Blake Kathryn on Working with Jimmy Choo (Q&A)
H+: Nice work landing another project with Jimmy Choo!! Can you tell us more about your process when creating these futuristic worlds for their products? K: Thank you, it's always a pleasure with them–they truly bring in some fun briefs. The JC team is quite consistent with kicking projects off with a well thought out concept and in this case a pre-approved storyboard. This allowed me to take in extra R&D time to experiment and find the best aesthetic fit to fulfill that vision. With the most recent project we knew Sailor Moon and general 90's anime was a key inspiration, so I dove into how to bring that flat, dreamy source into the 3D realm to intermix with their products. Over the course of about a week my partner, TJ Gonzalez, and I shifted between Cinema 4D and After Effects to find a balance of style alongside technical needs so that when things were green-lit there wasn't a risk of an "oversold, under delivered" crisis. This was especially important considering it was my first motion graphics project incorporating anime aesthetics and space, where each came with their own challenges–from visuals to atmosphere to how the products would react. The result of that week allowed for a largely seamless process where we just continued to build momentum until the finale of sending off deliverables.
H+: More and more brands seem to be moving towards the digital realm when creating their campaigns. As both a consumer and artist working with some of these brands, how do you see the future of fashion? K: Fashion has developed quite a symbiotic relationship with technology, especially when including the ever increasing love for AR in beauty. With these isolated times we're experiencing where real life gatherings, events, etc are at a standstill it's interesting to see a hyper-shift into adopting digital mediums as not only a temporary answer but a reliable path to move forward with. I personally imagine, for the near future, a continuation of this physical vs. digital relationship. Where we have our "true" reality and presences yet can unveil more personal and intriguing layers through our digital lenses. Much like how AR beauty builds on top of one's face, we'll be looking at how our bodies, clothes and accessories can evolve and expand past the physical limitations we're initially presented with.
H+: Any dream brands you’d like to work with and haven’t yet?
K: I'd love to work in concept art, whether that falls into fashion, video games or film-related work. Being challenged to create with a backstory or specific constraints (while encouraged to flex the imagination) is the dreamiest of briefs, most notably with environment-focused work.
For more information on Blake Kathryn, visit her website and follow her on socials!
