Art Direction, Creative Direction, Photography, Retouching, Ad Layout, Graphic Design
Client
Macy
We, at Ellev Advertising Agency – ellev.arqsoftware.com, were very honored and excited when the 21st Group came to us and our creative director/photographer, Clifton Parker, for their Macy’s New York Fashion Week ad campaign featuring Swarovski Crystals. Both Macy’s and Swarovski Crystals are legends in the apparel industry, so we couldn’t wait to get started working with them!
As you know, New York Fashion Week is one of the biggest fashion events in the world. Designers, styles, and trends are made or broken during this one week of fashion shows, insider events, after parties, and more. Ellev Advertising Agency and our creative director, Clifton Parker, were chosen to help launch the ad campaign for a new line of jewelry by the 21st Group that featured Swarovski Crystals and were to be exclusively carried and sold by Macy’s. This ad campaign was going to be plastered all around Manhattan on billboards, magazines, posters, and more. It was going to be a full media blitz for fashion week featuring our work! We were elated!
We sat done with the creative team at 21st Group and came up with the concept of “Lost Jewels” as if someone was wearing the necklace while running around Manhattan and then lost their coveted jewels in the chaos that is Fashion Week, only for someone else to find. A very, big city concept, but was else do you expect for New York City Fashion Week!
So at this point the challenge that Ellev’s team faced was conveying this in a very sexy, exciting way while accentuating the look of the Swarovski Crystals and the necklace design. Our creative team decided that the perfect place to execute this photo shoot for this ad layout would be nowhere other than Prospect Park just over the bridge in Brooklyn. We decided we would go for a daytime photo and a nighttime photograph so that we covered both.
The daytime shot was a rather straight forward layout which consisted of finding the best location to set up the lighting and stage the jewelry for the shot. With that said, our production crew scoured the park looking for just the right spot to set up and place the jewelry for the shot. After searching for a good hour the perfect place was found! So we set up the shot, did numerous different angles, lighting, and product placement to ensure the perfect results. And viola’, they were achieved! On to the next shot!
The night time photo was going to be much more challenging for numerous reasons. One, it was night time in downtown Brooklyn. We had a lighting crew, and prop team, assistants, digital techs, and more. It certainly wasn’t what you would call, low key. Also trying to light at night time and capture the correct ambiance is not an easy task. It takes quite a bit of work with the light settings as well as the camera settings. It was no simple task. With that said, we once again scoured the park for the perfect location and waited for night to fall.
Once night arrived we started with the process of shooting test shots, adjusting lights, adjusting camera settings, prop adjusting, etc. etc. etc. To achieve the look that we wanted for the photo we used several lights with colored gels to achieve that NYC street life look. We also used pin lights to simulate the headlights of the New York City cabs which run thru the city at all hours of the night. Lastly, we had to set the cameras shutter to about 3-5 seconds of open shutter allow enough light in and to capture the motion of the lights. Needless to say, there were many, many test shots before we achieved our “keepers.”
In the end our goal was achieved and the clients were happy with the results. The ad was plastered all over Manhattan, in magazine spreads, billboards, and anywhere else you could possibly think of! So when you need award-winning photography for your product or business, or an ad campaign that will capture viewers attention, then contact us here at Ellev Advertising Agency – ellev.arqsoftware.com. We can deliver all that and more for a price you can afford!
