MEET "SUNDAY AFTERNOON" THIS FRIDAY NIGHT

Working Not Working October 6, 2016

MEET "SUNDAY AFTERNOON" THIS FRIDAY NIGHT

And you thought the Golden State Warriors looked like this season's most dominant Super Team. This Friday night from 7-10pm, brand new NYC-based studio and agency Sunday Afternoon is putting on a one-night show in TriBeCa, with an open bar courtesy of Des-Gin and Aberlour whiskey. It will be a mix of photography, design and sculpture from all the artists on the roster. Scroll down to meet the artists of Sunday Afternoon, where "a time of day is a state of mind."

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WNW Member Ahmed Klink

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WNW Member Juan Carlos Pagan

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WNW Member Shane Griffin

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WNW Member Ricardo Gonzalez

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WNW Member Josh Dickinson

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WNW Member Rich Tu

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WNW Member Jesse Rieser

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HOW SHANE GRIFFIN MADE PHARRELL WILLIAMS HAPPY

Working Not Working July 29, 2015

HOW SHANE GRIFFIN MADE PHARRELL WILLIAMS HAPPY

WNW Member #2782 Shane Griffin teamed up with Pharrell Williams and Penguin and Putnam to create the striking neon cover for Pharrell's upcoming book "Happy". The book, which hits shelves October 6th, brings the beloved song to the youngest of readers across cultures, celebrating what it means to be happy. Shane opens up about the process of designing the cover of "Happy", and Pharrell's main request: "He wanted the image to evoke a ‘feeling’, he wanted it to feel happy, rather than to be a big obvious smiley face." We also aimed to find out what happiness means to Shane, and if "Happy" plays on repeat in his happy place. Happy Wednesday!

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Are you a big Pharrell Williams fan? Did you play "Happy" on repeat while you designed this book cover?

Pharrell is an inspirational dude, for sure, I mean the guy has been one of the most influential figures in pop culture for years. I was close to working with him on an Adidas project last year which unfortunately fell through, so it was great to get a second chance to work with him on this. Safe to say I’m a fan. I didn’t bump "Happy" when I was making this, though. Sorry, Pharrell.

How'd you come up with the look and feel? Was Pharrell involved in the process?

He was involved, but he’s a very busy guy, so not overly. His only main comment on the look of this was he wanted the image to evoke a ‘feeling’, he wanted it to feel happy, rather than to be a big obvious smiley face. I had a pretty clear idea from the guys at Penguin as to where they wanted to bring it; they wanted a lowercase childish font, but created in a modern bright space. They also were set on yellow as the key color.

Did you go through a bunch of different looks, or did you know the direction you wanted to go in right away?

Like every project, my first direction was probably miles away from the final piece. Creating a yellow neon on a white wall is no easy task, especially in print form. Nothing glows more than white, so you always fight with the background being a lighter tone than the neon. I went through probably 20 iterations of the cover, different wall textures, different floors, many many different neon looks.

What was the biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge was making the type legible when it’s tiny. It’s nearly impossible. Neons are tricky when they’re small, there’s a lot of detail and light spill crammed into a small space, it can get very busy. Balancing the colors is tricky also, so I had to test it on several screens / color spaces / print formats. We even experimented with fluorescent inks. What looks good on screen doesn’t always look good on paper!

This book is all about celebrating what it means to be happy. What does happiness mean to you?

Just to see people making the most of their life, fulfilling it with whatever they’re passionate about.

Where's your happy place?

On the beach with the dog.

Of all the amazing projects you've worked on, which one makes you the most proud and why?

The Sneakerball Sculpture for Nike was fun, I’m proud of that for a few reasons. Firstly, it was actually a very tight turn around, so I’m proud of what Nike and I accomplished in that short space of time regarding the modeling and design of the sculpture. Everybody went above and beyond to make it happen. Secondly, the social interaction was cool. I was watching the Instagram feed for the event, and it was a great feeling to see people enjoying the sculpture and taking photos with it. The final piece really felt one of a kind.

Besides "Happy", what's another song that gets your spirit up?

I’m really enjoying that new Tame Impala record Currents at the moment.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I’m Drake's ghostwriter.

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WORK: SNEAKERBALL

Working Not Working October 8, 2014

WORK: SNEAKERBALL

Nike Netherlands & Rosie Lees London commissioned WNW Member #2782 Shane Griffin to design the sculpture above to celebrate their annual Sneakerball event, held this year in Palacio Cibeles, Madrid. Shane "created blueprint layouts from 3D geometry for the sculpting process." Shane's results are staggering, a monumental product that exists beautifully both in the physical world and on the page.

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WORK: TYRANT

Working Not Working August 7, 2014

WORK: TYRANT

WNW Member #2782 Shane Griffin and Method Studios created a promo toolkit for TYRANT, a new original drama from FX Networks. Shane spoke to use about the inspiration and goal for this project:

FX Network challenged us to create a colossal labyrinth of middle eastern architecture to promo their new drama "Tyrant". Taking influence from the shows themes and art direction, we knew we were going to create something heavy, grand, and intimidating, yet abstracted from reality. It was paramount to us that the only sense of orientation in the spot was the setting sun, leaving our viewer to distinguish what is up and what is down.

Shane also touched on the creative process used to accomplish this look:

We created several animatics to experiment with composition, as many of these shots will never sit next to each other editorially, it was important to encapsulate the shows themes in each shot. The intense 3D texturing posted a huge design effort to familiarize ourselves with middle eastern motifs, and color palettes.

The custom Tyrant typography was also created in 3D, and re-designed to house a incredible amount of traditional middle eastern motifs and details. Notice how the logo locks to the camera in the final shot to create a sense of power, it's not willing to be moved!!

We developed the look with VRay in Maya, and composited in Nuke.
Our friends at Infinite Pitch created some bespoke audio for our own montage.

Keep your eyes peeled for future stellar work from Shane.

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MEET #2782 SHANE GRIFFIN

Working Not Working March 14, 2014

MEET #2782 SHANE GRIFFIN

Designer/Director/Animator • Dublin

Born and raised in Dublin, WNW Member #2782 Shane Griffin is a premier designer and director, having worked with top clients like The New York Times, Disney, Microsoft, Toyota, and ICAD. Formerly the Head of Motion Design at ManvsMachine, this ADC Young Gun is now enjoying his new life as a freelancer, putting out work like this. We had a quick talk with Shane about freelancing in Ireland and his mam's understanding of what he does for a living.

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1. How long have you been freelancing?

I've been Freelancing approximately just over a year.

2. Is there a time or place that you feel most creative/have the best ideas?

Strangely enough, most of my ideas come when I leave the studio, on the way home on the bus, in the shower, people always get good work out of me on the second day!

3. What's your ideal Working:Not Working ratio?

I like to work, I get agitated when I'm doing nothing creative. On the contrary, I live in Ireland and the weather is awful, so I like to get away every couple of months! So lets say 3 Months : 2 Weeks. An idealistic leisurely lifestyle.

4. Do your parents understand what you do?

I don't think so? My Mam thinks everything I do is fantastic, but I approach most of my work with her in mind, so I'm aiming to please. Maybe I'm doing a good job, or maybe she's just too polite!

5. What scene from a movie makes you laugh just thinking about it?

When Clarence Boddicker says "Bitches, leave" In Robocop 1. Flawless piece of cinema. It's not even supposed to be funny.

6. If you were stranded on a desert island, with your computer, what 3 websites would you take with you?

Hypergeography
Hypergeography
Hypergeography

I could lose days at a time there.

7. What do you do when Not Working?

Planning my retirement, usually. I've a keen interest in fashion, tech, and music, so I do a lot of brushing up on culture and buying stuff I don't need.

8. Do you have a hidden talent?

I had an EP out once when I was a musician many moons ago, also I have extremely stretchy skin, I'm pretty sure that's not a talent though, but it freaks people out. I'm fluent in my native tongue of Gaelic too, which has zero benefit, but sounds funny.

9. Any tips or advice for fellow freelancers?

It's nice to be nice, so be polite, and work hard!

10. What's your favorite thing on the internet this week?

My friend just got a Beagle puppy last week, and started an Instagram account for him. Probably the most amazing dog over all time. @Honestgable

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WORK: NIKE + YEEZY = RED OCTOBERS

Working Not Working February 18, 2014

WORK: NIKE + YEEZY = RED OCTOBERS

WNW Member #2782 Shane Griffin was commissioned directly by Nike to work on the all-red colorway Yeezy II’s, dubbed ‘The Red Octobers’. He created the environment and textual elements. The sneakers were photographed by Sun Lee.

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