Elephant Beer

Elephant Beer is a refreshing lager, tasty and extra strong. Branding agency Dragon Rouge commissioned Chris Mitchell to develop and create an illustrative brand icon of a majestic elephant, to feature centre stage striding out above the Elephant word-mark. The dramatic lighting of the elephant emerging from darkness into light helps to add drama, whilst the low perspective view provided a sense of scale, strength and power. The elephant appears confident, lively and bold.

First off, the character and pose of the elephant was explored in the form of loose line sketches. Drawing with a digital pen in photoshop is a very efficient way to sketch a number of alternative pose options.

Solid line colour roughs were then developed based on the chosen sketch route. This was to agree the iconic illustration style, lighting and the level of detail requirement for final reproduction purposes. It was very important that the lockup position with the client's word-mark was considered with care, especially where the elephant's foot steps over the word-mark. Further refinement of the illustration was completed at the final vector master artwork stage.

Elephant Beer Sketches 2400 pix
Elephant Beer vector 2400 pix

Dramatic pose, lighting and a low perspective view, all help to project a powerful presence.

Chris Mitchell