THE CLIENT
Wieden + Kennedy for Old Spice
THE ASSIGNMENT
A retro illustration book cover for a dramatized recreation of an NFL game, featuring the Buffalo Bills vs the New York Jets.
THE CHALLENGE
Respecting NFL guidelines, the illustration must feature six, specific NFL players, all, roughly, the same size, so as not to highlight one over the other. Also, include a jet and buffalo, to symbolize the teams.
GETTING STARTED
Old Spice is a major sponsor of the NFL. As part of their sponsorship, they would be producing a dramatized, social media story of an NFL game. Our illustration, commissioned in 2015, would be the book cover to this story. As noted, six, specific players should be featured, plus a jet and buffalo.
I was provided with some reference to show the montage, retro style they’d like to reflect. I started by gathering plenty of reference of the six players, requested. For the Jets: D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Darrelle Revis, and Nick Mangold. For the Bills: Eric Wood, Mario Williams, and Sammy Watkins.
PRELIMINARY SKETCHES
My thought process included playing with angles, perspective, overlap, and action. At this point, it was uncertain what color jerseys they would be wearing. So, I mocked in some placeholders. I provided several sketches, in various compositions.
REVISIONS
After review, my client liked the direction, but had some suggestions. They sent a sketch that showed a more iconic treatment of the buffalo and jet. We, also, learned that the teams would be wearing their Nike Color Rush jerseys. These are special jerseys which bring a bold, uniform color, from head-to-toe
I re-submitted the following color comp:
THE FINAL ART
With a separation of the buffalo and jet, as well as a bit more graphic look to the buffalo, we were approved to move, forward.
My thanks to the folks at Wieden + Kennedy and Old Spice for the opportunity to collaborate on this fun project.
Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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