the book of
i
greetings! my name is le huy anh. how do you do?
work
learn
play
2009 - now co-founder, director, designer, illustrator, decorator, recruiter, courier, doorman, cleaner... studio egregius
2007 ba hons illustration university for the creative arts kent, united kingdom
the guitar
this book is as much a career journal as a portfolio of my work. so far...
2007 - 2009 art director ogilvy & mather vietnam 2006 - 2007 graphic designer, design director cbd vietnam
AM
before a blur
the ps3 the internet the movies the motors
what i
DO
what i can do very well, i’d say, is that i can think, creatively at least, and turn that graspable, in one medium or another, independently or as a team.
REA IZ
ALZE
client: walk up ---------------------------------------------------project: brand design, communication concept ---------------------------------------------------agency: studio egregius ---------------------------------------------------team: le huy anh, alexandre nguyen, vu tuan an, ly bui, doan thanh quynh ---------------------------------------------------what i did: creative direction, art direction, some design & illustration, a tiny bit of copywriting
the all-to-often initial job request was a simple logo and stationeries design (which at the very end ended up to be the only things produced). i found the actual product itself, a new patent of microwaveable sandals that can mould to the exact shape of anyone’s feet. inventive and insightful idea from a french podologist, who is all passionate about walking. hence the brand name: walk up.
the brand was designed to be inspiring and unthorthodox, to be more than just about the sandals, but about the people who’d be wearing them. we were ambitious enough to propose solutions for almost every aspects of a full brand design package, from the sandal sole patterns, packaging system to retail environment concepts.
one of the key objectives of the project is to give the brand a distinctive tone of communication, a brand’s calling that makes it unique, different from havainas, from nike, from addidas, from camper, from puma... while being instantly relatable and on the level, so to speak. walk up champions the spirit of walking, of the new generation of people willing to explore their worlds on their own 2 feet. it is all about trying, making mistakes and learning to succeed. “hail the new explorers.�
the research for concept came from long hours of looking at art & history of world explorations, both facts and fictions and listening to too many coldplay songs too many times. i have to say their music does really lift the spirits up.
for the launch of the product and the brand, we developed a brand story booklet, in which pieces of the materials can be used for diverse communication and collateral materials. a second book was also made to serve as a humorous and triviafilled product cataloque (below). for me, the sucess of the project lies not in the final outcome of the project but the process of researching, conceptualizing, planning out an ambitious vision for a great brand. “it’s a wander-ful life. get lost.�
Over the course of a day, we take
10,000 STEPS
The force we put on our feet after a day of walking is the same weight of a fully loaded cement truck
client: topcement ---------------------------------------------------project: packaging design, advertising campaign ---------------------------------------------------agency: studio egregius ---------------------------------------------------team: le huy anh, nguyen quang trung ---------------------------------------------------what i did: creative direction, art direction, a lot of design & other stuffs
i was proud of this project for one thing: change. not taking in account the force-fed ‘logopond’ logo, the 4-way pitch, the ridiculously rich but stingy client who wanted to be like every other cement company, i’d say we have created ‘the most lovable cement product brand’ here in vietnam.
“a house is not just a structure. it is home.�
client: megastar ---------------------------------------------------project: advertising ---------------------------------------------------agency: ogilvy vietnam ---------------------------------------------------team: tom notman, richmond walker le huy anh ---------------------------------------------------what i did: art direction, illustration & digital imaging
the first ever advertising project i worked on was my most memorable one. not because i was great at it - first day in ogilvy, overdue deadline, grumpy but secretly supportive irish creative director, unwelcoming account executives - but because it was the first time i got sucked into the real-life creative industry experience. i got to learn all about the brainstorming, idealization, presentation, disappointment, frustration, frantic production, last minute changes, and ultimately, knowledge. also, it got nothing to do with the fact the campaign was nominated for cannes.
client: vng ---------------------------------------------------project: brand design, internal & external communication design ---------------------------------------------------agency: egregius ---------------------------------------------------team: le huy anh and everyone else ---------------------------------------------------what i did: creative direction, art direction, a lot of design & other stuffs
“branding� was a self-taught process for me. a lot of researching, a lot of asking, a lot of reading & browsing, a lot of experimenting and certainly a lot of conversations and reasoning. this was the first project where i believe that our work made obvious positive impact onto the brand’s culture, both visually and emotionally.
client: vinasoy ---------------------------------------------------project: brand design, packaging design, communication concept ---------------------------------------------------agency: egregius ---------------------------------------------------team: le huy anh, vu minh san & others ---------------------------------------------------what i did: creative direction, art direction, a lot of design & talking
i started out as a packaging designer, a job i thought i’d have hated. talk about the satisfaction of seeing your design (or at least so-called ‘your design’) on the shelves, of buying them yourself. behind the scenes are staggering amount of research, planning, testing, coordinating...all done while struggling to keep design integrities intact.
the challenge of this project was to not only convince but proving to an emotional dinosaur of a client that “the big picture� of a brand was not just a logo, or a tetrapak box. we created strategies, designed the complete brand, conceptualized the whole launch campaign, organized and conducted and moderated researchs, all for the price of beans.
client: various ---------------------------------------------------project: ads ---------------------------------------------------agency: various ---------------------------------------------------team: le huy anh & various ---------------------------------------------------what i did: various
the profession of ‘making ads’ is like ying and yang, black and white, water and fire, like chaos and zen. in any moment, you dwell in the glamour, the rockstar-ish peronna, the mythical promise of reward and fame. at the same time, you struggle with the idea of yourself being rotten morally, the constant predicament of security and freedom. in this society as least, advertising would be easily the poster child for creativity. underneath lies a complex process, multilayered thinking pratice, multiway collaborations that are what make the industry so fascinating, and certainly inspiring.
client: various ---------------------------------------------------project: designs & illustrations ---------------------------------------------------agency: various ---------------------------------------------------team: le huy anh & various ---------------------------------------------------what i did: design & illustrate & direct
it’s easy for anybody to have a concept of what a designer’s role should be. my experience as a designer so far has been an enlightening one. it lies in the details; it’s the typography, the colors, the grids, the way you craft your words, the way spaces you fill with pictures, and the spaces you leave blank. there are limitless possibilities for ideas.
ownership is everything to a person being creative for a living. i am no different. the works i have included in this little book, by all means, are not created solely by my brain and hands and all. i have chosen them because some of them represent my visions and directions, or because i am proud to make significant contributions to their makings, or simply some of them are solely created by me.
ACKNOWL
LEDGE