The Human Touch of Illustration

Illustrations are a great way to stand out from the crowd.
There's something nice about illustration in connection with advertising. Maybe it's because we all have fond childhood memories of afternoon cartoons on TV. Maybe it's just because illustrations are generally humorous, or it could be that illustration humanises a company in some way. On a more earthly level, it may be the organic nature of something created with a pen or brush (even if it is digitised later). The illustration below is by Stella Danalis.



Aside from all these nice feelings, illustrations can be a very valuable tool for advertisers. For a start, they really stand out. Not many people think immediately of illustration when designing a new campaign, preferring instead to look for photography. While photography can certainly create a warm and fuzzy feeling and is ideal for product shots, illustration can take things to a whole different level.

Inside Reliance Petroleum

Our recent interior branding package for an entire building
Last year our client, Reliance Petroleum, expanded and merged with numerous companies around the nation to become the largest Australian distributor of BP products.

While Reliance is one of Australia's largest publicly listed companies with a turnover to match David Jones, it is unknown to most Australians. Reliance purchase oils and petroleum products from BP and manage the rest: the franchise owners of the servos, numerous depots, shop products and the food offer, and the delivery of products to regional areas. They are also the sole Australian distributors of Castrol products.

During last year's massive restructure and growth a new building was acquired in Hawthorn, Melbourne and we were asked to bring some life to the interior design of the offices.



To begin, we created illustrations based on rough photography of the building while it was being fitted. Once the general concept was approved we then proceeded to create individual digital printing to suit.



We also needed to develop the designs keeping them flexible enough to serve as an easily broken down 'package' that could be ordered by individual depots to suit their particular needs.

The Specialist Agency Myth

When creating a selling concept, getting the right idea is the crucial part.
So-called 'specialist' agencies would have us believe that they are somehow more capable of creating advertising that sells because of their experience in the product category, but the reality is that most advertising created by specialist agencies is less effective than that created by agencies that don't specialise. How is this?

The truth is, if you can sell a hair product you should be able to sell a car. This is because from hard-edged retail to top-end fashion and everything in-between, selling a product always requires the same strategic thinking process. Good agency staff are experienced in building this strategy and thereby hitting on the emotional triggers of the target market. If you think about it, the person who responds to a TV ad for a confectionary product may be the same person who responds to an ad in a magazine for a for a diet regime or whatever.

Agencies also need to consider the different media available and understand their special needs - a billboard for example, needs to be restricted to no more that 5 or 6 words. Smart agencies know to tailor their creative solutions with the various media in mind, so that they can maintain consistency of message across varied platforms.

The Truth About Retail Advertising

Contrary to popular belief, retail advertising needs to be stimulating and well crafted to achieve best sales.
The particular creative requirements of the retail environment can be easily misunderstood. Add to this the fact that many agency designers and writers have an attitude towards retail that assumes they are too clever or too creative to 'lower' their standards with it.



The truth is that great retail advertising can be the most difficult, and most rewarding advertising of all.

Those with extensive experience in retail understand its many subtleties. In order to generate the highest possible sales for our clients' investments we need to utilise the unwritten rules of good retail to best advantage.

"Fridge Kills Baby"

- headline from The Sun Newspaper
The busy world of today places great demands on a press campaign. Your message has to compete with the sensationalised news stories of the day. You can say anything in your ad, but first make sure that it will be read!

Creating campaigns that stand out and deliver your product benefit in an entertaining, simple way is vital. Here are a couple of our ads...

The Face of Your Company

Logo Design
Your logo is the initial impression you make with your customers and an integral part of your business. It reflects your company’s attitudes, philosophy and values.



Done properly, a new brand architecture can be a great start to galvanising employees around a new brand idea. From there it travels to customers. A brand’s graphics are the connective tissue of a brand strategy and reach consumers’ brains in ways they aren’t even aware of… it’s the difference between getting the wiring of the brand right or wrong.

The Design Challenge

A contemporary simplicity of style that is disciplined and entirely appropriate.
While it's nice for advertising designers to remain conscious of contemporary design techniques, they should never treat their client's corporate communications as a means to impress their fellow design enthusiasts.

When designing and producing branding packages, from logo designs through to annual reports, advertising agency designers, as opposed to design house designers, tend to be more focused on the ideas that the client wants to express. These ideas are likely to be concerned with the company's bottom line. While this thinking doesn't (or shouldn't) rule out creative design ideas it certainly will rule out ideas that do nothing to enhance the brand. This illustrates the difference in thinking between a design house and an advertising agency.

Typography, layout and powerful visual communication are vital, but only as tools to create the client's most appropriate outcome according to the brief and budget. The best corporate communications enhance the professionalism and service of the client while complementing their core values, thus providing a foundation for a strong brand positioning.