ABOUT

Ghizlan El Glaoui is an artist whose work is shown world-wide and has been featured in publications from the Financial Times to Hello magazine and El Pais.

Her work has influences from East and West and also blends the traditional with the contemporary; specifically there’s a technological aspect where lighting changes inside the paintings to create an 'ever-changing image’. The lighting can also be controlled by iPad.

No promotional material had ever successfully communicated her approach - if anything they caused more confusion. We were asked to create a vehicle for her to best promote the work and which could be mailed or given to key people. Like her work, it needed to have impact, explain her paintings effectively and feature the technological aspect of her work.

The creative idea
We utilised a video brochure; the high impact marriage of print and technology. A high definition 7” LED screen housed inside a brochure - an inexplicably small space. It has controls and auto plays upon opening thanks to a magnet. We made it more than double the standard size and with a pocket for a brochure for further reading.

|t was the perfect vehicle for this project. There was no other approach that could better communicate how the lighting changes within Ghizlan’s art, while using a technological element as the feature - just like her work does. It was ideal for mail outs and/or giving to key people.

The mix of print and technology echoed the blend of traditional with contemporary in Ghizlan’s work.

The video brochure cover features her work and upon opening, there is also a pocket for a printed brochure which shows the same image as the cover but in a different state of lighting. The pocket acts like a veil, showing the influence of East and West.

The typeface was chosen because of its contemporary clean look combined with a retro twist which overall added up to an elegant look. To demonstrate the metallic materials Ghizlan uses and give the images a more vibrant feeling, the printed brochure was printed on subtly metallic shimmering Arjo Wiggins stock.

We created a video to show how the lighting in her art changes, and automatically faded the room lighting whilst simultaneously increasing the lighting within the painting manually (which was a juggling trick!). A bespoke soundtrack was created to match the speed and changes of the video. It also allowed us to underline the exotic element in her work but it was also ambient in order to deliver a sense of serenity.

Sales around her new work have increased 300% over her typical sales figures. That figure has since stabilised to a 100% increase since the initial bounce. The PR got a boost too, as the product became easier to understand for editors, resulting in 2 significant press pieces.