The content for this project was found via a competition which the Hydro ran on social media, to choose eight iconic Scottish scenes. Cue The Old Course at St Andrews, Edinburgh Castle, the Forth Rail Bridge, the Kelpies, the Riverside Museum, the Armadillo, Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum and the Duke of Wellington sporting his cone.
We painted one scene for one panel, each incorporating the Fosters brand, using a corporate colour palette of blue, red and yellow. With the remaining ninth panel focussing purely on the brand, it became a hugely experimental project and at times we were literally blowing paint up into the air! We made each panel heavily textured, with hardener added to car paint for maximum durability.
We also added elements of silver and gold leaf to catch light and give a brilliant finish to the artwork. To round things off, we hand painted all the Fosters logos in traditional signwriting style with sable brushes and enamel paint.
We created the panels in our own studio, then fitted and sealed them at the venue. It took an intense three weeks, but the end result was worth it.
After the main project hand painted project at the Hydro Arena the management of the SECC were keen to keep consistant branding throughout the venue and commisioned a digital design project based on the paintings.
We took Hi Res images of the bar backs and manipulated them in photoshop, choosing our favourite splashes and drips and composing them into printed vinyl panels for use in the famous ‘Smartie Tube’ pedestrian walkway to the SECC and for 25 bars in the SECC itself.
Client
Fosters
What We Did
Murals for nine bar kiosks
“The Fosters project at The SSE Hydro was my first time dealing with Frank. What struck me was how intuitive he is. He immediately understood what we were trying to achieve and created a perfect balance between striking artwork which wasn’t too obviously corporate, but effectively paid homage to the Fosters brand. Through all the panels, Frank proved that it is possible to have fun with a brand, but for it still to have impact. It was also refreshing to have personal input in a promotion like this. Frank is so enthusiastic and easy to engage with, that the whole process was very straightforward and enjoyable.”
Fiona Crichton, Head of Partnerships for SECC and The SSE Hydro