Impressive Co-Branding For The Karl Lagerfeld X Shu Uemura Holiday Collection. From The Videos to The Packaging.

Fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld and Japanese global beauty giant Shu Uemura collaborated on this special Holiday 2012 make-up collection and pulled out all the stops when it came to marketing and branding. The effort is a great example of the importance of consistency in brand imagery, the utilization of social media channels and online influencers as well as various mediums such as videos, print, digital, packaging, etc. Watch and learn.





Initially announced in June of this year, the much anticipated collection has been preceded by numerous press events, articles and blog posts by most every beauty blogger and journalist in the business.


above: Karl Lagerfeld discussing and designing the collection for Shu Uemura

The launch utilized various mediums including a fabulous Saul Bass-inspired teaser video, guerilla marketing in the streets of Paris, a strong social media presence, special events and the design of a sweet little Manga-style Mascot named Mon Shu dressed in Lagerfeld's signature high-collared white shirt and black tie who consistently appears everywhere.



above: Conceived of and drawn by Karl Lagerfeld, she takes a cue from Japanese schoolgirls, whose uniforms Lagerfeld finds impeccable. “They dress a little like me, even if this is more exaggerated,” said the designer.

The Brand Mascot:


In addition to being the star of the videos, Mon Shu appeared during press events as everything from an oversized balloon to small plush dolls and decals that could be applied to fingernails.  She graces all the packaging and even appeared on helium balloons and bags as a form of guerilla marketing:







The Teaser (Birth of Mon Shu) Video:


You can view more wonderful animated videos of Mon Shu as she travels around the world on She Uemera's YouTube channel.

Designing the Collection:
The Paris-based Lagerfeld was in charge of the collection's color selection and the adorable packaging of the nail polishes, false lashes, lipsticks, eye shadows, make-up brushes and more.




The Making Of The Collection video:


The Products and Packaging:











Even the photographs for the accompanying campaign were shot by Karl Lagerfeld.

Social Media Marketing:
In terms of social media marketing, they have been consistent about branding the collection with a YouTube channel that features multiple videos, a presence, giveaways, drawing contests and more have taken place on the Shu Uemera facebook page, and they have a branded twitter page - and many a related tweet.



The Shu Uemura homepage has an interactive section dedicated to the collection as well.

The press release:

She Uemura and Karl Lagerfeld are proud to announce an exceptional collaboration for the holiday collection 2012 under the name of Karl Lagerfeld for shu uemura.

This unique moment of creation has roots in more than 20 years of relationship and mutual admiration between two of the most renowned talents from the worlds of fashion and beauty. With his artful hands and revolutionary vision Mr. Shu Uemura transformed the image of women through make-up, passionately elevating beauty into a true work of art. Karl Lagerfeld’s illustrious career as a master of fashion design, photography and publishing has presented a worldview so unique he has become one of the most influential creators of his time. Both have propelled their crafts into the future with their untiring quests for innovation and beauty.

“I design with shu uemura make-up because other manufacturers do not offer such beautiful colors.” – Karl Lagerfeld

For two decades Karl Lagerfeld has been using shu uemura eye shadows to illustrate his fashion sketches. Now he merges his world with shu uemura’s to create an entire collection in homage to the brand-the color selection and packaging is entirely designed by Karl Lagerfeld who also photographed the visual campaign.

For this holiday collection, the master of beauty and the master of fashion converge, their talent and passion for beauty evoking miracles for the holiday season.

To be launched in November 2012 in the following countries: ASIA: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam / NORTH AMERICA: United States, Canada / EUROPE: France, Italy, United Kingdom, Belgium, Ireland / OCEANIA: Australia. Please contact regional shu uemura PR offices for further information.

SHOP FOR THE COLLECTION HERE

A big thanks to the following for some of the additional images used in this post:

Shu Uemera
Chicprofile
Beautezine

Read More »

Add Comment

Arek art fashion collaboration, artist collaborations, beauty, brand image, brand marketing, branding, co-branding, karl lagerfeld, make-up, marketing, product launch

An Online Collaborative Art Project From Google and Tate Modern: This Exquisite Forest.

This Exquisite Forest by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin is an online collaborative art experiment presented by Google and Tate Modern. The project lets users create short animations that build off one another as they explore a specific theme.



Taking a series of short animation sequences created by artists represented in Tate’s collection as the starting point, users of the website and visitors to the installation are invited to draw and animate new sequences and thus continue the ‘seeds’ begun by the artists.




As more sequences are added, the videos dynamically branch out and evolve, forming multiple new visual narratives.

The Making Of:






It can be accessed via the website exquisiteforest.com and through a physical installation at Tate Modern from July 23, 2012.

Read More »

Add Comment

Arek art, artist collaborations, design collaborations, online, online animation

From Roughs To Rad. Josh Cooley & Bill Presing's 54 Intercontinental Cuties.

Both Josh Cooley and Bill Presing are super talented storyboard artists at Pixar Animation Studios who have recently joined forces on this creative project.

Most recently, Josh received lots of blog and press attention for his Movies R Fun/ Inappropriate Golden Book and Emeryville-based Bill Presing is especially known for his pin-up girl-like illustrations.


above: Movies R Fun by Josh Cooley is available for purchase here

Together the two have designed and illustrated a new deck of sexy and sassy playing cards. Their collaboration yielded 54 Intercontinental Cuties, a real playable deck of cards, with a unique pinup girl on each face representing different places.


above: one of my fave pieces by Bill Presing, Ergonomic Delight

The majority of the 54 Intercontinental Cuties deck represents various countries, but they've taken some creative liberties and added unusual locations, some of which are fictional. Eden, Pangea, the Bermuda Triangle, the North Pole, the South Pole, The Forbidden Zone and The International Space Station are represented in the deck, alongside other countries and places.




I've been following the process by both of them on their own blogs as they created the deck, featuring their respective illustrations. Both Cooley and Presing have blogged about their collaborative efforts since early May and the finished deck of cards was just revealed at Comic Con, soon to be available online.

It's more fun to see how they went from sketches to the final art, than just looking at the final cards, so here's a look at the roughs and finished art of some of the cards in the deck.

First, from Bill Presing.
Bill's thumbnails in his sketchbook:

and his process of getting to the final Egypt card:

the final Egypt card:

sketch and final of the Russia Card:

the Vietnam card:

and the Greece card:

and more of his sketches:





and a few of the finished cards from Bill Presing:




Josh Cooley's process actually seems to involve bathing in macaroni and cheese to get inspired, but you can read about that yourself here.

Josh's rough and final of the Cuba Card:


And Josh did not post as many finished cards as did Bill, so you'll have to see those when you buy the deck. For now, here's a bunch of the sketches for the soon to be released cards by Josh Cooley:






(yes, Josh is aware that Texas is not a country)

The deck will sell for $25.00, soon to be available on Josh's online store.


I spoke with Josh on Saturday (he and Bill are both enjoying well-earned vacations) and he says the cards will soon be available for purchase in his online store. I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Josh 's blog, Cooley!
Bill's blog, Daily Peril

Read More »

Add Comment

Arek animation, artist collaborations, cards, drawings, fine art, illustration, logo pin up girls