COVER ARTIST NOVEMBER 2019
COMPUTERARTS.CREATIVEBLOQ.COMMaking
the cover
SUPERUNION
After merging five stellar agencies in January 2018, this design
behemoth (700 staff) has since proved that size really does
matter. Awards and acclaim (including our own Brand Impact
Awards overall win this year) are now topped by the prestigious
UK Studio Rankings top spot (see page 42).
http://www.superunion.com
When we approached Superunion to design our UK Studio
Rankings cover, we knew there would be no half measures,
no compromises, and no lack of ambition. We knew we’d get
something witty, smart and eye-catching. A cover that would
stand out.
But we weren’t expecting them to set fire to it...
“We started the process by opening up the brief to the
whole creative studio,” explained executive creative director
Stuart Radford. “We had a couple of brainstorms, sketched
out a bunch of ideas, then settled on the one we thought
was the strongest – a simple idea that could provide really
arresting visuals. Then we had to figure out how we’d do it!”
The ‘bright sparks’ of the creative industry flickering in
an effigy of the number 30 was beautiful in its conceptual
directness, but challenging to realise. Senior designer
Jonathan Brodie brought aboard Joe Yabsley and Mark
Ward from Asylum SFX to turn the “simple idea” into a fully
fledged model that could be set alight. “Asylum laser-etched
the masthead and title on to the boards,” Jonathan told us.
“They drilled holes and glued in the matches – about three
hours per board. We did three copies so we had back ups,
then got photographer John Adrian involved. Shooting in
John’s studio in his back garden, we had plenty of fans and
fire extinguishers at the ready! Then it was fingers crossed...”
We love the smart idea and physical execution, but like
creative director Graeme Haig says, it’s the details that
make us melt. “The matchbook spine was a little gift really,”
he admitted, “another nice thing to support the idea. But
the whole process was really fun and we managed to do it
without setting fire to anything other than the matches!”
2016 RANKINGS
Dynamic London
duo Sawdust (who
came 11th in the
rankings that year)
delivered one of our
most popular covers
ever, with an eye-
popping, scratch-off
extravaganza.2018 RANKINGS
Studio Sutherl&’s
deconstructed Union
Jack was typically
beautiful but also
somewhat prophetic.
Who would have
thought that leaving
Europe might prove
tricky? (ahem)2017 RANKINGS
Studio Sutherl&’s
glow-in-the-dark
cover provided our
most nail-biting print
technique. Would
all that reversed
out text be legible?
Turns out we needn’t
have worried.Credits
Stuart Radford, executive creative director
Graeme Haig, creative director
Jonathan Brodie, senior designer
John Adrian, photographer
Joe Yabsley, Asylum SFX
Mark Ward, Asylum SFX