This was a class project covering the full spectrum of brand collateral and creative direction for a high profile client. The assignment called for a complete marketing and signage campaign for a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute's National Air and Space Museum.
The Direction
I wanted to target families, primarily those with young children, ages 4 to 11. My goal was to create strong, engaging visuals that capture the wonder and adventure of space exploration, and then get out of the way and let the imagery do the talking. The action didn't have to be accurate, it had to be awesome. (The shuttle drops its fuel tank and boosters in the ocean)
The child's face used throughout the campaign was intended to grab parents' attention. That would be your child, awe-struck and euphoric, staring in wonder into the depths of space. Taking your kids here is "Parent of the Year" material. I started with a slogan "Let Your Imagination Take Flight" and started developing different visual assets that would be reused or revisited throughout the campaign.
The Result
I got an A. I picked up a lot of cool Photoshop effects too, like composite layer masking and color manipulation, which seem painfully basic now but at the time it was a much needed boost. While the project was an exercise in "Creative Direction" I don't think we necessarily got to that point. If anything, this was an exercise in building a consistent design method for a project and approaching every task as a composite of a whole. This lends itself to creative direction, but we weren't expected to sword fight vendors or flex Jedi mind tricks on executives.
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