GRAPHIC DESIGNER / ART DIRECTOR
GRAPHIC DESIGNER / ART DIRECTOR
Description: Product catalog featuring jewelry, home decorative items, and fine china/flatware for a family-owned (3 generations) chain of jewelry stores originating in New Orleans.
Objective: Give the cover a retro/established look. Use Adler’s family members as models. Incorporate the launch of their redesigned website.
Comments: I supervised a team of 4 production artists, 3 photographers, and 1 stylist while working on this project. This was the last year we used medium format film. Cost and production time was reduced by roughly a third when we moved to digital photography. I do miss film though.
Responsibilities: Art Direction, production, illustration (watercolor washes)
Employer: Hoffman Miller Advertising | New Orleans, LA
Software: Adobe Indesign, Photoshop
The two models on the cover are 3rd and 4th generation Adler’s. One of them was a little shy, so we found a way to hide her. The laptop at her feet announces the launch of their new website. The accompanying copy entices shoppers to take advantage of Adler’s new website by shopping from home and giving their tired feet a break. The photo was shot on Canal Blvd. in front of their flagship store and headquarters.
It’s challenging finding a photographer that can both light and style jewelry. We found such a person, but he lived in New York. Rather than fly down to New Orleans to shoot, he stayed in the comforts of his studio and we shipped the jewelry and sketches to him.
Once we received our photos the next task was to perfect them via Photoshop. Every single little jewel, pearl, and precious metal was clipped out, color adjusted, and sharpened.
I created simple soft watercolor washes to help contrast against the defined edges of the jewelry. Which helped the jewelry pop on the page.
A separate photographer shot the home decor items. She, along with a stylist, polished, arranged, propped and shot each item to portray it in its best light.
Each year we pick a theme that spans across all creative for the brand. This year we shot all models in B&W and colorized them with feminine pastel colors, which greatly influenced the look of the catalog.
These are some of the catalogs I had the pleasure of art directing. The Adler’s family loves to mix up the look of their catalogs each year to keep things fresh. Ranging from minimal photos of jewels to colorful illustrations of their flagship store by local artists.