ART DIRECTOR.DESIGNER.PHOTOGRAPHER
This annual Core Group Christmas contest promotion was sent out to clients and potential clients. The contest changed every year but was always a fun and playful holiday theme. The object of the contest was for the participants to guess which celebrity was retouched into the image and if they guessed correctly they would receive a prize. The contest was a collaborative effort of the Core Group team, art directors, management, retouchers, and illustrators. The contest was sent out as an email blast close to the holidays, it consisted of multiple parts; a teaser, the contest challenge, a reminder, clues, details, rules, the contest webpage, the contest answers, the winners notification, and a holiday card with the prizes. This promotion gained notoriety over the years with clients and always had a great response from participants. Three of the five contests are shown below.
international awards
This illustration was created for the International Business Awards hosted in Paris. The art was used as large backdrop mural for the awards event, promotional material, and website banner. Responsible for managing and art directing the project, concept collaboration, researching inspiration and styles, creating the layout comps for client approval and for the artist to follow.
COLLABORATION:
Chris Grant and Garth Glazier
- THE PROCESS -
Stage #1 - Inspiration for Style & Color
Stage #2 - Rough Digital Concept Sketch by Natalie Jean
The client wanted the art to have to represent multiple international landmarks in one cohesive scene, while also representing COVID 19 on a global scale. He also wanted the Eiffel Tower to be prominent as this year's International Awards event would be hosted in Paris. This concept sketch was compiled together with various stock and source imagery and uniformly put together in Photoshop.
Stage #3 - Layout & Color Comp by Natalie Jean
This is the color comp after receiving feedback from Chris Grant to remove a few elements. This layout was then presented to the client for approval.
Stage #4 - Digital Sketch Revisions Comp by Natalie Jean
The client requested less COVID 19 references in the imagery, the Eiffel Tower to be larger, move a few international landmarks and include additional iconic French landmarks.
Stage #5 - Approved Comp by Natalie Jean
This comp was created in Photoshop as springboard for the artist. After we received approval from the client our illustrator used this comp as the base sketch for their render.
Stage #6 - First Render by Garth Glazier
Stage #7 - Art Direction Comp by Natalie Jean
After reviewing the first illustration render my art direction comments included:
Simplify where possible: Color palette, windows, waves, overlays etc.
Overall Consistency: Adjust female figure on the left to have more dimension, she has a very flat and round face in comparison to the other figures, especially the large man on the right. Add more details to her face and hair. Add dimension and apparel to man holding trophy, he is the only solid figure, should be consistent with other characters
Eiffel Tower: Needs finesse looks too flat, lacking dimension, and strange with the blue block shapes sitting on top. There are other buildings that have more detail and shine in comparison and it is suppose to the star. Move the buildings close to the top of the Eiffel Tower further away to the right to give it space, its feels tight there.
Color Palette: There are few colors that stick out too much, the very yellow and saturated Notre Dame & the red car by the Eiffel Tower, those should be tweaked, we can also add some more grays to tone it down.
The comp above visually portrays my art direction suggestions.
Stage #8 - Final Render by Garth Glazier