From concept to completion and alongside a talented team of creatives, Complete Ltd are delighted to share a selection of images and details of the 2022 campaign created for Harley-Davidson Footwear.

The location and studio shoot took place in London earlier this year to capture a mixture of outdoor campaign lifestyle shots as well as assets for ecomm and printed style guides.

The campaign was art directed by Marcus Agerman-Ross and shot by photographer Lee Strickland. The styling concept was a nod to the trend for Gorpcore and outdoor pursuits, although still retaining the essence of motorcycling dress codes to appeal to the Harley-Davidson customer. Outdoor escapism as a way to survive during and in the post-pandemic era, such as a ride out on a motorbike is considered into the overall look of the shoot.

These looks shown here, for the male and female models were devised by stylist Sarah Ann Murray and were created by mixing vintage with pieces loaned from Uniqlo, Mr Porter and traditional work wear brands such as Dickies.

Styles shown here, clockwise from the top are Grace in Lornel, Lucas wearing Hagerman in black. Lucas and Grace together, he wears Randy and Grace is in Balsa, and the next image is a close up of the Balsa style.

Photograph of Amy Winehouse by Dean Chalkley.

Amy: Beyond The Stage is a collection of personal diaries, notebooks, photographs, clippings, clothing and her accessories that bring you closer to see how this petite girl from Southgate, North London who with her beehive and big ambitions became an international music artist.

It is striking throughout the exhibition, that, at heart, she was an ordinary girl whose extraordinary talent, attitude and style made her a modern day icon. The image here, which features in the exhibition is by photographer Dean Chalkley, and this is how he reflects on the image and remembers Amy on the day of the shoot.

"Amy Winehouse captivated us all, her soulful heartfelt lyrics reflected her tempestuous and fragile life. Through her music she enchanted us and the way she looked was beyond compare. This dynamo of a girl from North London was unique, she had her own thing going but around it the savage winds of chaos and drama blew.

When I look at this picture I made of Amy time for me stands still, I remember exactly how Amy was, her energy and humour. I often stand there transfixed gazing at this print feeling like it’s pulling me closer.

When Amy so sadly passed away the NME put this picture on the cover, no other copy-lines, the photograph seemed to say it all and mark respect."

Can you?

Whilst the exhibition “I Still Believe in Our City” was on show at the V&A in London, one visitor took it upon themselves to give the subject in the image, on the top right a kiss on the cheek!

Leaving a lipstick mark on the poster, as endearing as it was that someone visiting the V&A would feel the love for the art, Complete reprinted a new poster to see the end of exhibitions tenure. At Complete, we loved this story so much, we just felt compelled to share. You can read more about this exhibition that started in New York and travelled to London last year by clicking this link.

Very Peri, described by colour company Pantone as "a periwinkle shade of blue," has been named colour of the year for 2022. The purple hue was informed by the rise of the metaverse, as well as the impact of coronavirus lockdowns.

Pantone, the company that sets one of the most widely recognised colour standards, says that the colour marries the "constancy" of traditional blue with the "energy and excitement" of red.

"As we move into a world of unprecedented change, the selection of Pantone 17-3938 Very Peri brings a novel perspective and vision of the trusted and beloved blue color family,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of Pantone's Color Institute. "Encompassing the qualities of the blues, yet at the same time possessing a violet-red undertone, Pantone 17-3938 Very Peri displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression."

Recent retouching work by Complete, for clients Furniture Village, Jigsaw and Tesco F&F, in the hue now described as Very Peri, can be seen in this image

We were approached by the V&A museum in London to project manage the production of the graphics for the exhibition “I Still Believe in Our City”.

The artworks have previously been on display in New York around the city, on the subway stations in 2020 and were created by artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya.  

One of two 2020-21 artists-in-residence with the NYC Commission on Human Rights, the daughter of Thai and Indonesian immigrants, Phingbodhipakkiya’s practice centres around making the invisible, visible. Her multidisciplinary work has appeared in museums, galleries, conferences, classrooms, speakeasies, rallies, digital screens, and on buildings all over the world.

The works featured in “I Still Believe in Our City” couple striking visuals with statistics about discrimination API New Yorkers have faced amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The panels include words and phrases that have been uttered in hate, juxtaposed with bright colours, symbolic imagery, and portraits of defiant and proud API New Yorkers standing their ground.

The impact of this topical and timely art project was picked up by the V&A in London and instead of the artworks being presented across city locations, Complete worked closely with curator, Corinna Gardener to reproduce the graphics as they were originally shown but in the paper form medium. This project required our innate knowledge and expertise of working with recreating artworks to a standard and very importantly colour reproduction, of which we are renowned.

Whilst the Complete team have been quietly working behind the scenes over the last nine months and keeping the creative industry wheels turning as we all navigate our way through the Covid crisis, the powers that be at The CMA shortlisted our Harley-Davidson Footwear campaign for their prestigious Best Use of Imagery award.

Complete has worked with many of the Wolverine brands for almost 20 years and they include Caterpillar, Sebago and Hush Puppies to name just a few. The Harley-Davidson shoot was the first time an advertising campaign had been commissioned by their EMEA team, so Complete were delighted to have been chosen to create and produce their first main campaign.

The campaign which was shot in December 2019 with the stunning backdrop of Dungeness in Kent, was to promote the Harley-Davidson footwear brand. The shoot was produced by Complete working with our close creative collaborators. Marcus Agerman-Ross, founder of Jocks&Nerds magazine, lead the project's creative direction and assigned a team of well respected professionals to execute the shoot.

Photographer, Lee Strickland shot stills and under his supervision a video was shot to enhance the campaign to cross the board of print and digital media. Alongside him, stylist Mark Anthony Bradley brought his skills and many years of knowledge to give the shoot an authentic, Americana look which perfectly complements the heritage and styling of the Harley-Davidson brand. The campaign was fronted by models Jade McSorely and Corbin Kretzmann from Established Models.

This is second year running that Complete has had one of their campaigns shortlisted in this category. In 2019, Complete's advertising campaign for William & Son's luxury sector was entered into the awards, with key members of the team attending the event at Troxy. Although it goes without saying that this year, the event will be virtual.

The results will be announced in a live, virtual ceremony on Thursday 3rd November 2020. Wish us luck, and should you want to login and watch the ceremony live click here to sign up to the event.

On 26 February, Disegno Book Club, a group dedicated to discussing the books shaping debates around design, architecture, technology, craft and more will be reading journalist Mark O'Connell's To Be A Machine (2017) which investigates transhumanism, a largely Silicon Valley-based movement that is bent on using technology to edit, alter and prolong lives.

Join them for a discussion and book your free ticket here.

Not had time to read the book? Check out these articles below for a brief taster of some of the topics on discussion.

Date
Wednesday 26 February

Time
6.30pm doors open, 7pm start

Venue
Rose Lipman Building, 43 De Beauvoir Road, London N1 5SQ

Complete Ltd is delighted to announce that Marcus Agerman Ross has joined the agency as consultant creative director. 

Founder and editor-in-chief of revered, culture and lifestyle magazine Jocks&Nerds, Agerman Ross began his career in the 1990s where he worked at i-D magazine for five years rising to the position of fashion editor. He also worked at Vice magazine in the 2000s, as part of the team that helped develop the publishing and media company into a global business.  

In a career spanning over two decades, as well as his extensive creative direction portfolio, Agerman Ross has worked as a photographer, stylist, writer, brand consultant, editor and lecturer. It is this broad experience, alongside his vast cultural and historical knowledge, that gives him his unique perspective. The numerous clients he has consulted for include Nike, Tudor Watches, Absolut Vodka, C.P. Company, Baracuta, Barbour International and Fred Perry, to name just a few. 

Having collaborated with Agerman Ross in various ways over many years, Complete Ltd is proud to welcome him as the newest member of the team, in this formal role.

“I’ve known Gerry and his team at Complete for over 20 years, since my first job at i-D when they worked closely with the founder Terry Jones, on i-D's publication, campaigns and worldwide events. The care, attention to detail and talent throughout the company is second-to-none, they set the bar for production standards. I’ve spent so much time either in their London studio or on location with the team, seeing first hand how the agency is continuously evolving under Gerry’s leadership, Complete are a team in every sense of the word and I’m really proud and honoured to become a member of this great company"

Utilising unrivalled skills and knowledge, Complete’s portfolio over the years has provided fully integrated creative services for Adidas Y3, Levi’s, Dior are able to manage all aspects of a campaign, from conception through to delivery.

“Having worked with Marcus over the years, we have witnessed first-hand that he is experienced in this industry and is the perfect fit for this agency. We are looking forward to merging his talents with our renowned in-house production and post-production skills. Exciting times ahead” - Gerry McKeown, Complete Ltd CEO

In the world of digital agencies nearly 20 years ago, it was very common for web designers to complain that non-digital designers (which made up 95% of designers at that time) just did not understand how to design for the web, as all they knew was print.  

Now, two decades later, it feels like the media world has gone full circle. We would assume the majority of all designers these days are digital specialists as the world of advertising/marketing has moved away from offline to online. This issue of designing for different sized screens is not the problem it once was. However it seems the industry has lost some skills and experience in terms of creating the best print designs.  

And this lost craft is not just in print design, it’s also in the expertise of print reproduction. London used to be awash with repro houses, as they were known, working with publishers, agencies and printers on all forms of print media production. Now most of these companies have gone or move more towards more digital work, so high quality reproduction is now a rare commodity. Hence there seems to be more mistakes in the area of print, even with luxury brands in good, quality publications.  Soon, we will publish an article about the most common “F**k Ups” in print production, so watch this space... 

However, we like to think at Complete, with our long heritage in the luxury print space, along with our long-serving (and long-suffering some might say!) repro experts we are keeping the art of high quality repro work alive as the print revival makes it come back as a popular content and advertising medium. 

For one night only, an exhibition of work by photographer Jermaine Francis in support of Shelter was held in Shoreditch's Protein Studios. Originally for i-D's The Post Truth Truth Issue, The Invisibles is a powerful series of photographs documenting the tents which act as temporary homeless shelters across British cities.

Highlighting the UK's homelessness epidemic, Jermaine explains the concept of the exhibition “This project isn’t just about homelessness itself. It’s about how we think about society and the most vulnerable people in it. Things need to change, both in terms of the system and of ourselves.”⁣⁣⁣⁣

In addition to the photos themselves, there will also be an auction of prints donated by various photographers, with all sales in aid @sheltercharity.⁣ Although only at the moment a one event pop-up, Jermaine has plans to exhibit the images again in the future for a longer period of time.
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