Under the influence of Dan Hillier

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Client: The Briefing/Image Centre

Agency: String Theory

Date published: November 2014

For the latest offering from The Briefing, the issue centred on corporate governance, a deeply complex subject which is essentially how companies have a responsibility to its stakeholders rather than shareholders. It was this complexity that, rather than leading to shortness of breath and spots before my eyes, actually provided fertile visual ideas, with phrases such as; 'The storm of the financial crisis', 'political upheaval and devastation' and ' a web of laws'.

Dan Hillier has developed a unique illustrative style of fantastical human and animal hybrids that are etched in the 1800's world of Victorian sensibility and hidden meaning. These stunning genetically modified beings have graced the walls of the Saatchi gallery, the Louvre and most recently the cover of the debut album for the chart storming band, Royal Blood.

It was this cover that directed me to Hilliers' work and the concept of taking the historical aspects of spectacular corporate failures and unethical practices, and mashing them into one dramatic illustrative and typographic centre piece.

The hidden meaning and the not so hidden meaning. (Illustration below.)

Typographically the word Governance has been deliberately deconstructed to mimic the initials, VOC, of The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie). The moral compass is overlayed by the web of law, with the centre figure of justice seated in the chaos and wreckage of fiscal ineptitude and greed.

Illustration: Inspiration by Dan Hillier, artwork by Marie Holdaway and Adrian Fitzgerald with the components sourced from Shutterstock

Printing: Image Centre

The paperstock is a heavyweight 300gsm black with white and yellow overprint. The illustration is a double hit UV overgloss. Hence when it picks up light, the effect takes on a negative look.