Andrew Hetherington – Photography

Andrew Hetherington is an Irish photographer now residing in New York. He is one of those photographers that specialises in people. You can see his trained eye when it comes to catching the most human moments. We’ve shared just some of his great photographs here but we do suggest you look further at his site.

Hetherington manages to capture both celebrities and normal people at their most human – with a wry look or an honesty in the eyes that is hard to find elsewhere. A brilliant photographer!

Check out his site here.

Jonatan Gretarsson – Hell’s Angels

Jonatan Gretarsson is an Icelandic photographer who specialises in portraits. We’ve shared just some of the work from his Hell’s Angels series here but we do suggest you look further into his work because he is a true master.

He was recently named a semifinalist in the Hasselblad masters competition in portraits and editorial so don’t be surprised to see his name mentioned for years to come!

Check out his site here.

Yuliya – Illustration

Yuliya is an illustrator originally from Kiev who now lives and works in Ontario, Canada. These watercolour illustrations we found of hers are just charming. Take just the right amount of whimsy, add some cosy, friendly-feeling scenes and amazing skills with watercolour and you’re getting close to what Yuliya has to offer.

But you have to see her work for yourself! Check out her website here.

Student Gold Pack Awards Finalists

What a day! It’s not often you get the chance to report that students have received finalists in not one but TWO different awards shows!

The Student Gold Pack Awards are run by the Institute of Packaging SA and recognise outstanding student work. To Amy, Rachel, Ashley, Caylin and Liora – well done! Your work is outstanding.

We can’t wait to see how they do and will report back as soon as we know.

Good luck guys!

Pendoring Finalists

The Pendoring Awards finalists for 2015 have just been announced and we are so happy to report that three of our students are currently in the running!

To Casper, Miemie-Louise and Peter – well done! We can’t wait to see how you do when the big night comes around!

Stay tuned to see how they do!

KT Smail – Illustration

KT Smail is a Scottish illustrator who studied at the Edinburgh College of Art and now plies her trade in New York, as an exhibiting artist and illustrator for hire.

We love her expressive line work and quirky portraits, but her expressionistic flowers are also just beautiful.

Check out more of KT’s great

work here.

Lexus Elevate

Advertising and branding has changed so much in the last few years. No longer are we relying on disrupting people in the middle of their entertainment (remember fastforwarding through TV ads?), we are now tasked to try and make content for brands that is compelling enough that people CHOOSE to interact with it. We don’t have a captive audience any more. And while this can be a little daunting, it’s also an amazing challenge for creative teams around the world to make something truly great and flex their creative muscles more than they ever would if making a 30 second TV ad.

This project for Lexus is a perfect example. It follows professional cyclist Christan Vande Velde and offers users a true Virtual Reality experience to see what it is like to perform at his level – from training through to racing.

This level of performance and attention to detail clearly fits with the luxury positioning of the Lexus car brand and so we can see how a concept that perhaps 10 or 15 years ago would have been a TV ad showing a cyclist going down a mountain for 30 seconds or a minute (depending on your budget) can now become a fully immersive experience that users can interact with at their leisure.

Check out the project here and prepare to be wowed!

What a time to be in the creative industry!

Nike Digital Retail Experience

There is something so exciting that happens when you see a branded campaign or experience and you think to yourself – THIS is the future. This digital retail experience for Nike by Demodern, a digital agency based in Germany, is just one of those things.

We are often tasked with chatting to parents about just what kinds of jobs creative graduates can do, and as the scope of branding becomes ever larger – these kinds of genre-bending projects will become all the more popular. No longer are you limited to being ‘just an art director’ or ‘just a photographer’ – these days you can find yourself doing any number of other jobs that use your skills as a starting point but take them so much further.

Utilising smart walls, touch screens, RFID tags in shoes and a whole lot of tech-wizardry, this retail space blurs the lines between online and offline – between fantasy and reality. This is pure brand nirvana.

To truly appreciate this project you will have to check out the case study on Demodern’s site over here. We’ll leave you with their words, describing their project.

Envision a solution where the partition between the digital and physical landscapes no longer exists. To solve this we sought to create a fully integrated, ‘seamless’ retail environment. Seeking digital excellence in both customer frontend and technical backend. In part the solution was to create new interactions while expanding on product details and assortment with real-time availability. The other part was to deliver these experiences through leading edge technology. To better connect consumer and product we sought to create an adaptive environment which engages the consumer respective to their journey. Three custom built multi-user, multi-touch terminals expanded the brand experience with product information and online purchasing options. Focus groups and user analysis further validated our concept while strengthening insight into today’s consumer expectations.

Do yourself a favour and check it out right now!

LG – TV Campaign

This campaign by Y&R Sao Paulo got us very excited when we saw it. Perhaps it was the great idea, or perhaps it was the graphic style that reminded some of us older types of playing old school computer games.

These ads, for the new LG 4k Ultra HD TVs, come with the message: How you watch movies has become outdated. These blocky, ‘8-bit looking’ illustrations for movies we know and love so well point out very powerfully that TV technology has come a long way. So far in fact, that images that were so special and memorable to us are now left in the past (just like our Nintendo TV Games!).

What a smart idea, with super illustration.

Can you name all the movies?

McDonald’s Back To School

This campaign by Moroch Dallas for McDonald’s in the USA is so much fun.

Simple school items are used to bring McDonald’s iconography to life. It’s that simple and it’s that well shot.

Great idea and beautiful art direction!