Target Practice: Issue 02
Vault49 is a boutique design studio specializing in brand-building and creative development through art direction, illustration, photography, motion graphics and interactive media . Our designs seamlessly integrate a variety of creative processes and techniques across a broad range of media, to provide full-service creative solutions for an illustrious worldwide client list. Based in New York but with European origins and a truly global reach, our exquisitely talented, industryleading, in-house creative team is committed to producing innovative and award-winning work. Cementing our reputation as industry-leaders, Vault49 was recently heralded as a genre in its own right by WGSN and was the only design team included in their list of the 10 most important graphic trends of the last decade. Renowned for the intricate detail and elaborately-threaded creative themes that are showcased in this publication, our work continues to reward repeat visits with new discoveries. Our passion for creative experimentation and reinvention motivates us to ensure that our design remains instantly recognizable and distinctive from our peers. We set ourselves high standards of quality and achievement, and we are our own greatest critic. This publication serves as a review of our past achievements, and is the marker for our future direction and aspiration. What more can we say? We enjoy what we do, and we think it shows in our work.
(previous spreads) 001/01 Ivy - Vault49 experimental art. — (previous spreads) 002/01 Fairytale - Vault49 experimental art. — 003/01 Infiniti - Proposal for TBWA/CHIAT/DAY. — 004/01 ‘T’ - Logo re-branding for the New York Times. — 005/01 Elsa - Vault49 experimental art. — 006/01 Bear Tamer - Artwork for Vault49’s exhibition, The Greatest Show On Earth. Design collaboration with Daryl Waller. — 007/01 Lady of the Fight - apparel design for Artful Dodger streetwear. — 008/01 Kookai - store-front and in-store advertising, merchandising and website illustration for Kookai’s worldwide stores. — 009/01 Honda Civic - Brochure for Honda’s latest environmentally friendly cars, commissioned by RPA USA. — 010/01 QV - OOH advertising for the QV luxury shopping mall in Melbourne, Australia.
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011/01-02 Dog Day Afternoon - Exhibition screen print and record cover for Smoke City All Stars. — 012/01-02 Tank - Exhibition screen print and packaging design/illustration for Artful Dodger. — 013/01-02 Aristabrat - Re-branding for Aristabrat apparel, and booklet application. — 014/01-02 Long Dark Summer - OOH advertising campaign commissioned by E4 to launch the new series of The Sopranos, West Wing, and Six Feet Under in the UK. — 015/01-02 Nike Maddie - Print campaign commissioned by Cinco to launch Nike’s new Maddie range, available exclusively in Footlocker stores.
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(previous spread) 016/01 Last Supper - Brochure and website design for Last Supper, the UK’s most luxurious catering company. — 017/01 Untitled - Vault49 experimental art. — 018/01 Stone The Crows - Vault49 experimental art. — 019/01-02 Vh1 Soul - Posters advertising the Vh1 Soul TV channel, commissioned by Vh1 USA. — 020/01 Brit Awards - OOH advertising , merchandising, and event artwork for the Brit Awards sponsored by Mastercard, the UK’s most prominent annual music awards show. The event occurred on Valentine’s Day, 2007. Commissioned by McCann Erickson.
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021/01 Electric Garden - Feature illustration for Dedicate, a French lifestyle magazine, including hand-drawn typography. — 022/01 Raw Fresh Talent - Typographic treatment for Point Park Theater, Pittsburgh, USA. — 023/01 Cherry Pop - Vault49 experimental art. — 024/01-02 Samsung Soul - Online interactive stills illustrated by Vault49 for a revolutionary new Samsung phone. Commissioned and animated by Digitas New York
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(previous spreads) 025/01 Talking Heads - Vault49 experimental art. — 026/01-02 Isle of MTV - Event advertising and merchandising for MTV’s summer parties across Europe. — 027/01 Bacardi Limón - Proposal commissioned by EMG. — 028/01-02 Dedicate - Feature illustration for Dedicate Magazine.
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(previous spreads) 029/01 Untitled - Vault49 experimental art. — 030/01-02 Mp3reedom - Global advertising campaign across all media for Samsung’s new range of Mp3 players with internal speakers. Commissioned by Leo Burnett, Chicago. Vault49 were engaged for several additional global campaigns for Samsung as a result. — 031/01 Jack The Ripper - Exhibition banners and apparel graphics for Artful Dodger streetwear. — 032/01-02 Pepsi - 32 print designs and an animation for Pepsi, forming part of one of the largest media buy-outs in US history, which saw our work featured in Times Square and the Hollywood Hills. All designs produced in collaboration with Martin Wannacott.
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033/01 A Little Learning - Vault49 experimental art. — 034/01 HOPE -Vault49 experimental art. — 035/01 Secrets of the Beehive - Vault49 experimental art. — 036/01 Skull-Doo - Vault49 experimental art. — 037/01 All I Ever Really Want Is Sugar Experimental art based on a quote by Andy Warhol. — 038/01 Mina - Vault49 experimental art. — 039 /01 The Admiral - Vault49 experimental art.
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040/01-02 Hed Kandi - ‘Beach House’ and ‘Serve Chilled’ album covers and merchandising for the world famous Hed Kandi music compilations. Commissioned by Ministry of Sound. — 041/01 Fall Movies - Double page illustration for Entertainment Weekly, the leading US entertainment magazine. Vault49 received the ‘Award of Distinctive Achievement’ from The Society Of Publication Designers for this design. — 042/01 Embracing Risk - Double page illustration for Citigroup Magazine based on the theme of financial uncertainty. Vault49 received the ‘Evidence of Merit’ from Art Director’s Club of Metropolitan Washington for this design. — 043/01 Flaunt - Magazine Cover. — 044/01 Christina Applegate - Feature illustration for DirecTV magazine. — 045/01-03 Wired - Cover and feature illustration for Wired magazine. — 046/01 Digit - Cover illustration for Digit design magazine. Design collaboration with Si Scott. 040/01
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047/01 Susana Monaco - Spring 2008 Catalog for Susana Monaco. — 048/01 Noise - Editorial fashion story for Noise Magazine. — 049/01 Susana Monaco - Resort 2008 Catalog for Susana Monaco. — 050/01-04 Susana Monaco - Holiday 2008 Catalog for Susana Monaco. — 051/01-03 Susana Monaco - Fall 2009 Catalog for Susana Monaco. — 052/01 Untitled - Experimental photography. — 053/01 Susana Monaco - Spring 2009 Catalog for Susana Monaco. — 054/01 Noise - Editorial fashion story for Noise Magazine. — 055/01 Susana Monaco - Spring 2008 Catalog for Susana Monaco. — All photography by Michael Creagh.
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Vault49 is a boutique design, illustration and photography studio hailing from London and now based in New York. We emerged as two passionate designers fresh out of college and obsessed with beauty, craft, and creating devils in the details - all while working from half a student bedroom. Today we still have the same entrepreneurial philosophy but there are a few more of us. Our team contains a wonderful cross-pollination of creative talent including industry leading illustration, graphic design, art direction, animation, photography, web design, interactive design... We’re storytellers in the classic fashion and our beautiful work is threaded with diverse narratives, innuendo, and a macabre sense of humour, all designed to continue to reward the viewer with new discoveries and a prolonged appreciation of the craft and detail featured in every Vault49 creation. We thrive on challenges. What we don’t know we’ll find out, and what we can’t do we’ll tell you. Take a look behind the scenes and see the personal touch that goes into all our work...
We were conceived in the screen printing room of the London College of Printing and this beautiful creative medium remains at the heart of the Vault49 creative process in New York. In addition to our main creative studio in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, we have a fully equipped fine-art screen printing studio in the heart of the East Village, packed with all sorts of crazy gizmos such as a vacuum UV exposure unit, giantsized printing bed, and even a flocking machine. Design and illustration is our hobby as well as our profession, and there’s nothing more refreshing and creative after a week of hard work in the office than getting our hands dirty and producing something unique for our own walls, or for one of our lucky clients!
We’re very proud of the commercial success we’ve had over the last seven years. Our work is widely collected globally and can also now be found in select galleries across the UK and USA, as well as on our new online shop, which contains a wide range of original screen prints (straight from the Vault!) plus a fine selection of archival quality giclée prints, skis, books, and all sorts of assorted bric-a-brac!
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (& OTHER VAULT49 EXHIBITIONS) Vault49’s work has featured in many solo and collaborative international exhibitions. Our 2006 ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’ exhibition, was widely acclaimed in the international design press and also reviewed on-air by BBC radio. We view these exhibitions as an important way to showcase our new work, invite critique, and to explore new challenges and methods of working. During production of the Greatest Show On Earth we learned a great deal about planning and handling large and complicated photographic shoots and we continue to apply these skills on a variety of commercial clients of all sizes, from small fashion labels needing look-books, to corporate giants from McDonalds to Samsung. Exhibitions have also given us the chance to explore and develop new framing and finishing techniques for our designs, which we’ve applied across many client showcases, include our recent collaborative exhibition for the Artful Dodger streetwear brand, attended by Jay-Z and Beyonce! The value of collaboration has always been one of Vault49’s core principles and our exhibitions provide us with frequent opportunities to work closely with other talented artists we admire. For The Greatest Show On Earth we worked with some of the world’s leading illustration talent, alongside our own award- winning illustration and photography team.
It has to be said that it’s one of the most rewarding feelings when someone parts with their hard-earned cash to own a piece of Vault49 art. Nothing makes us happier than a person taking joy in the work that we’ve put so much of ourselves into.
Did we mention that we also offer award-winning photography from a dedicated Manhattan studio? Vault49 has worked alongside our award-winning photographer, Michael Creagh, on many projects, including experimental exhibitions, editorial features, and of course gorgeous global ad campaigns, many of which can be seen in this publication. Creagh continues to receive worldwide recognition for his beautiful work, and this year alone has received an Honorable Mention in the International Photography Awards (New York), and an Honorable Mention in the Prix De La Photographie Paris Awards (Paris). He was also a Nominee in the Black and White Spider Awards (London). Together, our photography has graced Times Square, the Hollywood Hills and the walls of several galleries worldwide. But we’re not obsessed by the large-scale, we remain passionate about creative opportunities of any size, whether it’s a 100ft billboard for Samsung, or a lookbook for an emerging fashion brand. With the slickest equipment, hawk-eyed art direction, and excellent contacts in hair, make-up, and styling, we believe the sky’s our limit, given the right creative opportunity. Our integrated photographic solutions are among the most recognizable Vault49 creations in our history and, together with Michael Creagh, we plan to continue leading the way with our photography and integrated graphic solutions. Take a sneaky-peak behind the scenes at some of our recent photoshoots to get a glimpse of the significant amount of background planning, experimentation and dedication we put into our commissions.
In a design world saturated with repetitive ideas and copy-cat art, the crafted work of Vault49 is a breath of fresh air. We embrace the human touch so you won’t find a library of stock imagery and imitation art in our studio. Instead, we pride ourselves on our team of naturally gifted artists who bring the craft back to design and the human touch into our work. Whether it is a hand-drawn poster, a screen print, or a purely vector illustration, we believe our personality shines through and makes Vault49 designs unique and easily identifiable from our peers.
Our combination of fluid linework and intricate detail lends itself seamlessly to animation and we embrace this as one of the most exciting mediums for us to work in. Over the years we’ve created what we believe to be beautiful motion pieces, and clients including Vodafone, Pepsi, and MTV have all enjoyed Vault49’s art direction, illustration, and production. Whether it’s point-of-purchase displays, interactive websites or broadcast animation, we bring enormous passion and a talent to combine motion with our industry-leading graphic talent.
10 E 23rd Street, Third Floor, New York, NY 10010, USA +1 212 254 0120 info@vault49.com www.vault49.com
US & UK Representation www.debutart.com