News
24 June 2010
K9 navigates ad for Navy centennial
TORONTO—K9 Design recently created an ad celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy on behalf of the Historica Dominion Institute.
The ad, which ran in the June issue of Canada’s History Magazine was inspired by movie posters, says K9 Design art director Eric McBain. “The big thing I was trying to do was to make history not seem boring,” he says. “I also wanted to reflect the actual history, so the ships in the poster are actual Canadian Navy ships. The first Canadian ship to circumnavigate the globe.”
 |
|
Black and blue were chosen to add mystery to the campaign
|
The ad, which ran in the June issue of Canada’s History Magazine was inspired by movie posters, says K9 Design art director Eric McBain. “The big thing I was trying to do was to make history not seem boring,” he says. “I also wanted to reflect the actual history, so the ships in the poster are actual Canadian Navy ships. The first Canadian ship to circumnavigate the globe.”
McBain chose Gothic for the ad because of its clean look and ease of readability. Black and blue were chosen for the colour palette to add a mysterious quality to the design.
The team at the Historica Dominion Institute were great to work with, says McBain. “The team was very open minded,” he says. “They gave us free reign, which is nice. You don’t often get that.” Contact: k9designco.com, Historica-dominion.ca/en/
Most Read Stories
Most Recent Comment
 | |
| Anonymous says: | |
| Times must be tough for illustrators... | |
Design Buzz on the Web
|
Fontest
Calling all typophiles! Enter our font contest and you could win a prize |
FREE Subscription
January/February 2012 |
||
.jpg)
FREE Newsletter
Sign up now for our free news and jobs email bulletin |
 |
Live from Twitter
I am really getting sick of everyone using that font. try something new! You are supposed to be creative.
decent poster, but nothing to write home about.
The attention to detail overall is sad; unrealistic night sky lighting, the shadows don't match the light source and the horizon is harsh.
I'd have to agree that in the last few months Gotham has utterly exploded on the industry and I actually shy away from it now as well. This ad was designed quite a few months ago though, when I still wasn't seeing Gotham everywhere. In terms of a new sans to work with, I think if I were doing this ad now I'd use Brandon Grotesque. It's got the same readability but has a bit more of a historic feel as you mentioned Jon.
Furthermore to your comments Jon, this ad did print lighter than I'd expected and the much more subtle clouding does show more pattern than I would have liked. That being said, I didn't want the jpg image to be an unrealistic portrayal of what went to print so I lightened it to match. I feel however that the lighting of the moon is accurate, having been at sea myself during a full moon. The colouring is pretty consistent and the shadows from the ships are where they should be given the positioning of the moon.
Thanks Design Edge for coverage of our work but more importantly for the coverage of the celebration of our Navy turning 100, something that I think, whether you like this ad or not, is something we should all appreciate.