The fantastic animation studio, Hocus Pocus, brought me onboard to art direct and illustrate a number of scenes for this fascinating romp through the lesser known stories in history. Eight episodes, commissioned by Impossible Factual/National Geographic, each containing 10 minutes of animation. Due to there being little or no archive assets for these tales, our task was to bring them to life through witty collage style illustration and clever animation.
Watch the show here: https://www.natgeotv.com/za/shows/natgeo/history-the-interesting-bits
Brave Thinkers, True Colours Film
How does it feel to be a girl growing up in this challenging, ever-changing world?
With St Helen’s we wanted to create an emotive piece, aimed at parents and prospective students, that explored this theme – the highs, the lows, the sense of wonder, freedom, friendship, love, conflict, pressures, anxieties – that marvellous and scary ride into adulthood. Our film speaks directly to the students, invites them to breathe and make space to explore their own sense of individuality and ambition, safe in the knowledge they will be supported, and understood, every step of the way. St Helen’s is the place to explore who you are and become very best version of that. Imagine how far you could go.
Student Films
So, why do we believe this? We give the students their voice. Let’s bin the concept of a ‘rehearsed’ promotional piece, instead allow the girls the space to talk, to laugh, to open up about their feelings and experiences. Be themselves. The result was a series of interviews that were authentic, thoughtful, inspiring, warm and at times utterly hilarious. There’s a sense of pride at being a St Helen’s student. You feel that warmth and want to be part of it.
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The brilliant team at ingenious8 brought me onboard to evolve the St Helen's School brand, including concept development, scriptwriting and direction.
We were asked to design the branding and packaging for this Swiss-based company producing premium, cold-pressed fruit juice. ‘Klar’ meaning ‘clear’ in German reflects the ethos of the product – transparent process, nutritious content. No hidden nasties.
The logotype was developed to see, simply, the counter of the A form a drop of juice. The logo is then cut out of the label to reveal the juice within – see-through, transparent…no hidden nasties!
The background colours represent the skin of the fruit (the contents of the bottle the juice within). We added gold to pomegranate to indicate this was an ‘extra-special’ premium quality product.
Bottled in PET plastic bottles and using advanced High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology, Klar is better for the planet and better for our health. We highlight Klar’s nutritional selling points clearly on the front of the packaging – stamps of approval/endorsement.
It definitely felt good to work on such a planet (and people) friendly product!
Why is my left buttock numb? Where have all the crisps gone? Wait, is that the sun rising?
Maybe…just…one…more…episode………
Teaming up with esteemed documentary director Cat Mcshane we created a film exploring the reasons why we binge-watch and discover whether it might actually be good for us.
Working directly with the Commissioning Editor at the BBC, I devised the illustrations to support our storytelling and art directed the entire piece.
After you’ve watched the film why not scroll down for the chance to see some extra frames that didn’t make the cut.
It can also currently be viewed on the BBC Ideas website, and on Instagram, as part of the ‘Modern Me’ playlist. If I were you I’d binge the whole lot.
Adored creating these illustration storyboards for George Clarke’s Remarkable Renovations. Absolutely appealed to my nerdy interest in the history of buildings. Relished researching and carefully visualising the facades. Here we have a small selection of frames that were animated. The dates whiz along the top and the buildings transform through their different lives, with the respective owners popping up along the way. The church that became a shop, the railway goods shed that housed zoo animals during WWII, Holland’s famous pie factory – the list goes on!
If you’re keen to see the completed renovations all episodes are available to watch online.
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Freelance illustration and storyboarding for Hocus Pocus Studio
A project from the cutting room floor…
The Wildlife Trusts is a national organisation with 46 independent regional Wildlife Trusts across the country. The challenge: to create a distinctive unifying design that encapsulated their core values.
I wanted to explore the idea of bringing energy into their identity, for it to not only depict wildlife but to become wildlife. I set about creating an abstract shape that wasn’t just a logo, but a life form all of its own!
The core shape can be viewed as a speech bubble, representing the collective voice of the movement – a rallying cry!
The national logo sees the type sitting within the shape, distinguishing it from the regional trusts. Through the addition of simple, fluid line drawings the national logo evolves into a series of different wildlife icons, allowing individual trusts their autonomy.
Museo Sans Rounded is proposed – its soft, organic form being accessible without being ‘too’ playful and childlike, striking the balance between professional and friendly.
Don’t forget to click on the animation!
After personally experiencing the life altering health benefits of massage Sarah decided to train and set up her own practice, offering treatments specifically tailored to women. Each personalised therapy is designed to replenish and restore balance.
Her brief stated ‘clean and fresh, but also cool and sophisticated’. Not ‘just’ a massage business, she offers science-based treatments.
When Sarah approached us to discuss branding she had already designed the room for calmness and relaxation – soft lighting, natural, warm earthy tones. This is something we wanted to reflect throughout the brand identity. Our circular motif elicits feelings of completeness, being balanced and aligned. The line through the centre creates two equal parts, two complimentary forces, a reference to the philosophy of yin and yang. The shape of the logo also serves as a functional brand stamp.
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To learn more about Sarah’s practice visit her website.
Illustration commissioned by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism to explain the system of private investment into homes for the vulnerable.
3M are world-leading innovators in operating room solutions. Working with the HPS Group and Breakfast of Champions, I was tasked with creating a concept that promoted them as the ’go to’, most trusted supplier for healthcare organisations.
The line ‘every patient is part of our family’ creates a sense of warmth and trust. A patient isn't 'just' a patient to a healthcare professional, who brings to work compassion and a deep sense of responsibility. Healthcare professionals are a son, a daughter, a parent, just like anyone else. The message 3M are delivering to them is ‘we know how much you care, so we will provide you with products you can depend upon for the patients who depend on you.’
Film was best vehicle to evoke an emotional response from the audience. We were able to show the two sides of their life – the anaesthetist who reads his daughter a bedtime story, who then comforts a little boy and his teddy bear before surgery, the nurse who squeezes the hand of a mature female patient and makes her laugh, before cutting to her doing the same with her mum. Short, simple, emotional.
The films were shared across social media, directing viewers to a specially designed microsite. This contained further product information, stats and a Story-Stream style curated hub which aggregated rich content from clinician forums, prolific news and information sources, plus 3M blogs and patient-facing content, all giving a sense of being part of a ‘global family’.
Credits
Concept and Creative Direction: Becks Boulter
Production and Direction: Breakfast of Champions
The Wildlife Trusts is an organisation made up of 46 individual Trusts across the UK. Each Trust is an independent charity. For more than a century they have been working to save wildlife, increase people’s understanding of the natural world and to deepen people’s relationship with it. They have have over 850,000 members, 2,000 staff and 600 trustees, and currently look after more than 2,300 nature reserves, covering 98,500 hectares.
The purpose of the annual impact report is to update Trusts, partners, funders and supporters on the scale and impact of the work of the Wildlife Trusts as a movement over the preceding 12 months.
It aims to engage those audiences with some of the individual stories behind Trust projects, to share the achievements so they feel connected to the impact the organisation is creating, to inspire and encourage their continued support.
The style here is colourful and positive, with a strong emphasis on people and wildlife. The challenge was to create infographics that are visually engaging and exciting. Each set of statistics is brought to life in the style of an illustrated wildlife ‘scene’, this helps convey the sense of people working with nature to make a difference. Illustrative details were added so that each time the page is visited there is more to see, giving it depth beyond the facts imparted. The illustrations combine with a selection of big, beautiful photographs to create an overall bright and exciting look and feel.
The report was printed as well as made available online and has received an overwhelmingly positive response.
Identity for OnLive events concept agency.
We handled the identity from top to bottom, including the storyboarding the logo sting, designing the website, powerpoint, iconography, apparel, and providing copywriting.
To coincide with the launch of the new agency, we created a brand playbook that introduced and offered guidance to the brand.
Jeep Renegade Retailer Launch
For the launch of the new Renegade in September 2018 I worked with HPS Group to deliver marketing support to the retailer network. These included invitations and incentives, communication packs, marketing assets (digital and print) and on-site POS.
‘Born to be Wild’ was the established national campaign line. We looked at how we could unpack this for the Renegade.
How could we drum up excitement for the delivery of the new vehicles? How could we capture the spirit of the Renegade and inject that sense of adventure?
Well, our Jeep wasn’t simply going to be delivered to the retailer, it was going on its very own fantastical journey – it was going to go Renegade!
From factory to retailer, we followed the Renegade’s journey. Communication packs were sent to retailers from different locations along the way. Each ‘mud-splattered’ box contained a regional treat, a postcard (containing technical spec) and a route map, which delivered product, offers and audience information along with partnership ideas. The destination co-ordinates on the front were related specifically to each retailer. Countdown emails accompanied the packs, helping retailers to prepare for the launch event, along with direct mail pieces and online marketing assets.
The POS was a culmination of the journey – with vehicle finally on show, pristine and gleaming, back from its travels. Marks were added to the floor to give the impression it had just skidded into the showroom. Photos of the adventure surround it, inspiring customers to embrace their wild side and go Renegade!
Jeep Wrangler Launch Emails
Awareness and tactical emails for the October 2018 Wrangler launch. A ‘magazine’ style layout was adopted, with big photos and strong headline statements befitting of the ‘Ultimate Jeep’. We wanted customers to get a sense of the fun that could be have with the all new model.
Subtle lighting effects were used (see gifs at bottom of page) to create the ‘reveal’.
Learning on Screen is a charity and membership organisation that promotes the use of moving image and sound in UK Higher and Further education and research. In 2016 the organisation rebranded from The British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) and got in touch about devising the new visual identity.
The brief called for a clean, accessible style that highlighted the organisation’s work with moving image. It had to appeal to a core audience of students, teaching staff and academics. The typographic approach utilises a bold, contemporary sans serif font and sees the ‘on’ positioned within the 4:3 aspect ratio marks of a screen (also a nod to a camera’s viewfinder lines), creating a clear, versatile, rectangular form. The academic purple combines with a vibrant magenta and is further complimented by a lively secondary colour palette. The brand material incorporates high impact, full bleed photos with block colours, clean type and a line drawing illustrative style.
Our objective was to build 3M’s position as trusted partner in means of transportation, the company providing the best solutions with 3M™ VHB™ tapes.
3M™ VHB™ Tapes are high-strength, double-sided acrylic tapes that create a long-lasting bond that builds strength over time, with the ability to join a variety of materials utilised in transport design, thus eliminating the need for nuts and bolts and their associated drawbacks.
With a nod to the transportation sector, specifically bus, rail and truck, we pitch 3M as the master navigators. As such they’re aware of a company’s position at all times, planning the journey ahead, avoiding potential hazards and providing ongoing support.
3M not only offers a leading portfolio of products, they will be your strategic partner in co-creating design solutions for your business.
My relationship with Francoise and Julian, owners of Revalation Vineyard, goes back a number of years – listening to stories from the the vineyard from the initial planting, to the bottling of their very first vintage. So when they discussed creating a new brand identity I was delighted to get to work.
Revalation Vineyard’s name is derived from its location in Reva, Virginia. Nestled in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the vineyard enjoys spectacular views from sunrise to sunset. As such, we felt this distinguishing attribute should become the core to our brand design.
The landscape was simplified to a cut out style, with the bottle forming the sky. When we look at the visualisation of the mountains, we also see the undulating movement of wine being swirled around a glass.
The colours are adapted to the variety of grape, also serving to reflect the landscape as it changes hue across the length of the day.
The flexible design allows for the many different varieties of wine, and when placed together as a set, evokes the feeling of a day in the life on the vineyard itself.
Visual hacking and screen privacy is more important than ever in the current climate, as such 3M wanted to increase awareness of privacy filters and drive an uplift in sample requests. HPS Group brought me onboard to develop the concept.
The target audience was tech savvy business decision-makers who would then implement privacy filters across their organisation. The focus was on people who work on the move – on their commute, reading emails, accessing important information they wouldn’t want anybody else to see.
It was decided the campaign would initially be implemented in London, targeting people in transit, utilising formats such as: underground escalator panels, large digital panel at King’s Cross, motion enabled digital 6 sheets, train car panels, as well as wifi sponsorship at airports and WEVE MMS messaging.
Research showed that almost nine out of 10 workers had caught somebody looking over their shoulder at their device in a public space. We wanted to explore the familiar feeling of being watched.
Our concept saw photographs and footage of people looking down as if peeking at somebody’s phone/laptop, combined with the headline ‘Feel like you’re being watched?’. The direction of the glance was chosen with the advert’s position in mind for maximum impact – i.e. looking down at a passenger on a tube train, peering down at people in King’s Cross station, eyes following somebody riding the escalator.
With 90% of visual hacking attempts successful, we wanted the campaign to make people feel uneasy, to raise their awareness and to take action to protect themselves.
3M have reported a substantial increase of sales since the campaign’s launch.
A period of rapid expansion at this well-established family business necessitated a complete overhaul of their branding. It required a contemporary identity that reflected the scale and capabilities of their operation.
Their client base ranges from homeowners and retail outlets to hospitals and vast warehouses. The identity had to look professional and suit this broad range of client, but also convey being trustworthy. Customers needed to know they were getting more than a CCTV system, they would be gaining peace of mind.
The logo sees the camera lens forming the iris of an eye, the message implies – ‘trust us to look out for you’.
This Hackney-based store operate a strict policy of selling only ethical, organic and homemade products, as such they required a traditional brand that people could trust. The identity was influenced by the styling of mid-century British shop fronts. Farrow and Ball’s ‘Brinjal’ forms the sophisticated primary palette. ‘Brinjal’ takes its name from the skin of an aubergine – a subtle salute to their produce!
A collaboration with the stupendous Breakfast of Champions for Channel 4, ‘The Science of Dating: How to Fall in Love’ is a fun look at the science and psychology behind attraction, love and relationships. Check out the trailer here or watch the full film on All 4.
After taking charge of the research, illustration, art direction, and a spot of writing, I was momentarily considered quite the authority on matters of the heart. It even lead to an unexpected turn on BBC radio as a ‘love expert’!
Credits
Grace: Danielle Henry
Mike: Steven Kyman
Director: James Murphy
Art Director, Illustrator & Writer: Becks Boulter
Executive Producer: Andrew Gillman
Animation: Francesca De Bassa, Justin Lowings, Ketan Kulkarni, Alex Polozuns
Sound Design: Simon Epstein
Production Manager: Miles Paulley
A campaign for 3M’s Abrasive System Division to promote their range of Scotch-Brite deburring products.
A burr, for those who may not be familiar, is a sharp/rough edge commonly created during the metal fabrication process. Deburring is the precise process of removal, without any modification to the shape or geometry.
Our target audience was the metal workers themselves – they use the product, so ultimately make the decision on which to buy.
‘Precision, without cutting corners’ aligns the product with the metalworkers’ dedication to their craft, the pride in the attention to detail. It also tells us, similarly, that 3M don’t cut corners when developing the product – they produce industry leading solutions so you can do your best work. Also, most simply – ‘we don’t cut, we deburr’.
The film is an expansion of this idea, focusing on the workers, conveying a respect for the essence of their craft, combined with warmth and humour.
A series of modular animations, ideal for social sharing, promoting the area of Vauxhall for property developers Mount Anvil.
Credits
Art Direction and Illustration: Becks Boulter
Animation: Breakfast of Champions
This was the UK’s first adoption service television commercial. Studio Breakfast of Champions asked me to devise the concept and lead the creative direction. It was a responsibility to ensure this brief was handled sensitively and hit the right note with audiences, especially as this was the first of its kind. We opted for a combination of 2D character animation and live action because we wanted to give a sense that they could be any child waiting within the system to find a loving home. It also maintained an authenticity that we felt would have been lost by using child actors.
The message is positive and playful whilst retaining an emotional appeal.
Credits
Production and Direction: Breakfast of Champions
Creative Direction, Storyboard and Character Design: Becks Boulter
Music and Sound Design: Echoic
Character Animation: Aaron Jonas
Live Action Producer: Victoria Cairns
D.O.P: John Gout
Camera Assistant: Jack Lee
Regular client Cifas is the UK’s leading fraud prevention service. A non-profit membership organisation, its members share their data across sectors to reduce instances of fraud and financial crime.
Cifas research showed that increasing numbers of young people were affected by fraud, either being targeted by online fraudsters or unwittingly engaging in fraudulent acts themselves.
I worked with Cifas and the PSHE Association, the national body for Personal, Social, Health and Economic education to create a branded resource park containing Anti-Fraud Education lesson plans with accompanying resources. The lesson plans are targeted at 11-16 year olds and cover awareness of fraud, common scams, identity theft and money mules among other subjects.
I created bright, accessible illustrations that utilised Cifas’ lively colour palette, to keep students engaged with the subject matter. The style is retained across all materials, including lesson plans, case studies, task sheets and tests.
Identity and material for art collective Collective Matter and its collaboration with Tate Modern – ‘Material Action’. Collective Matter is a collaboration between artists who use clay and materials to explore cross-disciplinary practice and creative communication and learning. Their Tate Exchange Residency saw them deliver a six-month programme of clay workshops at Tate Modern, Pump House Gallery, Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall and Gasworks that explored the changing narrative of the Lambeth and Wandsworth.
Ceramics & Glass degree show material. Understated monochrome design with full colour shots of the work. A soft touch matt lamination and spot UV varnish was applied to the catalogue cover, for a tactile contrast the inner pages were printed on a silk stock.
HPS Group asked me to devise a concept for MINI’s ‘Giving Back’ campaign. This is a promotion that offers discounted cars to those who give to the community, in this case targeted at teachers.
Harnessing MINI’s fun and playful tone of voice we employ ‘typical’ teacher sayings to advertise the offer. Combined with enticing shots of the new vehicles, the aim was to capture those who hadn’t treated themselves for a while, and those who desired a new model that had become more affordable.
The campaign was rolled-out online via targeted advertisements on Facebook and Linked-In, and also via direct marketing, with flyers delivered to schools.
Over the years I’ve art directed, illustrated and storyboarded films for a number of big brands (BMW, EDF, GSK, Intel, O2 and Channel 4…to name a few) as well as some pretty exciting start-ups. Here’s a soupçon of my favourite frames.
Explainer film for Adizio – a self-serve online advertising buying platform. This character-based animation follows our diving fanatic as he advertises his ‘Flipper Emporium’. Keep an eye out for the ‘flashy creative team’…
Credits
Art Direction, Illustration and Storyboard: Becks Boulter
Animation: Justin Lowings
Sound Design: Echoic
Design and publicity for ‘Unsolicited Material’, three EPs by singer-songwriter Declan Bennett.
The name is a tongue-in-cheek comment on the fact the material was initially rejected by record producers – hence the strikethrough to the title. Coloured vinyl was selected to represent the city in which each EP was recorded.
Animated explainer film for marketing company, Bloom Intelligence.
Credits
Art Direction, Storyboard and Illustration: Becks Boulter
Animation: Breakfast of Champions
Visual Metaphors at Work builds on pioneering management research that uses images and objects to reveal tacit knowledge and promote deeper communication in teams.
The organisation has developed a methodology called Lephorus, which is applied in online workshops conducted by accredited facilitators. Participants are encouraged to assign symbolism to images, allowing previously unrecognised issues within organisations to be revealed. It promotes deep conversations in a highly interactive, fun, non-aggressive and non-confrontational way. The workshops have been held internationally and the next step is to roll-out Lephorus to virtual teams in multinational working environments.
I created a brand identity for the organisation. It follows the principle of revelation – the letter ‘V’ is revealed within the ‘M’. Colour and texture play a crucial role during the workshops, this has been reflected throughout the brand materials with the use of embossed stock and special finishes.
During the workshops each client requires a different set of visual metaphors to be created, which tend to be a series of different illustrations based around one theme, for example chairs, jugs, abstract images. I interpret and design from material and references, collaborating directly with Kerstin Potter, the CEO of Visual Metaphors at Work, to achieve a completed set. It can be painstaking work (!) but ultimately I'm proud of being integral to this unique project.
Series of illustrations commissioned by Lincolnshire Local Authority to support its initiative to encourage people of all ages and abilities to get more involved in sport.
Sarah Jane is a personal trainer and nutritionist based in London. We wanted to bring a sense of movement into the logo. This was achieved through incomplete, developing letterforms that reflect, for example, a flow of an arm, or the mapping of a run. The feeling is of being perpetually in motion. This style was continued through the brand’s iconography, seen featured on the website.
Visit sarahjaneholt.co.uk
