Behind the Cover.

Creating the First AdNews Cover of 2021.

AdNews – January Edition, 2021.
23rd February 2021

What a way to start. Every year, AdNews handpick a creative agency to produce a front cover for their publication. The opportunity for us as a proudly independent agency to create the first AdNews cover of 2021, did not disappoint. As makers of positive change, it’s an absolute privilege to share this cover with you.

The Brief.

With just six agencies per year presented with the opportunity to dream up the front cover – our first reaction was one of excitement.

The artwork could have taken so many directions, with the brief touching on a variety of subject matter from Australia’s success in handling the COVID epidemic and how it led to a renaissance in the creative field – to topics around diversity, indigenous inclusion and what the “new normal” post 2020 might be.

The first step – focus the lens. The creative team needed to clearly define the subject matter and search for their creative hook. That million dollar idea.

For our Creative Directors, Mark (copy) and Kory (art direction), ideas are often born from the collision of two elements. And after quickly realising that the word renaissance was a rich source of inspiration, they played around with a few formulas:
1. Renaissance + COVID
2. Renaissance + Creative
3. Renaissance + Australia

The Concept.

Whittling it down from around 10 ideas (that all felt right for different reasons) – there was one concept that stood out for the team, encapsulating the brief in a simple yet engaging way.

The idea – Turning Michelangelo’s David into Hoges slipping an extra shrimp on the barbie.

It’s Renaissance. It’s unequivocally Australian. And it’s one of the most iconic and celebrated moments in our industry’s history.

The Process.

With the idea in hand, they then set about discussing the more pressing matters of the day like…
“Do we show David’s meat and two veg?”
“Is it even safe to operate a BBQ with your snag out?”
Once the idea was approved – it was essentially a retouching job. So it was then over to Dek to give our friend David an 80s-style makeover.

The Challenge

– Turning the majestic David into a majestic Hoges.

All Dek was given was a variety of reference shots of Hoges. That’s it. A few bum-chin and wrinkle conversations later, he’d managed to meld Hoges and David – still both recognisable in their own right.

And here we are. Check out the Front Cover on the AdNews website here

Credits:
Creative Directors – Mark Smith and Kory McAvoy
Retouching Artist – Derek Leong