As Deputy Art Director, I worked closely with the editorial team to create visually exciting, effective and engaging content which conveys Mazda’s ‘Defy Convention‘ and ‘Zoom-Zoom‘ brand ethos in the form of a tri-annual award winning magazine, Ezine and films, across 10 international markets. I successfully art directed shoots remotely and on location in Japan, North America, New Zealand and Europe sourcing and commissioning upcoming and internationally renown photographers whilst balancing the production of stills and film. I worked with top secret pre-production car design models, and liaised with senior clients and designers. I have conceptualized and designed visually stunning pages whilst incorporating interactive augmented reality technology. I have helped to redesign the magazine raising the level of imagery to align with Mazda’s new brand direction.
I art directed a studio shoot at Mazda's Hiroshima HQ that highlighted the new ‘Kodo’/energy in motion design language of the new saloon and sportswagon models. Full-size clay models were shot alongside a lighting effect to suggest speed and motion. Using Mazda's Defying convention ethos, we used AR technology to add video content of the team behind the cars that we shot alongside the stills.
Beneath Mazda's Californian design head quarters is a secret carpark containing rare heritage models. I commissioned a shoot to capture the rarity of the models and the hidden location.
The Mazda brand is about defying convention. With the SkyActive technology Mazda uses smaller engines and lighter parts to create more efficient cars. Mazda part develops this on the race track. We wanted to show how close the race engine is to the road going engine. I wanted to shoot the engine as if it was a beating heart of the car whilst it was being tested and also highlight the beauty of the engineering. The photography by Wilson Hennessy was shortlisted for a PDN award.