A_P_I133_2015_

EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF PAUL CHISHOLM

WE PEEK BEHIND THE SCENES AT ENGINE CREATIVE

in their brand and strategy, which enables us to

develop opportune and relevant campaign solutions

for them.”

This is what sets the studio apart from its peers,

alongside the depth of experience that it has in digital

technology. In particular, it is one of the few agencies

working with high-end Augmented Reality: “Our

Augmented Reality (AR) operation puts us in the top

handful of companies working in AR in the UK, and

we are noted for having achieved a number of firsts

• we created the first augmented magazine for Top
  Gear and the first AR album cover for The Ting Tings.
  We’re recognised as a leader in the AR community, a
  point underscored by the talks we have conducted on
  the subject at a variety of international conferences.”
  Creating these cutting-edge visuals requires an
  impressive set of the most up-to-date software
  packages. Of course, Photoshop is included among
  them and is something that associate creative
  director Dan Smith says that he couldn’t do without:
  “Photoshop is probably the most fundamental tool in
  any workflow. It is the thread through nearly all our
  executions, from initial visualisation to final
  execution. In the early stages of the production
  pipeline it is used to flesh out reference images,
  storyboards and concept art along with painting and
  colour correction for early style frames. We use
  Photoshop heavily for separating images and for

09:30

PROJECT CATCH UP

Having a catch-up meeting with

our production manager to see where we are

currently and what the day’s objectives will be. With

project timings and deliverables often changing

frequently, it’s essential we keep a constant

dialogue going between creatives and managers.

11:00

MEETING

The Skittles ball is Engine Creative’s

take on the office water cooler, providing a few

minutes away from the desk and a much needed

sugar hit during the day!

13:30

CONCEPT COLLABORATION

Going through some concepts for

an upcoming pitch with our creative director. Often

he will sketch ideas on his iPad and send them

through to me so I can start working them up in

Photoshop. This is the fun part of the project where

there are no bad ideas.

creating assets needed for other applications. We

use it for texture painting maps in 3D and

compositing still renders. The Photoshop brushes

are great for creating quick custom effects too.

For me it’s the flexibility of Photoshop to perform

small tasks as a complement to another app all the

way through to in-depth compositing and retouching

work on its own.”

Other software includes Illustrator, After Effects,

InDesign and Paper. UXPin is used for wireframing, and

Maya, Cinema 4D and ZBrush for 3D creations. Maya is

also used for the studio team’s AR work: “We can

easily export different animations in one file, which we

can call up in code. Maya is capable of so much, but

with AR you get very limited render capabilities. By

combining Maya’s versatile export tools with

Photoshop we are able to fake lots of details to

improve the photo-real quality of our AR 3D work.”

The studio plans to continue to push forward,

evolving with new technologies. It has developed and

launched Reality Engine, its unique AR publishing

platform, which brings together Metaio’s great AR

capability with Engine Creative’s technical and

commercial experience to offer an easy and

powerful way to create and publish rich AR

experiences. Matt Key and Phil Christer hope to

continue in the manner that the studio began,

keeping ahead of the curve with the latest tech to

produce exceptional projects for their clients: “Our

agency was here before the .com bubble burst and

we have seen over the years how both consumers

and brands are using technology. The shifting

technological landscape means that our clients are

always looking for new and innovative ways of

connecting with their audiences, and as those

options increase it is vital for us to stay ahead of the

curve in understanding what the best platforms and

methods of communication are.”

I wouldn’t say that we

have a specific studio

style, but we are recognised for

producing extremely high-quality

work that pushes the

boundaries of technology

Open plan: A view looking

down the main studio