Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
“It has been a great liberation to show you my world through my lens.”
Table of Contents Projects Promotion 4 Self Identity / Illustration & Fashion 10 City Branding / Identity / Type Layout Solutions 16 Tile Image Manipulation / Product Photography Clothing Lounge 20 The Branding / Advertising 1001 24 Cafe Identity / Type Layout
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
Self-Promotion Identity Illustration “I’ve taken every opportunity to reinvent myself in any way I can that is deliberate & honest.”
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
“Reinvention is part of my DNA.” I’m terrible at introductions. Once I get started, I just can’t stop. I’m a graphic designer and illustrator with a major focus on branding, identity and art direction. In many of my personal work and professional work, I’ve been able to angle my perspective in different ways and even express my interests that is bold and ambitious. My interests are diverse but I do have a long and steady passion for fashion and music. Design is great for what it is but I wouldn’t find a reason to create if it weren’t for the inspirational contributions of fashion photographers, musicians, technical advances
made by software developers and programmers. It’s all fascinating to me because they’ve given us a piece of their world, their way. The reason why I create is because I’m simply restless and anxious. I’m stimulated by creativity and I have to keep opening up new paths of expression otherwise life would be boring, dull, uninspiring. My life is an on-going project and its bound to change at any moment. I’m open to change and not afraid of making mistakes, which makes my approach positive and youthful.
“I’m so afraid of being bored. I’ll do anything to escape from it.”
Revival is a name I gave to myself that accurately describes my temperament. Reinvention is part of my DNA. When I take on a new idea, I give it life, it has a purpose. Once that purpose is spent, a new idea is re-developing. I am influenced a lot by fashion life cycles, as the current trends of the moment are hardly new are they? It’s about what’s happening next, it’s about forward thinking and chasing the unattainable.
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
“Illustration can represent subjects in a way photography cannot.”
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
City & Fashion Branding Identity Type Layout “I’ve freely volunteered my time to help develop branding identity of a Toronto based fashion magazine.”
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
City and Fashion Type
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“There is a level of aspirational thinking that goes into this logo.” 2016 / 01/ 30
Millennial’s are likely to aspire for the finer things in life. The perfect career in fashion, having stylish yet healthy lifestyle, traveling to exotic places, using the latest digital devices and showing up to every hotly tipped music festival or art show. Unlike previous generations, Generation X and Y are much more open and appreciative of low-brow and high-brow art opposed to previous affluent generations’ who prefer to stick to modest tradition.
Milennials are able to grasp technology quicker, discover ideas faster and even consume at a faster rate than previous generations. It’s not unusual to meet young graduates with multiple talents and killer taste to feel as though that success and wealth isn’t too far away when the Internet exists. Ever seen Youtube stars make it to the top? Yup, that’s a gamechanger. This is why a brand should look like the audience they are aiming to represent. City & Fashion Magazine
creates content and inspires tastes with a home-grown approach. The Online magazine is starting to grow by seeking out talented student contributors who have a firm vision of ultimate creative freedom and opinions on changing trends. Think of it as a new and independent version of Vogue, created by and run by potential fashion leaders. There is a level of aspirational thinking that goes into this logo. The statement is bold, sexy and non-conformist.
City and Fashion Logo Colour Variations
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font: TW CEN MT 9pt
Pantone 7527C Aaron Scott
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Editor In Chief
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City and Fashion Magazine ascott.editor@cityandfashion.com (416)-500-7075
www.cityandfashion.com
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Aaron Scott
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Editor In Chief
City and Fashion Magazine ascott.editor@cityandfashion.com (416)-500-7075
www.cityandfashion.com City_and_fashion @CityandFashion City-and-Fashion
Pantone 213C
Aaron Scott
Editor In Chief
City and Fashion Magazine E: ascott.editor@cityandfashion.com T: (416)-500-7075
www.cityandfashion.com City_and_fashion @CityandFashion City-and-Fashion
Pantone 7483 C
Aaron Scott Editor In Chief
City and Fashion Magazine
ascott.editor@cityandfashion.com (416)-500-7075
www.cityandfashion.com City_and_fashion @CityandFashion City-and-Fashion
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
“I aimed to create visuals that were fun, smart and energetic by using distinct typography and aysemetric layouts.�
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
Tile Solutions Image Manipulation Product Photography “Simply The Best Solution.”
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
“This was a rare moment for me to fabricate a world with very little resources.” Tile Solutions is a humble family owned Tile shop based in the GTA, with their newest location stationed in Burlington, Ontario. The company has a very strong relationship with some of it’s most loyal and hard working contractors. On the other hand there’s a huge following of interior decorators and designers that seem to have a profound love and adoration for natural stone tiles. An area I know the company hasn’t tapped into very closely. Following my tastes and curiosity was something that kept my motivation going but what was more important was to send the right kind of message on social media and in-store about the daily on-goings of the shop itself, including full details on products.
This was a rare moment for me to fabricate a world with very little resources. Armed with a camera and new stock shipped into the store, I had created clean, compelling scenes that demonstrate the stylistic application of rectified porcelain. I’ve never taken on projects of this kind before but it has made me appreciate the home improvement market because handling the physical item has got me thinking about the end user experience. Consumers don’t want to be bombarded with stoic details, they want inspiration and to be influenced to make informed buying decisions. Something simple like consistent product imagery and crafted room scenes can help decisions become more positive.
“What I really wanted to do was blur the lines of reality and have the product take center stage.�
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
The Clothing Lounge Branding Advertising “An online luxury shop that samples the best new designers of the world.�
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
“This was my first chance to make valuable suggestions on how a brand should be styled.” It was a great pleasure to work with a startup fashion business with an aim to support independent fashion designers. The Clothing Lounge has strong beliefs, don’t dress head to toe in Gucci, don’t follow trends, don’t be a copy-cat. Be a leader, not a follower. The Clothing Lounge still maintains elegance and superiority by the high quality labels they sell. They are also avant-garde in their tastes by selecting original designers from places we normally would not expect. From jewelry designers in Mumbai, Eco-sustainable luxury street wear from Warsaw and eclectic retro styles from Seoul, The Clothing Lounge serves up some very worthwhile choices
that would match a highly creative, discerning yet particular consumer. A consumer I’m sure is much harder to define due to their original tastes. This was my first chance to make valuable suggestions on how a brand should be styled. The Clothing Lounge must maintain elegance as well as conveying creative inventiveness. To me it was a great challenge to create cutting edge visuals that can still come across subtle and represent the ideals of The Clothing Lounge. Showing a variety in advertising materials was an absolute must for an Online shop that offers so much to every type of fashionable woman or man.
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
Cafe1001 Identity Type Layout
“Cafe by day, DJ Bar and Live Venue by night. Burgers, Beer and Bass 7-days a week.”
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
“I’ve always wanted to make Cafe 1001 look like Fabric.”
“Some of my friends are DJs. I sometimes mix records. I wanted the venue posters to look like LPs.” One of the most motivating parts
in Brick Lane, with a prominent east
gig there in his early career, so did
of working for an entertainment
Middle East Asian presence living
Om Unit and other notable DJs. Bloc
venue was the amount of creative
side by side with everyone else
Party had filmed one of their first
freedom I got to communicate and
in the world it seems. Young and
music videos in Cafe 1001 and even
be inventive. I felt that giving a venue
old, tourist and resident, punk and
the founders of Boiler Room have
a public voice was more important
hipster.
lounged on their sofas now and then.
than showing off how many followers
Cafe 1001 has a very a simple,
Cafe 1001 was basically my home.
it’s got on social media. Cafe 1001
bohemian ethos: do what you want
Some of my friends are DJs. I
is a favorite location amongst locals
and be friendly.
sometimes mix records. I wanted
in East London. Brick Lane is a lively
There is no corporate structure
the venue posters to look like LPs.
pedestrian street bubbling over the
to how the business ought to be
I’ve made careful decisions to make
rim with creative businesses. Door
grasped. All we know is that what
visual media for the venue appeal
by door there were tiny boutiques,
it is today was a contributive effort
widely and stay true to it’s values.
restaurants, art galleries, bars and
made by those who were patrons
endless curry shops. Culture clashes
of Cafe 1001. Ben Klock started off
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
“It has been a great liberation to show you my world through my lens.”
Thank You. Let’s keep in touch!
Melanie Hicks
Branding / Art Direction / Illustration
info@we-need-revival.com
+1 289 952 6015
www.we-need-revival.com /re.vival.4u @revivalblog