29 April 2011

Ben Ashton-Bell recently worked on the job of our dreams: a beer job. For James Squire, no less. We caught up with Ben to find out more about it.

Describe your work in five words or less… Soft, colourful and dark.

What kind of projects do you enjoy working on? I enjoy working on projects which generally have a basic underlying idea which gives me freedom to create around. Sometimes things can be very restrictive or specific, which can hinder my work, but I do enjoy a good challenge too.

What’s your design background? When did you get your big break? I studied visual communication at uni and have been working as a graphic designer for about six years. I now freelance with both my design and illustration work. I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m not sure there was a big break, I just work hard because it’s what I love doing and try to make the most of every opportunity. Luckily enough things just keep getting better with new projects and clients.

Can you tell us about the design process behind the James Squire illustration? Well, firstly I need to say is that I was fortunate enough to land the James Squire project while freelancing at DiDonato. This job was all about injecting personalty into the James Squire brand: although the beer is already very popular, in the past a lot of people have been confused between the variants. We came up with a range of concepts, and the one we chose was illustration-driven. I used a lot of pen and ink to achieve the look that was required.

What was the brief you had to work with? It had to be loose and have a hand-sketched feel. I enjoyed the opportunity to change my usual style to something a little more rough. We did a lot of research to come up with the various icons to conveyed each story behind the beers… Did you know James Squire had four wives?!

What aspects of your style do you think the client was drawn to? Since I was freelancing for the client at the time, they knew I was an illustrator, so naturally I gravitated towards the job. I originally illustrated the work in my regualar style, but it was too soft for the brand. It was great to go back to pen and ink and just scribble.

What did you enjoy most about the job? Apart from it being a great beer brand, seeing it come together! From the beer labels to the broader visual language. I cannot wait to see it all released. It will be a very rewarding result for everyone who worked on it.