Preliminary sketches and concepts

Since my group and I decided to go with the Red Bull campaign, we discussed different kinds of mythical heroes and monsters we could use in our advert. Since we are doing an advert for Red Bull, I thought that it would make sense to use an art style similar to Red Bull's animated adverts.

At first I thought about using the character of Hermes, the messenger of the gods from Greek mythology. I thought that it might be funny to use Hermes to advertise Red Bull as he is supposed to be faster than lightning in his running speed, and that he would need a can of Red Bull to give himself the energy to run that fast.

Concept drawings for Hermes, the messenger of the gods

I contradicted this idea of godlike athleticism with a design that gives him skinny limbs and a pot belly. In this sense, he looks the exact opposite of what he is supposed to be; my design for him looks meek, saggy and nonathletic while the mythological Hermes would apparently have been strong, nimble and overall would have had the level of physical fitness only a god could have.

After some consideration, I thought that Hermes would be too obscure a character to be used in a billboard advert for the masses and for the meaning to still be communicated clearly. Instead, I turned to a mythological character who is known to almost everybody; Hercules.

Concept drawings for Hercules

Hercules (or 'Heracles' in Greek) was an ancient Greek Superman, able to overcome any and every trial put to him using nothing but his godlike strength. What if he got tired and needed a can of Red Bull to set him right? This thought is what led me to pursue my idea to use Hercules in the advert.

With my version of the character, I considered how I might convey his legendary strength to a passerby, or somebody who was driving on a motorway. To do this, I made his arms ridiculously over-sized while giving him matchstick legs. I used the same style for Hercules that I used for Hermes but in terms of how the character looks, I feel that this design is less successful than the one for Hermes. While Hermes looks funny and contradictory to his role as the messenger of the gods, Hercules just looks like a robot. I may have to revise my design for Hercules.

Early concept for a billboard featuring Hercules

Despite difficulties with the design of Hercules, I sketched out a concept for a billboard advert featuring him. I think that I got the right idea, but my execution was poor. I think that I got the idea of the energy-restoring properties of Red Bull right, but it is not very clear in how it is presented. Also, I forgot (or did not realise) that we were supposed to show the character drinking the product, so I did not show it.

However, one thing that I think I did do right was getting across the visual contradictions. In the left part of the image, Hercules is tired, hunched over, in need of a boost, while in the right part his chest is thrust out, he is smiling and he is carrying himself (and the boulder) like a champion. If I can work on my execution, I should be able to put forward a good design for the group to discuss.