Scott Harrand provides a client project brief for creating promotional posters for different beer brands produced by Brass Castle Brewery. The brief outlines a process for brainstorming and developing multiple poster ideas, then evaluating the ideas against the client's requirements to select the best concept to pursue. Five poster concepts are presented relating to specific beer brands. Each concept is then evaluated based on criteria like visual appeal, suitability for the audience and client, and ability to deliver within the project timescales and costs. Research is also presented on competition from other breweries and the growing UK microbrewery market.

1. Client Project Pro- Forma
Scott Harrand

2. Mind Maps/Brainstorms
Star by using the first few slides to create mind
maps and or brainstorms for ideas related to
your project. Get as many possibilities as you
can.
Don’t worry about practicality, suitability or
potential at this stage. You will assess the ideas
later.

3. Mind Maps/Brainstorms

4. Mind Maps/Brainstorms

5. Assessing ideas
Now you have generated lots of potential ideas, it is
time to rationalise those against the requirements of
the brief from your client.
Use the next few slides to consolidate your ideas and
then assess them against the requirements and
constraints of the project.
Finally, select an idea to take forward for further
development.

6. Idea 1
For one of the beer brands, namely, the ‘Lunatic’ line of beers, my idea is as follows: the poster
would primarily feature a standard playing card, with the figure being depicted having the
reversed of their top half mirrored on the bottom half of the card. However, while the bottom
half would depict a typical ‘King’ card, looking regal and refined, the top half would depict a
similar looking man, but as a deranged and unhinged looking, laughing jester, holding a bottle
of ‘Lunatic’ rather than a sword. The bottom corner would show the ‘K’ for ‘King’, while the top
corner would show the ‘J’ for joker.

7. Evaluation of idea
• What do you like about the idea?
• Does it match what the client wants?
• Are you capable of delivering this?
• Can you do this on time?
• Do you have the resources available to do this?
I like this idea because I think it has an interesting theme and visual style that
links directly into the subject matter I have been asked to portray in the
poster, e.g, the ‘Lunatic’ beer, in an interesting and memorable way. I believe I
will be capable of delivering actual content for this idea, as it is not an idea
that is especially complicated, or requiring an excessive amount of detail
outside of the ordinary level. Therefore, I do not imagine that this potential
idea would take any more time out of my schedule than would be practical. In
order to prevent copyright issues, I will produce the majority of the content
myself in Photoshop through rotoscope techniques, and will use free-to-use,
available fonts, specifically the Futura font, which the client recommends.

8. Idea 2
For one of the beer brands, namely, the ‘Lunatic’ line of beers, my idea is as follows: It would
take the form of a poster, and the central figure would be a woman in Victorian/Edwardian
attire. She would be depicted from an above angle scaling down a mansion wall in a rope made
of sheets, her fancy hat falling off of her head as she swings about, laughing, spilling some of
the bottle of ‘Lunatic’ in her hand, with a crowd watching from below.

9. Evaluation of idea
• What do you like about the idea?
• Does it match what the client wants?
• Are you capable of delivering this?
• Can you do this on time?
• Do you have the resources available to do this?
I like the idea because I believe it would be aesthetically interesting and
unique, as well as providing a certain amount of humour. I believe that this
idea would suit what the client asks for, as it relates to the name of the beer it
advertises, as well as existing in a poster format, and attaching a narrative to
the beer name. I believe I should be capable of delivering this, as it will be
almost all be created using rotoscoping techniques that I have used in the
past. While I will want to give attention to detail when creating this poster, I
still believe that I will be able to develop it in a timely fashion, and still have
the necessary amount of time left over for my other projects.

10. Idea 3
For one of the beer brands, namely, the ‘Brass Monkey’ line of beers, my idea is as follows: The
poster would be in the style of a vintage movie poster from the 20th century. This particular one
would most likely be inspired by the early Indiana Jones films, and would primarily depict an
adventurer trying to obtain a brass idol in the shape of a monkey, referencing the name of the
beer. The poster will most likely incorporate a fake movie title, possibly including something to
the effect of “The Curse of the Brass Monkey” with ‘Brass Monkey’ being in a much larger font
than the rest of the title, in order to help it clearly noticeable as the name of the beer. The
adventurer would most likely be holding a bottle of the Brass Monkey beer, but I may also include
a few heads on the side of the poster, as classic film posters often depict secondary and tertiary
characters, and a number of them may be depicted holding or drinking the beer.

11. Evaluation of idea
• What do you like about the idea?
• Does it match what the client wants?
• Are you capable of delivering this?
• Can you do this on time?
• Do you have the resources available to do this?
I like this idea as I believe it presents a unique and aesthetically interesting visual, that also
suits into the clients wishes for the project, as they have mentioned an interest in vintage
film posters as a design aspect. I believe the pop culture reference would also make the
poster more engaging for the audience. I believe that I would be able to deliver this,
although the poster would most likely need to clearly reference the style of these posters,
which is not a style I work in. However, I am confident that I will be able to emulate this
style, while still maintaining originality. This poster will require quite a few different
elements, as it would most likely include central images of the ‘protagonist’ of the fictional
film, and the Brass Monkey, as well as the ‘secondary’ characters depicted at the sides of
the poster. Creating these elements may take a considerable amount of time, but I should
be able to stick to a schedule and develop them in a timely fashion. I will develop most of
the elements in Photoshop, but I may have to find a font suited to the Classic Vintage Film
aesthetic somewhere available, both cost and copyright-free, on the internet.

12. Idea 4
• For one of the beer brands, namely, the ‘Mind Sweeper’ line of beers, my idea is as follows:
It would take the form of a poster, (possibly landscape), depicting a scene in a laboratory.
The central figure would be a person strapped into a chair undergoing some sort of
electrical-shock brain experiment, wearing the sort of helmet used in these experiments.
The test-subject would also be holding a bottle of the Mind Sweeper drink, while a group of
scientists in lab-coats holding clipboards observed. The poster would most likely make use
of the colours black and green primarily, as these were used in the currently existing
example of Mind Sweeper related content from Brass Castle.

13. Evaluation of idea
• What do you like about the idea?
• Does it match what the client wants?
• Are you capable of delivering this?
• Can you do this on time?
• Do you have the resources available to do this?
I think that this idea could potentially be quite visually interesting and
memorable, as well as being clearly related to the name of the beer being
advertised. I have also linked my idea to the design elements that the client
had already related to this beer’s existing media content, which utilized the
colours of green and black, which I will feature in this poster. I believe I would
be capable of developing this poster, although there are many different
elements that would need to be created within the poster that may take a
considerable amount of time. However, I believe if I properly schedule and
organize my time, I will be able to complete my projects, including this one,
within the allotted time.

14. Idea 5
For one of the beer brands, namely, the ‘Mind Sweeper’ line of beers, my idea is as follows: In a
landscape poster format, I will depict a battle-scene at the moment of a mine-explosion. The
battle will most likely employ a lot of sci-fi elements, including battle robots and mecha, and
alien opponents, potentially including floating brain-creatures, to relate to the ‘Mind’ element
of ‘Mind Sweeper’. The poster would be in a comic-book inspired style, and therefore not
focusing on realism and more on action elements.

15. Evaluation of idea
• What do you like about the idea?
• Does it match what the client wants?
• Are you capable of delivering this?
• Can you do this on time?
• Do you have the resources available to do this?
I like that this idea would provide quite a visually interesting and varied
image, where I could include a lot of content. My vision for this idea links into
a similar format as the examples the client gave, which means that it would
be fairly well suited to the client’s wishes. This project would include a great
deal of content, and therefore it may, potentially, be very time consuming.
This would mean it would be crucial for me to structure and plan my time
accordingly in order to fit into the schedule of the overall project. I would
create this poster using rotoscope techniques to create original, digital
artwork, which can be achieved through Photoshop.

16. Idea Evaluation
Which of your ideas do you want to develop further? Explain why you think that is the right idea to
take forward.
For my project, I plan to develop upon my concept for the ‘Lunatic’ beer. Specifically, this idea included
the concept for the playing card poster, featuring a king on one end and a joker on the other. I wish to
proceed with this concept because I believe that it is well-suited to the client brief, but also that it is a
unique concept that will create a memorable poster and an interesting design. There are a number of
factors that make this concept well suited to the brief and the Brass Castle’s pre-existing content, such
as the parallels of royalty and jesters with the “Brass Castle” name, and the pre-existing Brass Castle
logo effect, in which the word’s “Brass” and “Castle” are in fact the same word in the Brass Castle font
style, merely flipped over. This effect will be very well-suited and easy to convey and translate into the
playing card motif, which already involves flipping and reversing features.
For my secondary idea, if there is sufficient time to develop it, I would also like to proceed with my
concept for the “Brass Monkey” poster, which would be in a vintage film poster theme, reminiscent of
the ‘Indiana Jones’ films and other archetypal adventure films, and make take the style of a parody. I
would wish to proceed with this idea as I believe it is extremely well-suited to the brief and the client’s
wishes, as the client has mentioned that they would be interested in posters featuring a vintage film
style theme. The client had also stated in the brief that their goals with the poster was to attach a
narrative to their beers, and I believe that this poster concept would be capable of doing this effectively.

17. Development
Use the next slides to document your idea development.
This should include mood boards and other visual examples of work. It
could include basic mock ups of your vision for the project using the
work of others.
If you are taking doing something outside of your ordinary skill set or
way of working, you could include test work or practice work here too.
There is room to develop a second idea here as well. This could give
you a greater variety of options to give to your client.
You will then assess your developed idea against the constraints of the
project before producing a final treatment.

18. Developed Idea 1
x

19. Brass Castle Brewery makes use of a special Futura
style font, generally written in white with an outer
stroke. Unlike general Futura text, the Brass Castle
font has sharpened ends on certain letters, such as
“N” or “A”. I have attempted to replicate this myself.
Developed Idea 1

20. Developed Idea 1

21. Developed Idea 2

22. Developed Idea 2
Brass Castle Brewery makes use of a special Futura style
font, generally written in white with an outer stroke.
Unlike general Futura text, the Brass Castle font has
sharpened ends on certain letters, such as “N” or “A”. I
have attempted to replicate this myself.

23. Developed Idea 2

24. Assessment of final ideas
Suitable for audience? I believe that these concepts and ideas are quite well suited to their
audience. In the sense that the target audience is adults, but otherwise of a potentially rather
broad spectrum of different backgrounds. I believe that the somewhat vintage, retro style I am
aiming for in some parts of my project will appeal to my audience, both those who will look at this
style with nostalgia, and other, somewhat younger adults who will value the vintage aesthetic.
Suitability for client? The client has stated in the brief that they wish for posters based upon the
names of their different types of beers. The client expressed that they wanted these posters to
attach a narrative to the beers, which the customers could latch onto. I believe that my ideas fulfil
this desire, as they both feature interesting and memorable designs, based upon the beer names.
Appeal of the work: I think that the project has it’s own unique aesthetic, visual appeal, featuring
interesting designs and concepts that are well suited to the beers they are meant to represent.
Timescales for production: We been allotted roughly three weeks of production time for these
projects, and thus I am to spend around a week on the development of each of these ideas,
which will therefore give me an additional amount of time to make improvements upon what I
have been able to create, or potentially create more content.
Costs: There are essentially no financial costs on my part, as I will be using resources such as
Adobe Photoshop to create my content which I do not need to pay for.
Personnel: I am most likely not going to require any outside assistance from other parties, as my plans for
my project mainly involve producing my own content using Adobe Photoshop. However, I may potentially
go down the path of producing photographed images of people for my “Brass Monkey” vintage film
inspired poster, and then run them through Photoshop filters, if I decide to not instead use rotoscoping
techniques. If I do proceed in this method, then I will require models.

25. Assessment of final ideas
Legal and ethical issues: There are quite a few potential legal and ethical
issues surrounding this project, due to the fact that it involves advertising alcohol.
Because of the age restrictions surrounding alcohol, there are a number of
advertising guidelines and laws to prevent alcohol advertisements that could
potentially be seen as appealing particularly to children and young people below
the legal age limit. Personally, I do not believe that my project is aimed at young
people in any particular way, nor is it intend to appeal to people below the alcohol
age limit. The Advertising Standards Authority state that an alcohol advertisement
should not try to suggest that alcohol will enhance a person’s social skills or
attractiveness. I do not think that either of my poster concepts suggest these
ideas.

26. Research

27. Competition/Market research:
Who is in competition with your client?
What is their design/photography/marketing/promotional/advertising work like?
What wider market is your client part of? Undertake research in to that market. This could be in the form of sales
figures, audience figures, turnover, job roles, customer base, market share, rules, regulations and codes of practice.

28. There are quite a few other independent breweries that could potentially pose as
competition to Brass Castle Brewery. Within their brief, Brass Castle themselves make
mention of Beavertown Brewery in their brief, referencing the artwork they have created for
their beers, suggesting they could potentially be seen as one individual form of competition,
at least in the case of design and marketing aspects. As Brass Castle and Beavertown seem
to be working within similar marketing styles, this puts them in more direct competition.
On the other hand, other breweries, such as York Brewery, may market themselves as more
traditionally-based breweries. In this way, Brass Castle is in competition with breweries such
as these, by showing a contrasting method of marketing and developing a brand.
On a wider scope, the microbrewery market is a rapidly growing business within the UK, a
country which now has more breweries per capita than any other country in the world. The
number of breweries within the UK is somewhere within the realm of 1,300, a number
which continues to grow. This means that there is a large amount of competition within the
microbrewery market, especially in the UK.

29. Beavertown Brewery, a London
based microbrewery operating since
2011, makes use of posters and
scene designs in the marketing and
packaging for their beer products.
These designs are generally inspired
or based upon the names for the
beers they are meant to be
associated with, and fulfil the
function that Brass Castle are
wishing to achieve within the brief
they have set us, as they attach a
unique and visually interesting
narrative to each beer.
The Beavertown Brewery posters and designs
prominently feature bold, solid colours and
surreal, fantasy designs. This style is very eye-
catching, which is effective as the partial purpose
of the posters which is to be visually interesting
and memorable. I believe my own designs follow
a similar path to these designs in certain core
factor, but differ enough in style and content to
stand away from the Beavertown designs as
something unique.

30. Audience/Customer research:
Who is the audience or customer that your client is trying to reach? Perhaps they have already told you. Perhaps you
should ask. You could also do further research in to the type of audience or customer you are hoping to appeal to.

31. Brass Castle’s designs and marketing would suggest that their products are potentially
targeted at a somewhat younger section of the microbrewery market, potentially in the 20s-
30s age range. This is judging by their sleek and innovative design work, which may be
intended to appear new and unique, which may be more likely to appeal to a young audience,
or at least an audience that prefer to try new things. Alongside seemingly marketing
themselves and establishing a brand as being quite new and unique, the Brass Castle Brewery
also advertises on their website clearly the fact that all their products are all vegan and
vegetarian friendly. This suggests that the brewery is also targeting a vegan/vegetarian
audience as a key demographic, which may set them apart from other breweries that may
potentially not consider trying to appeal to or target this audience.

32. Content research:
This should take the form of secondary research (exiting products from your client and the competition and wider
market) and also some primary research (asking potential audience, your client and your market,) to help you
formalise the content of your project.

33. Currently, Brass Castle Brewery sells a wide
range of different beers, advertised on their
website. These beers feature designs on their
labels (as well as on the beer pump-clips) that
generally consist of minimalistic symbols and
emblems, as well as individual colours
assigned to each different beer. These
symbols and colours generally take inspiration
from the name of the beer that they
promote.

34. Treatment:
The treatment evokes how an audience will experience what you are making.
Write in the active-voice in present tense. Tell the reader what they will see.
Describe the content of your project.
Write vibrantly, so the reader gets excited about your work. They should be able to
visualise the finished pieces. You could also supplement this with some mood boards or
mock ups.
Be specific—don’t use words like may, might or possibly.

35. Treatment
In completing the brief set for me by Brass Castle Brewery, I am going to create a series of poster designs. These posters will be bold,
colourful, and visually interesting pieces, that will establish interesting and memorable narratives to attach to these new, up-coming Brass
Castle brand beers. I will develop a unique and aesthetically pleasing style when I create these posters, one that will make the Brass Castle
Posters stand out from others within the market.
For my first poster, I will create a poster to accompany the new “Lunatic” beer. This poster will feature a deck of spread out playing cards
upon a table, with one of the cards turned up to face the audience. This card will take up the vast majority of the poster and be the main
focal point. The card will depict, in a typical playing card style, a card that is a combination of both the Joker and the King. On the bottom-
end of the card, the King will be depicted, wearing a crown and robes, looking regal and dignified. Reversed, on the top-end of the card,
will be depicted a Joker, in a jester’s outfit, looking deranged and unhinged. While the attire and the demeanour of the figures will be
different, I will make the figures themselves appear to be the same man. The Joker figure will be holding a bottle of ‘Lunatic’ beer, meaning
to give the suggestion that the beer will turn someone into a ‘lunatic’. The poster will make heavy use of purple within it’s colour scheme,
as it is a vibrant colour, with connotations both of creativity and mystery (relating to the Joker) as well as connotations of royalty and
dignity (relating to the King). I will make use of elegant, historical inspired fonts in many sections within this poster. On the top of the card, I
will feature the “Brass” section of the logo on the top of the card, and the “Castle” section at the bottom. This will fit into the theme of
playing cards featuring reverses of itself on the top and bottom of the card, relating to how the logo for Brass Castle functions in a similar
fashion. In the centre of the playing card, I will have the image of an unfurled scroll separating the Joker and the King, which will have the
word “Lunatic” written across it, to leave no lack of clarity as to what beer it advertises.
My second poster is going to be based upon the new, up-coming beer “Brass Monkey”. For this poster, I am going to be working along the
lines of a vintage film poster theme, taking inspiration especially from the Indiana Jones film posters, as I will be creating a poster that
harkens to classic adventure films. Taking reference both from the actual title of the beer that this poster will be promoting, as well as the
Indiana Jones movies that will serve as inspiration for this poster, I will be featuring a homage to the iconic scene from the Indiana Jones in
which the protagonist tries to steal the golden idol, except the person will be exchanged for a different character, acting as a parody of
Indiana Jones (possibly with a similar name), stealing a “Brass Monkey” rather than a golden idol, referencing the title of the beer. Around
this scene, heads and faces of the characters of this fictional film will be shown, in the format that is often used in classic movie posters.
The fonts used within the poster will be large and bold, similar to the style used in typical classic adventure films.
Overall, I believe my concepts and ideas for these posters are well-suited to the requirements and specifications laid out in the brief, and
fulfil the request for posters that establish a narrative for these new beers, which I believe my posters do establish effectively.

36. Treatment (visual elements)
These are extremely basic mock-ups of the poster design concepts, and do not reflect the level
of design quality that I am intending for the finished project, or the level of original content I
am intending to create. These mock-ups merely serve as a visual idea of the basic layout of the
concept of the designs, which I will create throughout the course of the project using my only
original resources in much greater detail.

37. Timescales:
You should prepare a production schedule that will allow you to manage your time over
the 3 weeks of production. This should include:
• Deadlines: Interim deadlines help you keep on track, final deadlines are final.
• Availability: The availability of the client and any other people you may need to help
you with your project. You will need to contact them. You might to do visit. You may
need to liaise with models, or photographers.
• Feedback: This is a working brief with a real client. You will need to get feedback on
your work and also allow yourself time to make appropriate changes. Plan appropriate
time in to you schedule so that you can do this.
• Resources: You should include a list of resources that you will need to complete your
project. Remember that this all needs to be your own work

38. YOU CAN DELETE THIS ONCE YOU DON’T NEED IT:
Production is due to start on Tuesday the 10th of May at 12:50pm.
You will have 3 weeks of lessons. The last day of production will be Monday the 6h of
June. This gives you a whole half term, should you need it.
Do not include Friday in your plans.
The class time you have is all day Monday, Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning.

39. Monday Tuesday Thursday
Week 1 I may not have begun
production on this
day. If I do, I will begin
an early start on
scheduled Tuesday
work.
I will begin work on the
Lunatic poster,
specifically on the Joker
figure, who I will aim to
have completed by the
end of this lesson, and
then to have begun work
on the figure of the King.
I will aim to complete
work on the King this
lesson, and to begin
work on additional
features of the poster,
such as text and
background.
Week 2 Ideally, the Lunatic poster will
have been completed at this
point. If it has not, I will complete
it today. I will then begin work on
the Brass Monkey poster,
specifically on the central scene
of the protagonist taking the
brass monkey, which I aim to
complete today.
I will continue work on
the Brass Monkey poster
today, going on to create
the faces surrounding
the poster, Which I am to
complete today.
At this point today, I will
work on the various font
and text elements within
the poster, such as titles,
logos, and fictional
credits. I will aim to have
completed this poster by
today.
Week 3 I aim to have completed both the
Lunatic and the Brass Monkey
posters by this point. I will look at
them again and try and add any
improvements that I think are
important. If I can sufficiently
achieve this, I will then begin
work on another poster, most
likely for the Mind Sweeper beer.
I will either continue
with improvements
today or continue to
work on the new poster,
for which I will aim to
have completed the
design and image
If I have completed
the image aspects of
my poster, I will
continue on to choose
the text and the fonts
that will accompany

40. Resources
The following is a list of the resources I will require for my
project:
• A computer. I will need this in order to access the software
I will require during my project.
• Internet access. I will require internet access in order to
find reference images which will be of use to me in
creating my own original designs.
• Adobe Photoshop. Using Adobe Photoshop will enable me
to be able to create my own original content, edit it, and
format it into my desired designs.