scale models, and built sets create a rich visual universe in which the story unfolds."

Speaking of the story, Two Deserts is an account of Randall Henderson, the editor and publisher of DESERT Magazine. In fact, the title of the film itself is a reference to his oft-quoted debut editorial, where he opines that "There Art Two Deserts," one a grim desolate wasteland, the other the real desert with hidden gifts that pass by the superficial observer.

"Fighting the era's stigma, he presented his readers with a romanticised version of the desert. Something he called the real desert."

During the Second World War, Henderson's son and hiking companion was tragically killed in action. Shortly afterwards, he resigned from DESERT magazine, but he would continue to explore the desert and write about it for various publications. However, the aftermath of his tragic loss is the focus of Two Deserts.

"When the loss of his son confronts him with the harsh reality, he decides to escape into his self-created dream world," explains Ashley and Jurjen. "Set against the rapidly changing California desert, Randall searches for answers to existential questions. But where does reality end and imagination begin in a landscape of false perspective?"

There's still a while to go until viewers can enjoy the film, but the collection of photos on display at Man Met Brill Koffie gives us an idea of what to expect. "Inspired by its vast landscapes and distinct light, this series captures graphic compositions found throughout Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, Twentynine Palms, and LA."

]]>
New campaign builds inclusivity by challenging assumptions for World Down Syndrome Day Tue, 19 Mar 2024 19:00:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/news/assume-that-i-can-new-campaign-for-world-down-syndrome-day/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/assume-that-i-can-new-campaign-for-world-down-syndrome-day/ Assumptions about what people with Down syndrome are capable of are sadly surrounded by negative stereotypes. To challenge this mindset and build true inclusivity, Small has worked with CoorDown on...

Assumptions about what people with Down syndrome are capable of are sadly surrounded by negative stereotypes. To challenge this mindset and build true inclusivity, Small has worked with CoorDown on a new campaign for World Down Syndrome Day.

It's an unfortunate fact that stereotypes, biases, and low expectations still hold back the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. However, with World Down Syndrome Day just around the corner on 21 March, New York-based agency Small has teamed up with CoorDown – the National Coordination of Associations of People with Down Syndrome – to raise awareness of their true abilities.

Titled Assume That I Can, the campaign centres around a short film starring actor, model, and advocate Madison Tevlin as she defies teachers, bartenders and parents to prove that she is capable of far more than they think.

Released to coincide with World Down Syndrome Day, an internationally-observed event which raises awareness of Down syndrome, it aims to help create a culture of diversity. Check it out below.

Inspiring stuff. But that's not all there is to the campaign. Running with the hashtags #AssumeThatICan #EndTheStereotypes #WorldDownSyndromeDay and #WDSD24 across social media, Assume That I Can also sees the likes of Kim Kardashian and Maria Carey get involved as they satirise people's expectations of individuals with Down syndrome.

Running from now until 21 March, the campaign will broadcast the real experiences of people with Down syndrome and their families from all over the world. Boosted by the #OfCourse trend, this content shares real experiences of the types of stereotypes experienced by people with Down syndrome and how they have overcome these biases.

While the international campaign started with CoorDown in Italy, it also saw the involvement of several international associations launching the film worldwide simultaneously. These include the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, National Down Syndrome Society, Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Down's Syndrome Association UK, Down Syndrome Australia and New Zealand Down Syndrome Association, with the participation of members of the Fundació Catalana Síndrome de Down.

As for the video itself, this was inspired in part by the words of Marta Sodano, a 29-year-old Italian woman with Down syndrome, who spoke during the World Down Syndrome Day Conference at the United Nations.

"I discovered that in psychology, there is a concept called self-fulfilling prophecy," she says. "Whereby a teacher who thinks that a student cannot understand would just act accordingly and therefore they would not teach the student. And there you go: the prophecy self-fulfills.

"But in my opinion, there are no difficult or easy concepts; there is always a simple way to explain things. If I think of all the things that were not explained and taught to me, well, I really get angry."

Running with these wise words, Assume That I Can visualises these frustrations then turns them upside down halfway through. Star Madison Tevlin demonstrates that she has the ability to order drinks, recite Shakespeare and live on her own, and silences critics in the process.

For CoorDown president Antonella Falugiani, changing the perspective with which people approach disability is the challenge launched by the association for 2024, and represents a new milestone made in its 12 years of commitment to promoting the rights of people with Down syndrome.

"We decided to launch a call to action, which aims to engage the whole society, not just our community because disability really affects everyone, and everyone must be able to act to change the culture that produces discrimination," she explains.

"With the story of Assume That I Can, we show how each of us can contribute to inclusion by listening and looking at people with Down syndrome and their needs and desires without warped filters. Only in this way can we tear down the walls that still limit the lives of people with intellectual disabilities."

Karim Bartoletti, partner, MD, and executive producer at Indiana Production, added: "Every year, CoorDown, with their creative and production partners tries to disrupt perception on the world of disabilities with a campaign that can carry the weight of a strong creative insight that can shine a new light on stereotypes and biases that are part of the lives of people with Down syndrome — and all intellectual disabilities as a whole.

"We thought the insight of the campaign was so strong that we adopted it in every aspect of production. 'You Assume that I will shoot this campaign like any other commercial that deals with disabilities?' 'You assume we cannot find an actor or an actress that can carry the weight of the whole film on his or her shoulder?' 'You assume we cannot get Rich Lee to direct it and Chris Probst to light it?' If we want to create awareness and break boundaries through the work that we create and produce, we need to do it ourselves.

"We assumed that we could and we certainly did, because it certainly shows in the originality and power and creative strength of this year's Coordown World Down Syndrome Day campaign. We are very proud of how the Assume That I Can campaign is unlike anything else we have seen or done before."

]]>
Yuki Uebo's crowded illustrations are inspired by the hustle and bustle of Tokyo life Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:45:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/yuki-uebo/ https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/yuki-uebo/ Tokyo-based illustrator Yuki Uebo creates messy, densely-packed images that reflect the crowded lifestyle of Japan's capital city. With practically 14 million people calling Tokyo home, the larges...

Tokyo-based illustrator Yuki Uebo creates messy, densely-packed images that reflect the crowded lifestyle of Japan's capital city.

With practically 14 million people calling Tokyo home, the largest city on the planet is also one of the most densely populated. And it's this crowded way of living which has inspired local illustrator Yuki Uebo to fill her drawings with as many people as possible while also capturing the unique essence of Japan in the process.

Crammed with people watching a sumo fight, dashing over the famous Shibuya crossing, and sitting for a wedding photo, Yuki's illustrations have been featured in The Tokyoiter and The Covent Gardener. Her dynamic use of colour and the sense of messiness in her illustrations result from studying at London's Royal College of Arts and Goldsmiths College.

"Since I was born and raised in Tokyo, the crowds of people you see here are part of my everyday life," Yuki tells Creative Boom. I use the power I feel in the gathering of people and things as inspiration for my illustrations. These include crowded trains, densely packed flats, busy and colourful streets, small bento boxes full of dishes, and advertisements with lots of text."

Yuki's illustrations certainly ring true for anyone who's ever been to Tokyo. Whether it's a couple of schoolgirls getting on the train or the sight of office workers doing their daily radio exercise, Yuki's artwork captures the culture of the city as well as its inhabitants. You can practically hear the bird calls from the subway stations just by looking at them.

"The sight of people and things gathered together in a small space is a common sight in Tokyo, and for me, it is a part of my everyday life," she adds. "I get pleasure from incorporating this kind of density into my drawings, and it makes the illustrations feel familiar to me."

Before becoming an illustrator, Yuki studied international politics at Japan's Aoyamagaukin University. However, after switching to design, she quickly secured work for a digital production company in Tokyo. During this period, she began freelancing as an illustrator, and in 2022, she was crowned an AOI Members Award winner. The secret behind her success? Staying true to her roots.

"The things that inspire me are always in my daily life," she explains. "Recently, I found family photos taken 70 years ago by my granddad and created illustrations of group photos of Japanese weddings and funerals. I captured the unique moment when everyone faces the same direction and looks into the lens with a slightly nervous expression.

"I think there is a distinctive energy in a group photo with various characters gathered in one place. I tried to carefully express the different expressions and personalities of the people."

Studying abroad broadened Yuki's horizons and gave her a fresh perspective on her life in Tokyo. Marrying the two points of view proves to have been a winning combination, as her illustrations hone in on what makes life in the Japanese capital so captivating and capture that for audiences all over the world.

"Japanese stereotypes are also a common subject in my illustrations," Yuki concludes. "Since I spent several years as a student in the UK, I am interested in Japan from an outsider's perspective.

"Sometimes, the stereotypical Japanese culture and the actual Japanese culture in my everyday life can be quite different. I playfully mix these fantastic images with my own real-life experiences of Japanese culture."

]]>
Cherish to flourish: how to build a lasting relationship with your clients Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/tips/cherish-to-flourish-how-to-build-a-lasting-relationship-with-clients/ https://www.creativeboom.com/tips/cherish-to-flourish-how-to-build-a-lasting-relationship-with-clients/ We celebrate International Client Day by sharing some tried-and-tested tips for growing and nurturing your relationships with clients. Happy International Client Day! Didn't know that was a thing?...

Image licensed via Adobe Stock

Image licensed via Adobe Stock

We celebrate International Client Day by sharing some tried-and-tested tips for growing and nurturing your relationships with clients.

Happy International Client Day! Didn't know that was a thing? You're not alone. This unofficial holiday is celebrated on 19 March every year, and it's a day for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and businesses to show appreciation to their clients. There's even a song!

International Client Day was started in 2010 by Russian and Lithuanian businesspeople and has since spread around the world. One thing it offers is an easy opportunity for self-promotion. For instance, clients sometimes get tired of the same begging email saying, "Got any work?" But on International Client Day, you could reframe this as a special discount day or even send them a bespoke gift.

Even if you've got enough work to get on with, though, International Client Day serves as a poignant reminder of the pivotal role that clients play in freelancers' lives. It seems obvious to point this out, but we often forget that these are the people who pay our wages. And so it's easy to overlook the significance of keeping them happy.

Yes, it's fun and potentially rewarding to hunt for new clients. However, retaining existing ones is much more important if you're to make your freelance career successful. Loyal clients not only provide a steady stream of revenue, but they also become your advocates, singing your praises to their networks.

So read on, as we share the most important things you need to do, to nurture these relationships and turn one-off clients into long-term partners.

1. Deliver on your promises

Fundamentally, turning a short-term client into a long-term client is not rocket science. If you deliver what's been agreed upon and to the timetable you've promised, then they're highly likely to use you again. Think about it: why take a risk with someone else who's untested when they know you're reliable? It's a no-brainer.

Sometimes, however, creatives can't see the wood for the trees. An example might be an illustrator who's been commissioned by a magazine for the first time to create editorial artwork. At the 11th hour, they've drawn something, but they're not happy with it, and they ask for a deadline extension so they can have another go.

The magazine editor doesn't really have much choice: They have to change their publishing schedule to accommodate the request. It's frustrating, though, and not a great start to their relationship.

The artwork is eventually delivered and is much more to the illustrator's liking… but the editor probably would have been happy with the first attempt. So the illustrator may now have a nicer piece of work to put in their portfolio, but they've shot themselves in the foot, as the editor probably won't use them again or recommend them to others.

Takeaway

Be honest and realistic about what you can achieve. Once you set expectations, consistently deliver high-quality work and meet the agreed-upon deadlines. This shows clients you value their time and business.

2. Listening is key

'Deliver on your promises' might sound straightforward. But you also need to look at what you've promised, and whether it's what the client is actually seeking. The danger is that you end up talking the client into commissioning the kind of work you like doing, rather than what the client actually wants.

This is particularly common with more technical work, such as motion graphics or web design. So, just like in your personal relationships, the key is listening and respecting what the other person has to say.

No one likes making a pitch and then hearing the client pull apart your ideas. And the natural human response is to see red, and start getting defensive. But it's better to instead take a deep breath, and think deeply about why the client doesn't like your suggestions. Is it that you haven't explained them properly? Or maybe there's something about the needs of the business that you haven't quite got your head around.

Either way, don't see a clash of ideas as a problem; see it as an opportunity to understand each other better. Something that can only help your relationship grow deeper over time. For more on this, read 5 ways to deal with client rejection.

Takeaway

Don't just hear your clients; actively listen. Pay close attention to their needs, goals, and any unspoken concerns. Ask clarifying questions and demonstrate a genuine desire to understand them.

3. Keep communicating

Once you start getting regular work from a client, it's natural that you'll spend less time chatting with each other. After all, one of the perks of working with a known quantity (on both sides of the relationship) is that you can just get on with things with the minimum of fuss. And we are all busy people.

But take care not to let things go too far down this path. Maintaining open communication with your clients, to some degree, is still crucial.

After all, projects rarely unfold exactly as either of you planned, and new requirements or challenges often arise unexpectedly. Staying in touch and checking in on a regular basis makes it easy to identify potential issues early on, adjust the project scope if necessary, and keep your client informed. This proactive approach builds trust and prevents misunderstandings that could derail the project later.

Regular communication also opens a dialogue that allows for collaboration and innovation. Your client might have valuable insights or suggestions that could improve the final work. Or you might uncover new opportunities to add value that weren't initially discussed.

Thirdly, regular communication gives the client a sense of how your work for them is progressing. That saves them from worrying that you haven't done anything at all and having to chase you up, which is all the extra stress they can do without.

Finally, and most fundamentally, communication makes clients feel valued. Yes, they may occasionally get snippy if they're too pressured with other things to respond to your email or request a Zoom meeting. But deep down, they'll prefer that kind of pressure to feeling ignored. And clients who feel valued and informed are more likely to become repeat customers and advocates.

Takeaway

Regular check-ins and updates, even when you're not actively working on a project, go a long way in fostering transparency and trust. Don't go overboard, but use empathy and think about how often you'd want an update or a check-in if the roles were reversed.

4. Exceed expectations

So far, we've covered the basic requirements of keeping clients happy. But of course, other freelancers will doubtless be doing the same things. So, if you're in a competitive market, it's worth thinking about how to raise your freelance practice above the norm and make it the one everyone wants to keep coming back to.

How to exceed expectations will vary from client to client, but ultimately, it means anticipating their needs rather than being told them directly. This means thinking ahead and anticipating potential roadblocks or challenges your clients might face. If you can do this, you'll soon find ways to offer clients added value. In other words, offering additional services, resources or advice beyond what they've commissioned you for.

This might be extra work that you can charge for, or it might take you little to no time at all. A simple example might be an illustrator noticing that their client's website needs updating and recommending a web designer they can personally vouch for. That's quick and easy to do, but the client may find it absolutely invaluable.

Takeaway

To truly cement your position as an indispensable partner, strive to consistently exceed your clients' expectations. This may mean adding extra flourishes that enhance the overall impact of a project or providing expert insights that contribute to their broader business goals. By going above and beyond, you'll not only delight your clients but also differentiate yourself from competitors.

5. Make it personal

One thing that freelancers often forget, especially in the corporate world, is that clients are humans, too. So, if you're able to connect on a personal level, this can ultimately mean more to the client than the cost of your services or the quality of your work.

That doesn't mean diving in and trying to be their best friend; that would be inappropriate and potentially creepy. But it can mean doing small but significant things like celebrating your client's milestones (such as the anniversary of their launch) and client wins (big or small). A quick email acknowledging a successful product launch or a personalised note congratulating them on reaching a goal shows you care about their achievements and don't just see them as a cash machine.

Over time, you might want to extend this approach, getting to know their birthdays, preferences, or favourite sports teams. Again, you'll have to use your judgment and keep things appropriate and business-like. But these seemingly small gestures build rapport and create a more human connection that can be a huge help in building and growing your client relationships.

Takeaway

Every client is unique, with distinct needs, preferences and goals, so tailoring your approach to each individual client is crucial. Personal touches, such as sending handwritten thank-you notes or personalised emails on special occasions, can further strengthen these bonds and leave a lasting impression.

]]>
Spider in the Well: Jess Hannigan's picture book debut is a cheeky tale of secrets, lies and wishes Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:15:00 +0000 Dom Carter https://www.creativeboom.com/features/jess-hannigan/ https://www.creativeboom.com/features/jess-hannigan/ Ontario-based writer and illustrator Jess Hannigan is about to release her first picture book, Spider in the Well. We caught up with her to learn how she made it and why lies are the perfect subjec...

Ontario-based writer and illustrator Jess Hannigan is about to release her first picture book, Spider in the Well. We caught up with her to learn how she made it and why lies are the perfect subject for a picture book.

Something is rotten in Bad Goodsburg. The local wishing well is busted, and the lazy townspeople are furious. To find out what's wrong, the overworked and underappreciated newsboy has been sent to investigate, only to discover that the source of all the trouble is a nefarious, gold-hoarding spider.

How will the townspeople react? Will the spider face the consequences of their actions? Will the newsboy finally get the credit he's due? To learn more, you'll have to pick up Spider in the Well when HarperCollins release it on March 19. Written and illustrated by Jess Hannigan, who has previously drawn for Reader's Digest, the New York Times and the Green Man festival, it promises to be, as she puts it, "a cheeky little story."

Originally conceived in 2020, Spider in the Well started life as an image of a web inside a wishing well with a cool top-down view. "I thought it would be fun to draw, and I had been trying to think of picture book ideas to share with my agent anyway, so I started exploring what the story surrounding that image could be," Jess tells Creative Boom.

"I had lots of different versions. In one, the spider would help the town fulfil their wishes with his webs, but the version with all the lying and revenge felt funnier!" With the help of her agent Hannah Mann, editor Mabel Hsu, and even input from the author of I Want My Hat Back, Jon Klassen, Jess was well on her way to refining the tale.

Spider in the Well also posed fun new challenges for Jess, as she had to simultaneously learn how to tell a story with words and pictures. "There are so many jokes to make between the narration vs what you see on the page," she explains. "I've always loved making up little comics and drawing silly faces to make my friends laugh, so a lot of it came pretty naturally to me."

By treating the picture book pages as comic panels, Jess was able to prevent them from feeling repetitive or boring. "I had to learn how to use variety from spread to spread, figure out where to have multiple small images on one page vs a huge sprawling spread on another, and where to have a close-up vs a far away perspective," she adds.

"It's important to help the story flow satisfyingly from beginning to end. I also really tried pushing the character design to a freaky new territory, which is why the townspeople turned into blocky, lumpy, blobby Muppet people."

Jess used Procreate on her iPad to create the illustrations. However, she managed to maintain a traditional, hand-made look by using rough-edged ink brushes from True Grit Texture Supply called Crispy Inker. "I used it for every shape," she reveals. "Then, I added the grungy texture with the Chalk brush from Procrate to get that block-printy kind of texture. I love working only with a few reliable brushes and rarely use more than two for a project, but there may have been a blend of other random grungy brushes for variety."

From the approval of her sketches to the final colour artwork, the whole process took roughly a year to complete. "That isn't including all of the crazy visual development, media tests, finalising of the sketches at the beginning, plus the minor tweaking at the very end," she says.

As for the book's gloriously groovy palette of neon reds, blacks, pinks and purples, these emerged from Jess's current colour obsessions. "Conveniently, since the book's vibe was like an old-timey folk tale with a bit of dark humour, the sickly green, purple, and punchy orangey-red suited it well," she says.

"I love the rustic feel of uncoated paper, but it tends to absorb inks in a way that can dull down your colours. My designer suggested we use a fifth neon colour, which would be applied to all those tasty orangey-reds throughout the book. I'm so glad we did because it pops like crazy! Translating your artwork from screen to print can be very scary, so I'm so pleased it turned out nice."

These colours also help to serve the subversive nature of the story, where a sneaky spider takes centre stage. As well as proving to be a funny lead for the book, Jess reveals that she's always been drawn to a good villain. "They're usually more interesting than the hero, who tends to be pretty one-dimensional against a good multi-faceted, complicated villain," she says.

"I love a story where the characters are ambiguous in their alignment so you can theorise about everybody's motives and whether or not their actions can be justified. Also, kids love the whole idea of lying. It's fascinating to them and a perfect element for a picture book because you can visually see the lies even if you aren't being told about them through the words, which is so exciting to play with."

Spider in the Well comes at an interesting time when it's all too easy to imagine that some unseen trickster is turning the world awry. For Jess, the story is a reflection of laziness and how people want to be good at something without putting in any of the work to achieve it and instead just making a wish.

"I relate to that," she concludes. "I probably wouldn't be an artist at all if it didn't come fairly easy to me. I'm one of those people who wants to be immediately good at something, so when I find out I have to practice to improve, I feel the desire to give up very quickly.

"There's actually a scene in Part 3 where the shopkeeper is lifting weights, so maybe she's taking her wishes into her own hands. Maybe one day I'll try my hand at running instead of buying running shoes and saying, 'I'll just wait for a day with better weather.' I have a huge respect for people with any semblance of willpower or determination."

]]>
Second Marriage balances the mystical and practical in astrology app Star/Child Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000 Tom May https://www.creativeboom.com/news/brand-identity-for-astrology-app-by-second-marriage-studio/ https://www.creativeboom.com/news/brand-identity-for-astrology-app-by-second-marriage-studio/ The Brooklyn design studio worked with Starchild Astrology LLC to create a unique astrology app targeted at parents. If you're going to launch a digital app, it's going to have competition from a...

The Brooklyn design studio worked with Starchild Astrology LLC to create a unique astrology app targeted at parents.

If you're going to launch a digital app, it's going to have competition from a million others, so it's helpful if you can target a unique niche. That's exactly what Starchild Astrology LLC hit upon when they decided to develop an astrology app called Star/Child, which has been developed specifically for parents.

It's a brilliant idea, and to develop its branding, they turned to Second Marriage, a Brooklyn-based design studio led by Erin Rommel.

With a small but agile team, Second Marriage creates print, digital, packaging, and identity design for both fledgling brands and established names. These clients span sectors but are defined by a common mission to make people and places happier and healthier.

Second Marriage believes that idea-driven design makes our world more accessible, provocative, and fun. It strives to make every project personal, challenging trends and creating truly custom designs for each client.

We are passionate about collaborating with brands that share our dedication to excellence and innovation." explains designer Keerthana Dubey. "Our multidisciplinary approach allows us to approach each project with fresh perspectives and creative insights.

"Led by studio principal Erin Rommel, our team boasts over a decade of design experience," she adds. "Erin has honed her craft in Auckland, New Zealand, and London, England, before settling in Brooklyn, New York. Her diverse background and global perspective infuse our projects with creativity and innovation."

App design

Star/Child is an astrology app for parents and children, offering daily insights, personalised guidance, and customised strategies for forging deeper connections between caregiver and kid. Second Marriage was brought on in the earliest stage of the project to create a brand style that's trustworthy, aspirational, and – most importantly – fun.

With the help of digital designer Isla Murray, photographer Emma Tunbridge, and collage artist Mike Germon, they built out a brand that feels solid but playful and subtly incorporates the mystical edge of astrology without losing credibility.

"We believe that our recent collaboration with Star/Child exemplifies our dedication to idea-driven design," says Keerthana. "Through meticulous research and creative exploration, we developed a comprehensive branding strategy that captures the essence of their vision while resonating with their target audience."

]]>