Posted by Guy Downes on February 9, 2012 under Illustration | 
Working closely with the team at Network of Community Activities, I created this bright, energetic and activity filled poster for the National Out of School Hours Services Association (NOSHSA). The My Time, Our Place – Framework for School Age Care in Australia will ensure that children in school age care will have opportunities to engage in leisure and play-based experiences which are responsive to the needs, interests, and choices of the children attending the service and contribute fully to their ongoing development.
Network of Community Activities is committed to helping promote quality community based services for school aged children, including children with disabilities.
Posted by Guy Downes on October 10, 2011 under Illustration |
I’ve mentioned Matthew Johnstone before and it was great to have him back speaking at Tamworth City Library last week about his book: The Alphabet of the Human Heart. This page shows the visual notes I sketched while he was talking. You can tell when a speaker makes a connection with the audience – while talking, I looked around to see people (unaware to themselves) nodding, ‘hmmming’ in agreement or simply zoned in on what was being said. Matthew was definitely working his storytelling magic, helped by his pictures.
This book is beautifully illustrated by Matthew and was co-written with his long time friend, James Kerr. The book is described as: ‘A handbook for the happy, and a bible for the broken hearted, The Alphabet of the Human Heart is an enchanting and enriching journey through the upside and the downside of what it means to be human – our hopes and fears, our strengths and our weaknesses, our highs and our lows. It is an A to Zen of how we feel’.
Posted by Guy Downes on October 7, 2011 under Illustration |
Creativity
Canon Business Imaging Australia recently released a research report titled: ‘Change or be left behind’. According to Canon, ‘change is something that the majority of Australian businesses strive for yet find difficult to achieve’. The research examined Australian businesses’ approach and attitude towards change in the workplace. I contributed seven cartoons to the report which depicted light-hearted scenarios highlighting the qualities that were needed to help drive change (as identified in the research). If you’re interested in downloading the report and viewing all my cartoons, please visit: http://www.canon.com.au/Business/Change
Knowledge
Vision
Change or be left behind: the report front cover
Posted by Guy Downes on July 23, 2011 under Illustration |
Welcome to Mosworth – this is one of my favourite illustrations that I created last year for a Microsoft Online Services booklet. The picture is full of colour, activity and things to look at. The story booklet (called: “Mr Fix I.T. – the everyday hero for small business”) highlighted how computing can be simple for small to medium sized businesses with Microsoft Online Services. You can read the full case study here.
Posted by Guy Downes on June 2, 2011 under Illustration |
As reported in mUmBRELLA, “Kellogg is looking for an agency to handle its public relations, and is using Twitter to aid its search in what the brand believes is the first time the medium has been used for this purpose”. A great idea that sparked my latest cartoon.
Posted by Guy Downes on May 31, 2011 under Illustration |
Back in March, I contributed three cartoons to a PR thought leadership report co-ordinated by Craig Pearce and titled: Public relations 2011: issues, insights and ideas. My cartoons supported three of the articles that discussed PR education, PR and CSR and Facebook/social media:
My cartoon for: PR education – getting the theory-practice balance right, by Professor Jim Macnamara, Professor of Public Communication at the University of Technology Sydney
My cartoon for: PR is second rate CSR, by Craig Pearce, an award winning strategic public relations professional (and noted PR blogger)
My cartoon for: Messiah or just socially inept, by Dwight Whitney, Founder, Trinity Communications
The report is a very good read for PR and communication professionals as it features articles by eleven industry leaders from all over the globe and is available free for email subscribers from Craig Pearce’s blog, Public relations and managing reputation. Content in the report will help enhance PR professionals’ practical ability and strategic knowledge, expand their knowledge of the discipline’s power and provide them with ideas and assertions. Thanks to Craig for getting me involved.
Posted by Guy Downes on May 30, 2011 under Illustration |
The water slide photo board at the media launch
If you want to send your pulse racing, Carnival Cruise Lines has the answer: the steepest water slide at sea. Commissioned by Pulse Communications, I was asked to draw an artist impression of the slide for the recent media launch of Carnival Spirit, Carnival Cruise Lines’ first ship to be based outside the US. Carnival Spirit will be based in Sydney from October 2012 and she will be “Aussified” to create a new and unique cruise product. One of the biggest additions will be two new water firsts for the Australian market, a thrill slide and a splash park.
My job was to draw the slide and splashpark with spaces where people could pop their heads through for a quick photo opportunity during the media launch event at Luna Park. My final illustration was blown up in size and mounted for the event by Signwave.
My final illustration of the steepest water slide at sea
Posted by Guy Downes on May 4, 2011 under Illustration |
The Black Dog also works 9 to 5
Matthew Johnstone is a master storyteller. He speaks from the heart about what ’he’s experienced, learnt and what has worked for him in dealing with depression over the last 20 years’. I was lucky enough to hear him speak at a recent Tamworth Chamber of Commerce Business Breakfast about dealing with depression, forms and telltale signs of depression, the increase in pressure in today’s society and his current role with The Black Dog Institute. He is also the author of the wellknown book ‘I had a Black dog’ and ‘Living with a Black Dog’, which he beautifully illustrated.
During his talk, which used his great drawings to illustrate his points, one area he covered really made me stop, listen and think. Depression and mood disorders interfere not only with our ability to function at home, in social settings but also at work. It struck me that depression ‘can also work 9am – 5pm’ – it doesn’t go away when you ‘swipe’ into your building. Matthew shared his thoughts on the critical role HR (as ‘safe havens’), leaders and colleagues can play in helping people who may be experiencing depression.
My cartoon builds on this idea. From my experience of working in fast-paced, results-oriented environments, it could be all too easy not to see or realise that a colleague, a friend or the boss (or even myself) needs help. Regardless whether a company has a mantra to be ‘a fun, engaging and great place to work’, they can still be a very lonely place. If there isn’t the foundation or opportunity for people to seek help or the ethos that talking about issues is ‘OK’, my personal belief is that employees can feel isolated. In the daily hustle and bustle and ‘fog’ of doing business, a cry of “Help Me” could easily go unnoticed.
The Black Dog Institute is a not-for-profit, educational, research, clinical and community-oriented facility offering specialist expertise in depression and bipolar disorder. For more information and to check out their great resource, visit their website.
During Matthew’s talk, I furiously took visual notes, sketching out key words and themes he covered. Here’s a page that shows some of my sketches and scribbles.
A page from my visual notebook
Posted by Guy Downes on March 6, 2011 under Cartoons, Illustration |
The recent and ongoing situation between the supermarkets and the dairy farmers sparked the idea for this cartoon.
Posted by Guy Downes on February 25, 2011 under Illustration |
Developed ‘blue print’ illustrations to inspire an Intel Atom netbook photo shoot – final photos offered to consumer media in Asia Pacific during holiday season build-up
A final photo inspired by one of my concept illustrations
Issue:
- The build up to the holiday season at the end of the year is an important sales period for consumer electronics (such as netbooks) across Asia Pacific. With the arrival of the iPad, the consumer hardware market had become even more competitive and ‘noisy’.
Insight:
- The success of netbooks has been due to the fact they are small, light, portable, innovative and fun. Although the consumer hardware market had become more competitive, nothing has really changed with netbooks themselves, except from the fact that they have got better and better. So, in the run up to the holiday season, there was an opportunity to remind people why they fell in love with netbooks in the first place and shine the light back on their many benefits.
Challenge:
- In order to showcase the breadth of choice available to netbook consumers during the Christmas/holiday season buying period, Intel set out to commission photography that would show the Atom netbook range in an innovative, creative and shopper-friendly way in time for consumer buying guides across the Asia Pacific region. The final photos would also be used to pitch to consumer and technology publications.
My role:
- Following a creative briefing session with Howorth, a business to business, consumer technology and enterprise technology public relations agency in Sydney, I was tasked with developing a series of creative concepts that Intel could use across Asia Pacific as the foundation for their photo shoot and photography.
- A key requirement in the creative process was to highlight the small form factors, breadth of range and innovative netbook designs made possible by the Intel Atom processor.
Idea:
- My creative idea was to use the netbook form factors e.g. its angles, shape (when open and shut) and its size, to replace, create or enhance items or situations that can be found or occur in the build up to the holiday season. In doing so, and using a simple illustration style, this would remind or introduce people to the great form factors netbooks have (e.g. small, breadth of range, flexibility, fun or simplicity etc)
- The aim was that the final photos would mirror the simplicity and minimalism of the concept illustrations as well as build on them by placing them in aspirational and modern settings.
Original concept: open netbooks create a Christmas tree
Campaign results:
- The photos were distributed to Intel’s PR agencies throughout the Asia Pacific region for use when liaising with consumer buying guides and relevant media publications.
- Photos were made available to agencies in Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines and Singapore.
Original concept: a thin netbook vs bags full of heavy school books
Final photo supplied to PR agencies across Asia Pacific
“Guy’s fresh thinking created some great ideas. His illustrations formed the platform for some really innovative and consumer-friendly product photography that we used across the Asia Pacific region”.
Paul Thompson, Account Manager, Howorth
Original concept: profiling the small netbook form factor
Final photo: a small netbook fits neatly into a stocking
Media coverage example:
Photo appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald's online Digihub section
*Disclosure: I used to work at Howorth before launching my own visual communication practice.
