Letter of the Law

One of the challenges of my firm’s brand, is their strict rules about icon usage with photography. Often we have a client who has designed (or asks us to design) an icon to represent an idea or a service line, and then asks us to include it on top of a photo on the cover of their brochure or other collateral. The problem is, the Brand Police say that you can only use a photo OR an icon on a cover, and you can’t put an icon on top of a photo.

I was asked to make a photo of a globe (shocker) for the cover of a recent publication on clean technology, and the client provided me with a nifty set of four circular icons (designed in our UK office) which he wanted to include on the cover. Given the Brand restrictions, it’s a tough call. I sat down and thought about it, and then decided the best way to not put the icons ON the photo, was to put them IN the photo.

I designed a wall-paper-style poster, using the icons as a pattern. I tiled together a mock-up, before ordering a large-format print, which turned out to be a good idea. As I was doing the test shoot, I realized that seeing the icon through the clear globe was too distracting, so I taped a circle of solid color behind the globe, which did the trick nicely. I then added a solid circle to the large format print, for a seamless look. It took some futzing with white foamcore to knock out some ugly reflections on the sides of the globe but overall, because of my test shots, the final shot didn’t take more than a half hour.

Technically, I haven’t included icons on my photo, they are a background element in the photo itself. I’ve fulfilled the letter of the law, but not necessarily the spirit. I’m waiting to hear from they who must be obeyed if my little gamble has paid off. The client loves it, but the Brand Police have final say…

I would love to shoot all of the executives on the project in front of my icon wallpaper, but I doubt I’ll be able to get everyone involved into New York for the portraits…would be cool as hell though.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Photography, Sketchbook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.