AXE BODY WASH

The Art of
Skin Contact

When you're briefed on a shower gel product that claims "the reason to believe" is it will make you a martial arts expert in bed, a superhero transformation story makes perfect sense.

I was never a comic book nerd, I always appreciated the art & story format, but after seeing 300 and Sin City, that appreciation had risen to a new level. I called up Frank Muller to collaborate, but he was already on two new films and suggested the fantastic talent of Jai Lee.

PRODUCTION SKETCHES

inspiration

Illustration
as a design element.

This was the first time working with Jai, but not the last with the success of this project and superheroes infiltrating our culture. He was amazingly easy to work with and thoughtful, helping a newbie further understand an authentic superhero world.

The strange, surreal aspect of this project's process is all of his brilliant sketches of the story were not the end product. Instead, his drawings were painstakingly brought to life through stagecraft - fake walls, furniture, and props painted to look like the world Jai had illustrated. His illustrations also served as an excellent pre-visualization as shots were framed to match.

FINAL SPREADS

“FIRST SPREAD”

“SECOND SPREAD”

guiding others

Primers,
companions,
and handbooks.

And of course, no martial art would be complete without an official training manual of core skin contact moves. These were used in digital executions including a training app that allowed you to test your own technique. And of course, a campaign would not be complete without guidelines as well.