With little in the way of brand recognition Casumo wanted a big idea that would raise their profile and put them on the map. We named it ‘Play Absurd’, an episodic tour of the UK. In the series we explored some of our nations unusual pastimes and showcased how people are brought together through play.
The premise was simple. Take someone with influence, throw them into a scenario that was completely unfamiliar to them and watch the fun as they learnt the history, rules and techniques of their chosen ‘sport’.
The content was promoted through the influencers’ social channels and was housed on a campaign site that extended the absurdity. The design was absurd, the code that underpinned it was absurd, the social commentary was absurd as were the results. Over 10,000,000 page impressions and an average dwell time of 3min 48secs.
Even the BBC picked up on the fun as our campaign featured on the breakfast show on BBC Radio5 live.
Client: Casumo
Roles/Responsibilities: Ideation, creative direction and everything in-between
Some of the more absurd scenes and situations that the team found themselves in during the 6 months of filming can be seen in this section. Whilst we toured the country we explored; bog snorkeling, egg throwing, gurning, toading, marble throwing, pie eating, wife carrying and husband dragging. This led to some interesting situations and outtakes.
Client: Casumo
Roles/Responsibilities of the cast and crew: Sumo wrestler, US President, a chicken, newlyweds, cross dressing luvvie and much, much, much more…
Like most charities, Tibet Relief Fund rely on the generosity of others. The problem is, many of their regular donors are ageing, and there is not enough awareness among the younger generations to help push for real change.
On very little budget, we had to create a campaign that would not only raise awareness of Tibet’s story, but one that would increase regular donations.
In the 60 days leading up to National Uprising Day, we wanted to tell the story of China’s long-term occupation of Tibet, and the 60-year fight Tibetans have had to endure.
Housed on one microsite, #Time4Tibet saw a series of short films, historical quotes, hard-hitting facts and appeals come together to create a bigger, more powerful picture.
A number of influential faces also gave us their time and social accounts, allowing the message to spread even further.
After posting content for 60 days, we released our final piece on March 10th - the 60th Tibetan National Uprising Day.
As well as new sign-ups, the campaign was shared to millions of people across social media. Bob Thurman even gave it a re-tweet.
Client: Tibet Relief Fund
Roles/Responsibilities: Ideation, creative direction, design
Working with the team over at The Marketing Store I art directed and designed all of the elements for this social engagement campaign in a little over a week. A socially driven concept that offered one lucky winner the opportunity to commentate on a live Premier League match on talkSPORT courtesy of Carlsberg.
Client: Carlsberg & talkSPORT
Roles/Responsibilities: Art direction and UI design
How do you revamp a travel brand for ultra-billionaires?
Here’s how…
Henry Cookson Adventures were looking for a complete brand refresh, along with a brand-new website to go with. The aim was to move the brand away from their perception of ‘that travel company in the UK’ into the more ownable territory of ‘a global luxury brand for explorers’.
Through this brand refresh, we were able to give Cookson Adventures a distinctive positioning within the luxury travel market. A new global stance has allowed for future-proofing, giving scope for the brand to grow into new territories (quite literally), services and offerings.
That’s surely worth popping open some champagne for, right?
Client: Cookson Adventures
Roles/Responsibilities: Creative direction, design
Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil company. Yet most Saudi nationals know little about them. Our objective was to give them a friendly face and a human voice and to educate and inspire. We interviewed over a hundred people above ground, to unearth personal stories from all aspects of the business.
Working with Acne, our production partner we told these stories through a series of 8 interactive and inter-connected videos and games, by embracing the versatility of illustration and animation to showcase the variety of work and processes undertaken by Saudi Aramco.
Client: Saudi Aramco
Roles/Responsibilities: Creative direction, art and animation direction, UX and UI design
To demonstrate the effectiveness of the Galaxy Note8 we thought we'd put it through its paces.
We gave 8 very special artists a Samsung Galaxy Note8, a days training and access to the iconic Samsung screen in Londons' Piccadilly Square.
Throw in several thousand tourists, passers-by and commuters. A liberal helping of Twitter and Facebook followers. Then simmer for 3 days.
Client: Samsung
Roles/Responsibilities: Ideation, creative direction, art direction and production
For 2yrs I worked closely with the global board at Knorr, the brand guardians at Lowe, the UX team at Sapient and the production and strategy teams at HUGE to align the brand across the world.
With 217 markets all doing their own thing, it was important to establish some core digital guidelines for .com, mobile, social and video production. This came together as a brand new global .com presence and a 400+ page playbook. Not exactly War and Peace, but it’s a hefty tome none-the-less! The book covers every aspect of digital output in a way that even the least savvy of markets could digest and implement.
Client: Knorr
Roles/Responsibilities: Creative direction, art direction, UI design and production
Knorr stock cubes were invented a hundred years ago. Since then, they’ve not changed much and sell in their millions. But Knorr wanted a ‘big idea’ to bring new attention to these humble cubes.
THE BIG IDEA: 3D FLAVOUR
…and they loved it. A 3D TV ad, interactive YouTube channel, press ads that come with stereoscopic glasses, banner ads online and on billboards, experiential 3D activities, augmented reality fun, and a 3D mobile app… the lot.
Here are some of the bits that helped sell in the idea…
Client: Knorr
Roles/Responsibilities: Creative direction, art direction and design
With 2 weeks to crack a brief. 15 store windows nationwide. And just 8 hours to dress them. This brief needed a stroke of genius, so that’s what it got: a tribute to some of Britain’s most revered geniuses. What would Hitchcock’s study look like were he alive today? Dripping in Samsung’s latest technology.
This concept came to life thanks to meticulous planning, a great 3d rendering team and a crack squad of window dressers spread across the country. Watch the video and see how we did it.
Client: Samsung & John Lewis
Roles/Responsibilities: Ideation, creative direction and art direction
Q: What do you get when you mix a global fashion icon adored by millions and the Samsung NXU series?
A: A pitch video for an online photography competition and a match made in heaven.
Client: Samsung
Roles/Responsibilities: Art direction, design
At The Bio Agency I was responsible for taking the UX designs and creating the relevant components, layouts and UI templates for this large scale e-commerce website with the team over at The Bio Agency.
Client: Arrow electronics
Roles/Responsibilities: Creative lead and UI Design
Generating ideas doggy style. Sort of. For this pitch Bakers wanted a spanking new campaign site to refresh their web presence. Here’s a draft site design with all manner of engaging content, email designs and scores social tactics as cute as a puppy.
Client: Bakers
Roles/Responsibilities: Ideation, art direction and design
After a successful pitching process I designed the UX and UI for this site to highlight Timex's ongoing partnership with the London marathon. The campaign site also promoted a range of watches for the sports orientated consumer.
Client: Timex
Roles/Responsibilities: Art direction, UX and UI design
Another piece with the team at The Marketing Store that delivered Carlsberg's Christmas campaign. An interactive advent calendar that rewarded users with freebies and exclusive content via the site and social channels.
Client: Carlsberg
Roles/Responsibilities: Art direction and UI Design
With little money to do the talking, we popped over to Bristol to sweet-talk Aardman Animations in person. Luckily they liked the idea so much that they helped to create a quirky campaign for P&O Ferries on the smallest budget ever. Featuring on digital escalator panels in tube stations across London, when DEPs were a brand new shining wonder, our Ratty character promoted an escape from the city’s smog.
And although we didn’t win an Oscar (it won a Chip Shop award instead) I did get to hold one at their offices!
Client: P&O Ferries
Roles/Responsibilities: Ideation and art direction
I’m originally from Manchester but have lived in Brighton for the past 15yrs. In that time it’s a city I’ve grown to love for it’s diversity, creativity and the people that live in it. This is my homage to it.
A personal project that came about through one of those ‘eureka’ moments.
Prints are vailable to buy if you’re interested. Email
Client: Me
Roles/Responsibilities: Everything