Cover artwork by Ellen Porteus, photo by Foliolio
The world has been a MASSIVE bummer lately, right? Like, everywhere you turn there's just bad new story after bad news story. But that's not what we're about here - we've only got good news for you, and it comes in the form of our latest Field Guide!
If you're unfamiliar with this concept, head your little self over to this recap of our last nine Field Guides and a few other goodies we've created through the years.
With this year's Field Guide beginning production off the back of the 2016 US Election, Brexit, and any number of other dread-inducing world events, we wanted to produce something that focused purely on bringing happiness to our clients - a concept you'll find scattered throughout the entire publication.
So now, accompanied by a stunning suite of photographs by Foliolio, let us take the opportunity to walk you through the magnum opus that is our tenth Jacky Winter Field Guide.
Before you even open the case the Field Guide is enclosed in, you'll find the thick, soothing curves of Ellen Porteus' typographic artwork spelling "Every Cloud" - a call thats answer is found upon opening: a silver lining. Ah! At once you are put at ease by its comforting charm.
Inside, you're met once again by Ellen's artwork. This time, sporting a glass-half-full approach on positivity for the cover of both books. Yes, both - you read correctly! This years edition comes as a two-for-one deal.
Every Field Guide is made to showcase our current roster of artists first and foremost, but we always look for our Guides to include utility that serves a greater purpose.
The 2018 Jacky Winter Field Guide comes in two parts: printed together, perforated down the middle, bound on both sides and accessed by tearing apart the perforation like the sealed sections of a Cosmo Mag.
If you're weird enough to be able to keep your hands off this baby, you may want to save it for a day when you really need some stress relief, cause tearing this book apart is far more satisfying than watching it happen over and over again in GIF form.
Now we get to the good stuff: what's inside!
In one book, you'll find all of the artists on our roster beautifully laid out by graphic designer Hope Lumsden-Barry.
The artwork of Gemma O'Brien (left) and Georgia Perry (right) laid out in our Field Guide, photographed by Foliolio.
The artwork of Jess Cruickshank (left) and Julian Frost (right) laid out in our Field Guide, photographed by Foliolio.
The artwork of Justin Maller (left) and Karan Singh (right) laid out in our Field Guide, photographed by Foliolio.
The artwork of Lachlan Conn (left) and Luke Lucas (right) laid out in our Field Guide, photographed by Foliolio.
The other book, you ask? In there you'll find a full reproduction of Through the Looking Glass (and What Alice Found There), Lewis Carroll's 1871 sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
This, dear reader, is where our utility lies. If anything, at the end of the day our clients are left with a free copy of Through the Looking Glass - regardless of whether they enjoy the rest.
But it's important to know that Through the Looking Glass wasn't just chosen at random. We trawled through the archives of Project Gutenberg - which catalogues over 56,000 ebooks that exist in the public domain, with more books added every year - to find the perfect text to match our objectives. We wanted something that readers would enjoy that also emphasised our focus on positivity.
Through the Looking Glass carries immense symbolism for us in its portrayal of mirror images, multiple sides and ultimately won us over with its unique chess-game format. We made sure Ellen Porteus's accompanying typographic and illustrated artwork reflected (quite literally) these ideas, too.
And still, its ties to the the other book aren't lost, with the margins marked by the remains of each artists artwork.
Being the tenth in a series of Field Guides, we know all too well by now that print alone holds limitations to communicating work our animation branch Flutter and Gif Horse artists do.
This time round we partnered with Plattar, working with their augmented reality technology to create our very own Jacky WintAR app, which is compatible with both iOS and android operating systems. Our animated work is instantly brought to life on mobile devices through clever markers that trigger the animation to appear on your screen.
Watch: Gif Horse artist James Jirat Patradoon's folio page in action, through the Jacky WintAR app.
Still of Flutter's animation for MYER in action in the Jacky WintAR app, featuring artwork by Harry Slaghekke.
Drinkwise featuring Guy Shield's artwork, jumping off the page in the Jacky WintAR app.
Watch: Our Drinkwise animation with Flutter and Guy Shield through the Jacky WintAR app.
Flutter even created a 3D animation specifically for the Field Guide's front cover, based on the cover illustrations by Ellen. No matter what angle you're viewing it from, it's an absolute joy to watch.
Finally (but not lastly, and certainly not leastly) all this is housed in a publication thats design was informed by the necessity of meeting postage specifications for a letter-sized parcel. Learning from our past (expensive) mistakes, we sought to reduce postage costs by creating a Field Guide that adhered strictly to the dimensions of a standard letter according to Australia Post.
Over 5000 copies of the 2018 Jacky Winter Field Guide have been printed, and many of them have already arrived or are on their way to the shelves of creative agencies around the globe.
If you're an agency looking to get your grubby little hands on one of these, hit us up at fieldguide@jackywinter.com with your address!
