Digital Recce for Shell vPower shoot

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Lurzers Top 200 Digital Artists

The digital arts have really gone a long way hasn’t it? From sitting in your bedroom, bringing to life dumb drawings to a multi million pound industry that affects nearly every avenue of British culture.  And it’s happened in such a short amount of time!

Taylor James has been a key part of the explosion of digital creativity in the UK, at the heart of the Shoreditch creativity hub and the rise of tech city bringing a multitude of new, innovative ways to create digital imagery. Now we’re continuing in the same vein across the pond in our NYC office too. Throughout this time, we’d like to think we’ve become pretty good at recognizing brilliant digital art. So it is with our pleasure to announce, that Glen Taylor, founder of Taylor James and overall head honcho is on the panel of judges for Lurzer’s 200 Best Digital Artists Special! Soon to be released, you’ll get to see the cream of the crop from across the globe. Upon viewing the mighty array of imaginative, extraordinarily creative work, Glen muses;

“Year on year the quality of digital submissions just keeps getting better. It’s so inspiring to see our industry grow and grow, as individuals and companies like ours just keep pushing the boundaries of the way we are using mixed media.”

This is a competition that focuses on digital creativity, who can create the most stunning pieces of digital art. It isn’t about who can airbrush out the permanent frown on Ann Widdecombe’s face or make Kim Kardashians bum look anymore enormous, it’s about creating a visual treat to the eyes. We’re really excited to see what hidden gems are going to be unearthed this year. To see the most talented people in the industry blossoming and getting quality recognition is what it’s all about!

Why should we treat advertising like other traditional media?

“Properly practiced creativity can make one ad do the work of ten. Because it’s not just what you say that stirs people. It’s the way you say it. You can say the right thing about a product and nobody will listen. You’ve got to say it in such a way that people will feel it in their gut, because if they don’t feel it, nothing will happen.” Bill Bernbach.

The shots Awards are behind us for another year and we saw some fantastic work yet again by everyone involved.  There were some very well deserved winners and of course some undeserved losers as well!

Creating work that will ultimately win awards is rarely the goal of agencies and production companies. Here at Taylor James we feel passionately about how awards shape creativity in the advertising world today and want to support this whenever possible.

For example, the previously mentioned Shots Awards! We particularly LOVE this award ceremony, an event that caters specifically to London based studios. Our nearest and dearest, the people and studios around us that really help sculpt our own work.

For the event we created our own bespoke photo booth designed to snap up your own drunken photos and memories of the night. Be sure to check them out here so you can see the embarrassing photos of yourself either A.) Having drunk to much B.) Sloppily getting with your co-worker C.) Slamming blue crystal meth in private D.) All of the above.

But we didn’t just sponsor the event so we could procure dubious photos of our competitors for blackmail purposes. We truly believe that awards help bolster everybody’s creativity as well.  Friendly competition between studios drives us as individuals to strive for better results.  A little competition never hurts anyone! Furthermore, going to these awards serves as great inspiration for the next season of Ads as well.

With all the talk about account planning, and integrated marketing, and flying under the radar, and “The New Media” it’s sometimes easy to forget what this business is about — exciting ads. We can’t forget that. And it’s why we’ll always need advertising award shows.

We live in a time where Ads are intrinsically interwoven with British culture. The John Lewis ads for example are becoming as much a staple of Christmas time as Turkey, Tinsel and re runs of Elf on channel 5.  The industry has evolved into contemporary storytellers rather than just selling people objects. Taylor James is really at the forefront of this massive metamorphosis.

We are living in the era of the ideas economy, and creativity matters.

Looking past Christmas time, towards the Grand National, we teamed up with Loaf to create something that really evokes the excitement, tradition and wonder that is The Great Race.  The film can be viewed here, which proves we’re not just all mouth and no trousers.  We’re making things that affect peoples base emotions. Of course, none of this would be possible without award ceremonies! The inspiration, competition and collaboration from others around us really boost our own work as well. Which of course brings us back to why we helped sponsor the Shots Awards.

With plenty of award ceremonies around the corner, don’t be afraid to come up to us for a chat. We’re always willing to collaborate, inspire and be inspired by the creative world around us. We’re really excited to show how we’ve been evolving, growing and blossoming and would love to share it with others. So keep an eye out for us, and watch this space!

Taylor James gets tough with new Music Video

The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club. The second is, you can definitely write a blog post about it.

Taylor James last weekend helped direct, produce and shoot a new live action music video for the up and coming band; Amber Run.  The video itself revolved around the most brutish of blood sports, Bare Knuckle Fighting, and after looking at some of the raw footage the result is going to be as badass. It was such an energetic experience that had to be shared.

This was my first experience at being on a proper hands on full shoot. The commotion, noise and activity were contagious. Everyone was racing around, manically preparing the set.  When the extras and professional fighters finally arrived, these guys looked like they’d been lifted straight off a council estate in the not so trendy parts of the East End. They looked like they could down a fair few pints of Stellas; kick their staffie about before groping your girlfriend in front of you. They definitely looked the part.

It was a long day, with plenty of retakes. But nobody minded. The shots were beautiful and well composed, which was in stark opposition to the action within the shots. The quick animalistic movements, and the intensely loud noises really reinforced how bloody thirsty the competitors were.

This is the type of work you can be proud to be in. Something exciting, brash and to be honest, quite edgy.

It’s a thrilling time to be part of Taylor James, seeming them take on these more artistic and experimental briefs as they dare to take on briefs that many other established production companies are too scared to take.