Phil Holliday has realised scripts with his storyboards, classic scenes with scraper board and recently his photoshop skills have brought imaginary characters into seemingly real scenarios. What was common to all these challenges was that they were conceptual even in their final stages. Nothing he’d drawn ended up as a tangible reality. Which is what excited him so much about working with Mark Bryant’s helmet designs.

The brilliant design is both slick in appearance and noble in purpose. Made of Carbon Kevlar they appear very thin and the safety clip at the back minimises the risk of further injury should the hemet need to be removed in the case of a suspected spinal injury.

It is these very attributes that presented the greatest challenge when Phil began to design how Mark’s technology might appear if it was applied to equestrian and American football. Both these sports have helmets that are very iconic traditional designs which Mark wanted to stay true to in his new designs. Given the extreme differences in the old and new helmet mechanics this in his illustrations is akin to sculpting water.

Mark also wanted to make sure that Phil’s illustrations gave the impression of strength despite the fact that the Kevlar made them appear so much thinner than their predecessors. This is where Phil’s visual communication skills came into their own. His ability to play with how the helmet appeared so that he was able to gel the visual oxymoron of svelte strength into the one illustration. The reason this is so valuable to Mark is that the illustration speaks for itself when presented to investors and therefor reduces any risk of misunderstanding.

A perfect example of what great illustrators do best. Articulate ideas so that they can be shared.

To see Phil’s full portfolio click here or any image below.