University Work Durex The brief: Re-imagine, re-invent and re-package Durex condoms, in order to reduce the embarrassment associated with buying the product over the counter. To achieve this, I used humour, innuendo and an implied sense of respect to encourage couples to feel proud of their decision to take precautions in the bedroom. Looking at the pride and respect associated with military history (the first and second World Wars in particular), I settled on a light-hearted (if not slightly cheeky) ‘Dads Army’- esque theme, with the strapline “Protect your little Soldier”. Using a mixture of army based imagery and phallic symbols, I then set about creating a full range of striking packaging solutions, that would clearly stand out amongst the predominantly muted and subtle competition.
PROTECT
YOUR
LITTLE SOLDIER
Design mock ups for 6, 12 and 18 packs, each with their own colour coding and rank
(Top) Design mock ups for 3 packs. The condoms would be housed in the circular end of the medal, with a pin at the top to attach onto or inside jackets (Bottom) Design mock ups for a single condom wrapper
Individual phallic characters to be used to help differentiate between the types of condoms available (Gossamer, Elite, Extra Safe and Ribbed)
University Work Binge Drinking Targeted specifically at students and young people, this brief was aimed at tackling the growing problems caused by binge drinking. Concepts for a promotional campaign were required to warn young people about the risks of drinking in excess. Being a student myself at the time, I was aware of how most health warnings and notices were either ignored or went unnoticed by students, who, getting their first taste of independence, felt tired of being nagged and told what ‘not’ to do. As drinking and partying are part of socialising and university culture, I concluded that the best way for the message to be noticed would be to use funny and bold imagery. This was then to be supported with a tone of voice that did not forbid heavy drinking, but merely warned of one of the consequences. In particular, one of the effects of excess drinking that I hated - being sick. Basing my campaign around a colloquial saying “Don’t go to Rolf in the toilet” - where the name ‘Rolf ’ is used as onomatopoeia to replicate vomiting sounds - I used images of the instantly recognisable Rolf Harris in a more literal sense. Contrasting the bright yellow to white and black (like warning symbols and signs) adds an eye catching and serious undertone to a mostly tongue in cheek campaign.
A concept for an ambient part to the campaign where Rolf pops up in unexpected places, with the toilet (in this example) acting as another warning
University Work Graphic Novel Being given carte blanche to write my own brief and design whatever I wanted, I came across the idea of mixing two of my passions - Graphic Design and reading. I loved the idea of taking one of my favourite novels and turning it into a ‘graphic’ novel. Deciding upon the book ‘Slaughter House Five’ by Kurt Vonnegut, I set about finding a way to visually represent the story, without simply turning it into a comic book. The story splinters off into three surreal, funny and emotional plot threads, meaning that the visual style also had to change accordingly. Whilst the main character, ‘Billy Pilgrim’, remembers the horror of his experiences in the Second World War, the imagery and colours are grainy, dark and bold. As the story jumps forward to his zany abduction by aliens, the style changes to a more cartoon/ dream-like state, ultimately leaving a more photorealistic style for the present day. This helps to capture his day to day struggles, painful memories and fantastical dreams.
An example of a spread set in the present day, using the photo-real visual style
Examples of artwork used for Billy’s memories of war
Examples of the more fantastical parts of the story where Billy is abducted by Aliens
Work Placement The Door Theatre Whilst on a work placement at ‘Fluid’, a renowned design studio with a world wide client base, I got the opportunity to work on a mixture of exciting briefs. From designing logos and cover artwork for computer gaming giants ‘Capcom’ and ‘Sony Playstation’ to helping to design websites for local industry. My favourite brief during my time at Fluid was for ‘The Door’, a sister auditoria to the Birmingham Repertory theatre, where unknown up and coming playwrights and drama groups were given the chance to showcase their work. They needed a set of generic posters that could be used to promote upcoming plays at short notice, when the only information available would be the title and the genre. After an initial group brainstorming session, I looked at using dramatic body gestures, cropped in so as to remain non-specific. The Creative Director was so pleased with my work that it was actually one of the ideas used in the pitch.
Poster concepts for ‘The Door’ theatre
Freelance Work Stepping Change After being approached to design a logo for the dance group ‘Stepping Change’, a charitable organisation run on a voluntary basis (operating out of Washington D.C USA), I jumped at the chance to design for such a good cause. Running dance classes and staging performances with the aim of raising money for local charities, Stepping Change helps bring communities together and raise fitness levels. Their mission statement being “Change the world through dance”. The brief was simple: ‘the logo needs to promote dancing and America’. As their main focus was Latin dancing, I decided on imagery relating to this style with the land mass of South America also doubling as the dress worn by one half of the dancing couple.
‘Stepping Change’ logo design
Freelance Work Look to the Skies Being a huge fan of music, I really enjoyed the opportunity of designing a logo for the Liverpool based record label ‘Look to the Skies’. The record label aims to promote and distribute music produced by emerging talent in the Merseyside area. For this brief, I was required to design an iconic logo in a way that would visualise the name of the label itself and be suitable for use on CD’s, posters and a mixture of promotional materials.
Final logo (2 colour)
Black and white option (for use when colour printers are not available)
Freelance Work Hilary and the Democrats Under the record label ‘Look to the Skies’, the alternative/indie band ‘Hilary and the Democrats’ needed artwork for the upcoming release of two of their E.P’s. The brief : To design and create two E.P covers to initially be used as artwork on screen. Using the E.P titles and lyrics from their songs, I made up the following two covers, which are now live on various websites where the bands music is available for purchase.
PLAY
MONITOR STEREO
MONO
VOLUME
STOP
REC
CHANNEL I
INPUT
RADIO
BALANCE
LEVEL
CHANNEL II
RECORD
RADIO
POWER OFF
LEVEL
Web based E.P covers for Hilary and the Democrats
Junior Designer Bottletop After initially being taken on for a 3 month work placement, I was subsequently offered full-time employment at the creative design agency ‘Bottletop’. Working under 3 creative directors who had previously worked for the likes of the BBC and ITV (specialising in Graphic Design, Motion Graphics, Animation and Video Production), I gained invaluable experience, developing new skills and mastering new disciplines. The following are examples of the print briefs that I worked on, including Bottletop’s own promotional flyer, sent out to prospective clients nationwide.
A promotional booklet for a Nottingham based Hair Salon and Training Academy ‘NHTA’
Workshop prospectus for Leicestershire Health Leadership Centre ‘Elision Healthskills’
Front cover for Bottletop’s promotional yer
Full front and rear spread views
Creative Artworker The Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative Employed within a small in-house promotions team, working closely with a Senior Designer, I am instrumental in concepts and designs for all promotional materials. This includes catalogues that are distributed twice yearly, designed to advertise our product range but, more importantly, to encourage people to cycle. As well as working alongside the Senior Designer, I have a wide range of individual responsibilities, which include: • • • • • • • •
Designing packaging for our own brand products (worth over £1 million in sales) Conceptualising and designing promotional materials Designing products and product artwork Creating web animations and web content Copy writing for in-store signage Designing window and in-store displays Managing and selecting display stock Managing image libraries
Concept and artwork used to promote the ‘Revolution’ brand on Valentines day, created inside a one hour deadline
Re-imagined packaging for ‘Revolution’ bottle cages
“...Superb job on the packaging Matt. It’s truly a massive step forward compared to the older packaging. It looks very professional, but also different enough to add a bit of intrigue. It’s always good to see fluffy ideas in my head translated into something far beyond what I’d imagined. Though be aware, if you want to keep an example of the packaging for your own portfolio - you will have to buy one or more of the Pumps! ;-)” Andy Butler Buying Manager Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative Packaging and branding designed to promote a new high-end range of Revolution products
ABERDEEN 458-464 George Street Aberdeen AB25 3XH
EDINBURGH 8 Alvanley Terrace Whitehouse Loan Edinburgh EH9 1 DU
LEEDS 140 Woodland Lane Chapel Allerton Leeds LS7 4QG
MANCHESTER 7 Wilmslow Road Rusholme Manchester M14 5FT
NEWCASTLE 5-7 Union Road Byker Newcastle NE6 1EH
SHEFFIELD 300 Broadfield Road Sheffield S8 0XQ
ONLINE SHOP edinburghbicycle.com Tel: 0845 257 0808
FIND US ON FACEBOOK
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edinburghbicycle.com/blog
Terms and conditions apply.
Concept and artwork for a promotional campaign used across the business (print and web advertisements, home page graphics and in-store promotional posters and signage)
Specialized
Align Helmet today you pay
£12.49
Cannondale Bad Boy 26 ‘10
now
£399.99
%
£150
was £549.99
Re-designs for all January Sale materials used in and out of the stores, including print and web advertisements
was
£24.99
///TRY SOMETHING NEW THIS SUMMER ///TRY SOMETHING NEW THIS SUMMER ///TRY SOMETHING NEW THIS SUMMER
CL-1
CL-3
CL-2
CL-4
///TRY SOMETHING NEW THIS SUMMER
///A BIKING HOLIDAY OR ///A DAY OUT WITH THE KIDS For tips and ideas, visit edinburghbicycle.com/blog
Designs for one of the summer window displays and in-store posters
CL-5
Results from a selection of the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative’s 6 stores
Revolution Adult Men’s
Concept artwork for a new range of ‘Revolution’ helmets
Revolution Adult Women’s
Concepts for a range of ‘Revolution’ T-shirts
Examples of the ďŹ nished T-shirts now available for purchase