Most of the time when we are hired to do refresh, it is for a logo or brochure. However, we were recently approached to do a refresh of a different kind.
Blain’s Farm & Fleet hired us to design motorized signage for their upcoming Toyland displays. You can read about our experience with selecting a vendor for the motors here.
Before we could concept the design of the signage, Blain’s recognized that the first step was to address the graphics of their beloved elf characters. Here’s the way the elves originally looked:
These 4 characters have been used in Blain’s marketing materials for several years, from commercials to advertisments; Jingles, Otto, Pipper & Gingersnap are a recognized part of the Farm & Fleet family. (They even have plush dolls!)
However, the renderings left a lot to be desired and the time finally came to invest in a refresh. The challenge was to address the issues that weren’t working with the current graphic, but still keep the original characters recognizable.
Once again it is our job to solve problems. We needed to address the issues in the current graphic while still maintaining the unique qualities of each character. Here were the issues we identified:
Since the goal was to refresh the graphics, but not a complete overhaul, we also identified certain elements that we would be keeping.
After all the evaluating and course setting for how we would address this refresh, it was finally time to put pen to paper (or in this case pixel to screen). Sometimes this can be the most daunting part, getting started.
To give a word of encouragement, EVERYONE feels that way at some point. It doesn’t matter how seasoned a designer you are or how many projects you’ve done over the years, you still can experience fear or intimidation when staring at a blank screen.
My recommendation is to do whatever you need to in order to reduce the tension of that moment. If it’s quickly sketching out some thoughts on scrap paper, do that.
Sometimes it helps to just jump in and get your momentum going, knowing that you can delete or toss out those first iterations. You’ll find what works for you, but just know that when it happens, you are in very good company with every other designer on the planet.
Here was my first pass at tackling this character refresh. As you can see, the first things I addressed were the issues with skin tone and the harsh angles from the original.
I also beefed up the form, which will be essential for integrating these figures with motors and displays. However the overall form still wasn’t quite what Blain’s was looking for. The artwork was still looking a little flat and they wanted it to have more dimension.
This is where the Mesh Tool in Illustrator comes in. Many people think that in order to get a rendered image they have to work in Photoshop, however, you can create depth to your graphics in Illustrator by using this handy tool.
Basically the way that you use it is to click on your shape with the tool which will create lines within the shape. Do this multiple times until you have a grid (see example below).
At each intersection of lines you see a box. The way that you create a rendered form from a flat shape is to change the color at those select points. Use the direct select arrow (white arrow) to choose areas that you want to change. Once you have the boxes chosen, you select a new color and it will blend with the rest of the color.
The best thing you can do is try different colors to see what works. Lighter colors give a highlight, while darker colors create a shadow). I was even able to select warmer colors to give the elves that cheerful, rosy cheek look. At that point, it’s a matter of playing with the mesh until you get the effect you are wanting for your graphic.
The advantage of doing all of this in Illustrator is that the file remains vector art, so you can resize it however large or small you need and there is no compromise in resolution.
After using the Mesh tool on all 4 characters, here is the final result:
The characters are warmer, softer and more filled out, but each still retaining their individual characteristics; plus, now Gingersnap looks like a girl!
This was a really fun project to work on, but it is only the beginning of the project we were hired to do. Ultimately we took this fab four and created 10 whimsical displays that will be used throughout the toy department at all 40 Farm & Fleet stores in the Midwest.
In the coming weeks we will continue to share the process of working on this project, culminating with the final reveal of the displays in-action at a local Farm & Fleet store.
Have you done any refresh work lately? How did that process go for you? If seeing this project has identified some materials or graphics that your company may need to go through a refresh process, drop us a message. We’d love to help you with whatever refresh you’ve got in mind.
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