Impressive Co-Branding For The Karl Lagerfeld X Shu Uemura Holiday Collection. From The Videos to The Packaging.

Fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld and Japanese global beauty giant Shu Uemura collaborated on this special Holiday 2012 make-up collection and pulled out all the stops when it came to marketing and branding. The effort is a great example of the importance of consistency in brand imagery, the utilization of social media channels and online influencers as well as various mediums such as videos, print, digital, packaging, etc. Watch and learn.





Initially announced in June of this year, the much anticipated collection has been preceded by numerous press events, articles and blog posts by most every beauty blogger and journalist in the business.


above: Karl Lagerfeld discussing and designing the collection for Shu Uemura

The launch utilized various mediums including a fabulous Saul Bass-inspired teaser video, guerilla marketing in the streets of Paris, a strong social media presence, special events and the design of a sweet little Manga-style Mascot named Mon Shu dressed in Lagerfeld's signature high-collared white shirt and black tie who consistently appears everywhere.



above: Conceived of and drawn by Karl Lagerfeld, she takes a cue from Japanese schoolgirls, whose uniforms Lagerfeld finds impeccable. “They dress a little like me, even if this is more exaggerated,” said the designer.

The Brand Mascot:


In addition to being the star of the videos, Mon Shu appeared during press events as everything from an oversized balloon to small plush dolls and decals that could be applied to fingernails.  She graces all the packaging and even appeared on helium balloons and bags as a form of guerilla marketing:







The Teaser (Birth of Mon Shu) Video:


You can view more wonderful animated videos of Mon Shu as she travels around the world on She Uemera's YouTube channel.

Designing the Collection:
The Paris-based Lagerfeld was in charge of the collection's color selection and the adorable packaging of the nail polishes, false lashes, lipsticks, eye shadows, make-up brushes and more.




The Making Of The Collection video:


The Products and Packaging:











Even the photographs for the accompanying campaign were shot by Karl Lagerfeld.

Social Media Marketing:
In terms of social media marketing, they have been consistent about branding the collection with a YouTube channel that features multiple videos, a presence, giveaways, drawing contests and more have taken place on the Shu Uemera facebook page, and they have a branded twitter page - and many a related tweet.



The Shu Uemura homepage has an interactive section dedicated to the collection as well.

The press release:

She Uemura and Karl Lagerfeld are proud to announce an exceptional collaboration for the holiday collection 2012 under the name of Karl Lagerfeld for shu uemura.

This unique moment of creation has roots in more than 20 years of relationship and mutual admiration between two of the most renowned talents from the worlds of fashion and beauty. With his artful hands and revolutionary vision Mr. Shu Uemura transformed the image of women through make-up, passionately elevating beauty into a true work of art. Karl Lagerfeld’s illustrious career as a master of fashion design, photography and publishing has presented a worldview so unique he has become one of the most influential creators of his time. Both have propelled their crafts into the future with their untiring quests for innovation and beauty.

“I design with shu uemura make-up because other manufacturers do not offer such beautiful colors.” – Karl Lagerfeld

For two decades Karl Lagerfeld has been using shu uemura eye shadows to illustrate his fashion sketches. Now he merges his world with shu uemura’s to create an entire collection in homage to the brand-the color selection and packaging is entirely designed by Karl Lagerfeld who also photographed the visual campaign.

For this holiday collection, the master of beauty and the master of fashion converge, their talent and passion for beauty evoking miracles for the holiday season.

To be launched in November 2012 in the following countries: ASIA: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam / NORTH AMERICA: United States, Canada / EUROPE: France, Italy, United Kingdom, Belgium, Ireland / OCEANIA: Australia. Please contact regional shu uemura PR offices for further information.

SHOP FOR THE COLLECTION HERE

A big thanks to the following for some of the additional images used in this post:

Shu Uemera
Chicprofile
Beautezine

An Online Collaborative Art Project From Google and Tate Modern: This Exquisite Forest.

This Exquisite Forest by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin is an online collaborative art experiment presented by Google and Tate Modern. The project lets users create short animations that build off one another as they explore a specific theme.



Taking a series of short animation sequences created by artists represented in Tate’s collection as the starting point, users of the website and visitors to the installation are invited to draw and animate new sequences and thus continue the ‘seeds’ begun by the artists.




As more sequences are added, the videos dynamically branch out and evolve, forming multiple new visual narratives.

The Making Of:






It can be accessed via the website exquisiteforest.com and through a physical installation at Tate Modern from July 23, 2012.

From Roughs To Rad. Josh Cooley & Bill Presing's 54 Intercontinental Cuties.

Both Josh Cooley and Bill Presing are super talented storyboard artists at Pixar Animation Studios who have recently joined forces on this creative project. Most recently, Josh received lots of blog and press attention for his Movies R Fun/ Inappropriate Golden Book and Emeryville-based Bill Presing is especially known for his pin-up girl-like illustrations.

78 Artists Turn Kicks Into Creations For Nike. The NIKE78 Project.

NIKE78 is an exciting new project created by Paul Jenkins and inspired by NIKE. They invited creatives, sent them each a brand new pair of NIKE shoes and asked them to use sport as inspiration to challenge their function.

The 78 participants for NIKE78 are located in London, Manchester, Cardiff and other parts of the UK, as well as in Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, Russia, Tokyo and Australia.

An exhibition showcase of all 78 designs is planned for the London Design Festival 2010.

Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo LAB's Air Max Abuko Aquarium


‘ABUKU -泡-’

The shoes we received were AIR MAX 360, which emphasizes the air in the soles more than any other NIKE shoe. So we decided to create something based on the concept of air, the main quality of this model.


What we did was keep the soles filled with air as is, but take off the upper part of the shoe and use it to mold a clear material into that shape. This became an aquarium for goldfish, a representative aquarium fish in Japan.

What you can see from the relationship between a goldfish and air in this microcosm, a shoe, is the human society and the microcosm that contains it. It’s the relationship between the earth/nature and creatures, and the correlation between athletes and NIKE, who contributes to the characteristics of the human body by giving air to shoes. That is the thinking behind the name of this art piece, the ABUKU (Japanese “BUBBLE”).



We hope that the people who see this small aquarium built on NIKE Air will stop to think about the artificial/natural environments that surround us and the connection between humans and other living creatures. Credit: Akio Iida, Daisuke Maki, Michiyo Ooi, Kuki Aakaeda, Genki Ito, Takeshi KogaharaWieden+Kennedy Tokyo LAB

Adrien Newell's Nike Font


Based around the sole of the shoe, I wanted to create a typeface that could be used to represent NIKE.

As NIKE started out creating shoes for running I thought it would be best to go back to its routes. In running it is about the power of the athlete and how far they can push themselves, no technology is involved, and the sole of the shoe is where the athlete transfers this power to the surface. This became the basis for the typeface. I used the soles of the shoe to create prints and based the typeface on the digital timer seen at the end of the 100m track.

I have created three posters, ‘On Your Marks’ based on the start of the race, the second ‘Leave Your Mark’ which is about making an impression and leaving a legacy behind and the third is the time of Usain Bolt’s 100m world record ‘09.58′, an inspiration to fast runners. The word ‘marks’ is effective as I have used the shoes to print them and it is also a term used at the start of a running race -- Adrian Newell

Erica Dorn's Marathon Shoe Cake



The Marathon Cake is the edible negative calorific equivalent of a full-length marathon. It represents both the hard work put in and the ever-sweet reward after all the hard work. Currently available in white and dark chocolate with buttercream and raspberry laces, exclusively for NIKE78. Erica Dorn

Justus Oehler's Winged Nikes

As we human beings can’t fly, we settle for less; we make do with running and jumping. But the dream of flying is still being dreamt, and maybe one day we will literally take off given the right pair of shoes. Well, this is the pair of shoes mankind has been waiting for. The real “NIKE Air”.
- Pentagram

Andy Macgregor's ‘GalvaNIKEs’:

The principal restriction to the more extended use of training shoes has been their tendency to wear or erode quickly, but happily, mechanical ingenuity has overcome this difficulty.

Shoes can now be coated with a combination of lightweight metal impervious to atmospherical influences, known as GalvaNiking. Sports shoes are very effective during training but have a short life span. GalvaNiking your training shoes is a sure fire way to maintain and prolong their condition. -- Andy Macgregor


Bacause Studio's 'Footprints’




I decided to look at the marks left behind as we walk, jog and run rather than the actual shoes themselves. To do this I created a ‘foot stamp’ which would imprint on the ground as you walked in the shoes. -- Because Studio

Jonathan Bartlett's Nike Labyrinth game


For my project I was heavily influenced by the functionality of my pair of trainers. Their sole purpose is to make running more comfortable, a training aid for training the body. However what makes an athlete truly great is their mental conditioning and mind strength. So I decided to use my pair of trainers (the tread) as a means to train the mind, specifically mental perseverance. - Jonathan Bartlett

‘These Shoes Are Made For Kicking’


I looked at the shoes I was sent and the term ’sport’ didn’t seem to fit. There were elements of sport, but there was also a lot of design that was purely aesthetic. I wanted to concentrate on this observation, and make something out of the shoes that spoke more clearly about sport. I created a football using as much of the shoes and box as possible, although due to the materials probably more of a statement than actually something you could play a full 90 minutes with - Stephen Cheetham


See all of the projects at Nike78