brief

A collection of live creative briefs presenting a range of modern communication challenges across all media
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SEGA
The Challenge
Sonic is one of the world’s best known video game characters, with the series having sold more than 80 million copies. Sonic originated from a series of games, first published on 23rd June 1991. The games defined a generation in gaming history, pushing the limits of what gamers knew and expected from high speed action and platforming games.

Today, Sonic continues to be an iconic video gaming character with an MSN poll of the most iconic video game characters, ranking Sonic at Number 1, with Mario and Lara Croft ranked second and third respectively. Since 2004, Sonic has seen huge success on every video game platform that has been launched. Some of his most successful recent video games include Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing.

The Creative Challenge
Sonic will be celebrating his 20th Anniversary during 2011. The opportunity is to create a piece of communication that celebrates / is inspired by this and that could be shared and showcased throughout the year. The work could live online, in print, in a physical space or anywhere else for that matter.

This is a very open creative brief and you are free to respond in any media type including (but not limited to) video, print, paint, audio, online. This should be seen as a piece of brand communication rather than a specific product communication.

Target Audience
There are two key audiences for Sonic that we would like to be taken into account throughout the brief with either one, or both being considered as the focus.

1. This group can be defined as classic Sonic fans. Sonic has a massive fan base that follow through social networking sites, attend Sonic conventions and collect Sonic memorabilia. The classic Sonic fan can be defined as an 18-44 audience, some of whom have been fans since the launch of the series and some who have become fans over the last 20 years and remain fans of the old and new video games and the broader licence. This group would also include those who have a nostalgic emotion towards the brand and for whom Sonic is an inherent part of their youth culture.

2. This group is 6-12 year olds with a bias towards boys who play current games and will be less familiar with Sonic’s heritage. In 2008, UK children voted him the most popular video gaming character with 24% of the vote ahead of Mario. Sonic has remained a key video gaming brand, for this age group, he now transcends video games to a wider universe and is known to them through cartoons and comics.

Mandatories
There are no formal mandatories, but should you wish to include them, Sonic and SEGA imagery and logos are included in the project pack online. If you require higher-res versions of any of the artwork please email kezia@ycnonline.com with the file name of the artwork that you need.

Research - sonic 20th

I really like how this image shows how Sonic as a game has come on, also it shows how technology has progressed in the past 20 years. the patterns in the shapes are effective and i love illustrations like this.

nice clean vector logo, not to busy and can be re sized larger and smaller without any problems, i think i should use once of these logos instead of making my own, as these logos will be used all over promotions.

Nice clean vector design again, I want to use a vector image rather than making a new 3d design. The reason for this is my skills aren't good enough to create a 3d sonic and everyone recognises sonic in any format.

As i want to create a T shirt in my project im just looking at how Sega have gone about doing it, i actually don't like this T shirt design, at the moment comic book/gaming heroes are really in, and this does not look stylish or follow fashion.

This is the final logo sega have come up with for the anniversary, so i will use this in all my designs.

Brainstorm - SONIC

To give me an idea of what sonic has done over the past 20 years, i have made a brainstorm listing all the things sega has done with sonic over the years. This will give me a clearer idea of what i am planning to do for my project.

Internet Research

concept 1

Concept 1 - Another brainstorm following my original one, looking at how i can promote sonic in a different way. Looking back at this, i really like the idea about showing how sonic has evolved through the years?

Image 1 - I wanted to put what sonic looked like at first then swirling into what he looks like now? I dont think this shows any creativeness and i dont think children would like this up on their bedroom walls.

Image 2 - on sonic the game, at the end of the first world, sonic has to fight DR. ROBUTNIK, i could pixelate one half showing how bad the quality was back in the day? and then show how much it has changed in the other half? I do like this idea.

Image 3 - I wanted to show sonic evolving from day 1 to now, however looking at the sketches i quite like the idea of showing sonic as a normal hedgehog evolving into sonic? this would be easier to understand and look just as effective.

Image 4 - sonic going to the awards!!!! just like any other celebrity when they celebrate such a special occasion.

I decided to go with image 3 and i think i will work on this abit further now, I really like this concept and think it works well, but do i just create a poster for the 20th anniversary?

sonic posters/comics

space invader!!!

SPACE INVADER

"Invader (born 1969) is a French urban artist who pastes up characters from and inspired by the Space Invaders game, made up of small coloured square tiles that form a mosaic. He does this in cities across the world, then documents this as an "Invasion", with books and maps of where to find each invader.[1]
Invader started this project in 1998 with the invasion of Paris - the city where he lives and the most invaded city to date - and then spread the invasion to 31 other cities in France"

CONCEPT 3

After looking through Space Invaders work, I would love to create something very similar to put in my promotional pack. Obviously i do not want to encourage vandalism but i think this would be a nice think for children to stick on there walls? computers? doors? etc. I just want to add something more hands on in my designs as i usually stick to 2d work.

Few images of pixelated sonics.

I know need to choose and image appropriate for my design. I downloaded the sonic pack from sega and have decided to use 1 of these 2 images.

Concept 2

As I am getting all these ideas, i have now decided to combine them all together and create a promotional pack for Sonics 20th Anniversary. So now i need to come up with a few ideas what i would like to put into my pack.

What i would like to put in my promotional pack?

Poster?
T shirt?
DVD?
Game?
Hat?
Soft toy?
Stickers?
Free Downloads?
Apps?
Magazine?
Sweets?
Pen?
Badges?
Wallet?
Watch?
Toothbrush?
Fake Tattoos?

I have come up with a few ideas and now i need to decide which items will be relevant to the occasion. I now need to come up with a front cover for the package design.

SKETCHES

T SHIRT

My first decision is i must have a T shirt in my promotional pack. This will help spread the word, promote sonic and also the buyer will have a nice stylish T shirt. Digital characters are really in at the moment so i have decided to stick with a similar style which is currently on the market.

Concept 3 Poster

Promotional pack

I have chosen two of the items from the list so far, i will keep uploading concepts but as i said in the earlier posts, i am combining all my ideas into one to create a promotional pack.

Here are my two finished designs so far.

sticker

Looking through SPACE INVADERS work, i have decided to create a sticker, in the same style as his work.

How i will make the sticker? i will stick this design onto a piece of foam board and cut them out with a scalpel knife. Then i will place a piece of card behind the design and stick them together.

Here is the image i have decided to use....

Now, what i will do is use the pixelate tool in photoshop and print it off. Pretty simple i know but its just an extra for my promotion package.