Charley Willerton-McKee Design Portfolio
Hi, I’m Charley. I Like to think of myself as a
Maximal ist
land a minimalist.
Just trying to balance myself out. I’m a multidisciplinary visual storyteller who loves to shout a good story from the rooftops. To do so, I studied as many methods as I could at the Savannah College of Art and Design including photography, advertising, motion media, and the biggie, my B.F.A. in Graphic Design. From growing up in Houston, Texas, to moving to the creative Savannah, I have been surrounded by art my entire life and have no plans to change that any time soon. Fueled by my passion for storytelling, I hunger for new and better ways to visually communicate every day. I’m skilled in the Adobe Creative Suite and have become very proficient at googling. I aim to always be learning and improving. As a college student who only got her freshman and senior year in person, I’m eager for the studio experience, working with a team of equally passionate creatives.
Contents Domaine Winery..........................4 ¡Cèlèbrez la Provence!...............10 Fast Company Posters..............18 Rapper’s Delight........................24 Proxi.............................................32 Disturbia......................................38 The Alien and His Ship..............44 CHAO TO: Panini Making..........50 Mission 22...................................56
Winery Rebrand Brief:
Domaine was the rebrand of a local winery in Caromb, France, a little over 30 minutes away from Lacoste, where my group and I developed this project. Formerly Domaine J&D, we overhauled the existing branding and product line to create a cohesive brand story, rooted in the legends of the Provence region of France. The complete scope of the project included rebranding meaning a new logo, color scheme, and custom typeface, three different wine packaging designs, a box design for the largest bottle, a social media campaign, branded animations for multiple platforms, an in-person event and promotional materials for it, an animated commercial promoting the event, and various other branded merchandise.
Concept:
Domaine was redirected to focus on the local myths of the region and become a celebration the history and culture of Provence. This was accomplished by incorporating three distinct themes: a local myth known as Les Frères Alchimistes (the Alchemist Brothers), the patterns of Provence, which were used as motifs used throughout the new branding to further ground the story to its location, and travel, which was to use the new branding to encourage tourism in the area.
Theme:
An ancient legend of two brothers banished from Italy for their experiments, the Alchemist Brothers have been chasing towards the Elixir of Life for centuries. The wine of Domaine owes its story to them, with the white wine, Blanc, representing Francesco, and the red wine, Rouge, representing Antonio, as they fight endlessly over the Rosé, representing the Elixir of Life. Every aspect of the design shows their #DomaineDuel, from the hashtags to the placement of the bottles on shelves. Once the duo fled Italy and made home in Caromb, they stayed in a house now known as Pré-Fantasi. This became the foundation of the new boxed wine offered by Domaine, using the motifs of the patterns and their reference to sunrise, noon, and sunset, to reference the brothers. When all together, the boxed wine creates the outline of the ruins that still exist today of Pré-Fantasi.
Material:
A series of three 750ml bottles make up the main wine line with a white, a red, and a rosé. Each bottle has a dedicated character from the story, who comes with their own main color and pattern to be used across all platforms together. The patterns can be seen within the labels as well as on the bottles themselves. Additionally, there was a set of smaller bottles of 60ml with simplified label designs for sampling and a boxed wine set. Asides from the packaging, Domaine had a complete brand-story overhaul which inspired a personalized typeface based off of the open-source type “Gulax” from Velvetyne Foundry, a new logotype and symbol, a logotype for each line of wine, and a sophisticated yet vibrant new color palette.
Bronze Integrated Brand Identity Campaign
Advent Calendar Brief:
Celebrate Provence! Also developed in Lacoste, France, the Provence Advent Calendar was inspired by the beautiful scenery and sightseeing locations within the area. With the goal of creating a product that would inspire tourism while maintaining respect for the culture of France, this limited-edition calendar celebrates all the little things that make this beautiful region so special.
Concept:
Now that the pandemic seems to have lulled, tourism has become a major money-maker again. The advent calendar combines many of the local amenities of the region to inspire visitors to come. A collaboration with a local chocolatier, Puyricard, and Explore France! each chocolate’s package is dedicated to one of the many attractions of the region. Each chocolate is within a box, numbered for the advent. On the advent boxes, each one’s design is centered around one of the eight Herbes de Provence, which grow freely throughout the region. The decorative elements of the box also came from the herb motifs. The typeface is Le Murmure, from a French type foundry named Velvetyne type.
Theme:
To equally represent the diversity of the locations, each of the chocolate wrappers represented their location in one of three different styles; one, only typography, two, only illustration, or three, a combination of the two. The colors represent a muted take on the French flag, to differentiate from other countries as well as place more focus on the designs.
Material:
Additionally, as sustainability is the future, all of the materials used for the project are compostable. Each herb-designed box was actually also seed paper for its labeled herb, with it seeds embedded in the walls. They can be planted as is to grow these delicious spices. The calendar would be sold as a limited-edition calendar and sent to be displayed in airports around the world.
innovation festival poster series Brief:
For Fast Company’s 2021 Innovation Festival, this poster series represents three different speakers and their topics at the convention. All of the designs were made with only typography.
Concept:
Climate change and sustainability are two enormous issues right now. This was the theme used for these posters. They revolve around the idea of what we can do and specifically what these speakers had to say about possible solutions.
Theme:
In order to help shift our collective perspective on these topics, they needed to be represented in a unique way. Using type as a 3D element to represent what it’s saying helped achieve this. To show both collaboration and the idea of changing urban centered, brackets were used as a representation of building and working together. The colors used were purposely generic in order to immediately inform the viewer what these posters were about by using the typical blue and green associated with sustainability, but slightly subverted by using a bright neon green to show that this is the future. Continuing that idea of futurism, the informational type with the details of the event represents the idea of coding through being modular.
Material:
The posters were printed on satin paper so that where they would be placed outdoors would reflect the environment around them. This would be to cause the viewer to not only read and understand what is happening on the poster, but how it would directly affect them where they are at that instant.
Boutique hotel Brief:
Located in the heart of Hip-Hop’s origin, New York City, Rapper’s Delight explores the genre and culture of Hip-Hop and translates it to a livable musical experience. The full scope included a look book that described the boutique hotel and its experiences, hotel branding, five in-room amenities, a keycard and holder, a memo pad, a door knocker, two menus, a folder, and a website.
Concept:
Genre Hotels is a chain of boutique hotel centered around the music maker and music lover with each dedicated to a specific musical genre. Rapper’s Delight showcases this by separating the process of making Hip-Hop music into four distinct dimensions: Creation, Exploration, Collaboration, and Exhibition. All of the names and different aspects of the hotel tie back to Hip-Hop. Rapper’s Delight is a song by the Sugar Hill Gang that came out in the 80s and its lyrics are what the name Hip-Hop itself is derived from.
Theme:
The amenities and the four different room types each belong to a dimension, depending on the visitor’s specific needs. For example, Hip-Hop would not be possible if it weren’t for sampling. The Exploration dimension tells visitors about Rapper’s Delight’s vast collection of music and samplers that are available for use and recommends the use of the B-Boy suite, named for the lead of break-dancing groups that also only came about due to sampling and scratching. The use of 3D type and different effects furthers the idea of these dimensions of music and the attempt to make Hip-Hop something tangible. As genre with a long history of strife and conflicts that at the same time made it what it is, Hip-Hop being represented with the complementary colors of orange and blue only made sense.
Material:
The amenities serve as further branding opportunities as well as mementos for guests. The soap bar packaging becomes a bandana for them to keep as well as receiving a free guitar pick holder with four branded picks. As most visitors would be musicians or interested in it themselves, the memo pad serves not only as a place for quick notes but has bars for composing music. The folder with all of the hotel information can also serve as a sheet music holder. All of the rooms were designed by compositing images and coloring them to create the feel of the actual hotel.
Airport accessibility app Brief:
Travel by itself is daunting, but with any sort of impairment its difficulty increases tenfold. Every task we find monotonous or slightly difficult are mountains for disabled individuals. Proxi aims to simplify the red tape with an app, website, and information brochure about the company.
Concept:
The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that senior citizens may represent one in five residents by 2030; it’s important that we curate companies and design to their needs so that they are not overlooked. Proxi assists those who have more difficulty in airports, older adults and people with disabilities, to get the proper assistance and knowledge that they need to navigate traveling.
Theme:
Designed with accessibility in mind, colors used were run through filters to check for issues for colorblind or visually impaired users as well as having the option for anyone to edit the size of their type. Sans serif type with good leading ensures legibility. Colors have strong contrast and are vibrant and exciting. Lines and grids easily guide the user through all design elements to complete their tasks.
Material:
The app was made to be formatted for a tablet specifically, as most of the target audience, people 55-70, are the largest users of tablets and most own one. It also helps with some of legibility issues that can come from phone apps for those with visual impairments. A brochure was chosen as an informational piece as the target audience is usually likely to come into contact with brochures at doctor’s offices and other waiting rooms.
roxi
DISTURBIA animated Lyric music video Brief:
Disturbia is a lyric video of the first minute and thirty seconds of the song of the same name by Rihanna. The song originally came out in 2007 but has become popular again online as people become more and more interested in nostalgia.
Concept:
As a song about the greed and the disconcertion that Rihanna is beginning to face about becoming rich, the lyrics use many metaphors and symbols to represent what she is singing about. The song feels very dystopian which was represented using retrofuturistic graphics such as the idea of neon and grain.
Theme:
Using the idea of entering a new and unfamiliar world, the lyrics are floating out in space, flashing by as she sings them. The symbolic language is represented literally by using the type as imagery such as the word “mind” being in the shape of a brain, or a “train of thought” driving by.
Material:
The type was designed in Adobe Illustrator to create the lockups and to turn the type into imagery before importing it into After Effects to animate. The background was created using the camera tool after rendering an infinite space of balls floating in the air, which by using different camera techniques as well as layering background gradients turned them into the stars.
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ALIEN & SHIP T H E
H I S
Yupo paper sample book Brief:
A paper sample book for the Yupo paper company, the Alien and His Ship tells the story of an alien crashed on earth, attempting to go home. Using story elements and design choices, the book showcases the best aspects of Yupo paper and how it could be used for their clients in an unique and creative way.
Concept:
Inspired by the Yupo paper itself, the story also informs the reader about their paper, unknowingly. Yupo paper is synthetic, meaning its waterproof and not tear-able. This was incorporated into the story with the very first spread being underwater as the alien attempts to swim to shore after crashing. Yupo offers a paper named Octopus which is used later on in the story, but it’s also incorporated into the design of the alien.
Theme:
Using existing imagery the entire book is made of digital collage as a different take on the graphic novel. As the alien regains hope and begins to understand this world he has crashed onto, each spread introduces a new color. Offsetting the grungy black and white textured feel of the whole story, bright colors were used for the text, with each representing the color to be added on the following spread. The type treatment symbolizes actions happening within the story, such as the multiple boxes on the first spread showing the beeping of the ship monitors.
Material:
Other design aspects were used to potentially inspire designers such as using different types of folds to incorporate them into the story or the use of spot varnish and silver foil. The shop spread uses the Yupo Jelly paper on the gloves. One of the unique properties of that paper is that it can be placed and removed from multiple surfaces without ever losing its ability to stick, so it creates an interactive element within the story where the reader can help the alien hide on earth by putting gloves on his tentacles. The Alien and His Ship was printed on textured paper to emphasize the gritty quality of the story and bound using Japanese book binding technique in order to represent Yupo’s roots in Japan. Leather covers the binding to further show a handmade quality as well as bring in even more texture.
stop motion recipe video Brief:
In order to mix in my photography minor, CHAO TO: was created using stop motion photography and frame by frame animation to create a simple quick recipe video.
Concept:
As someone unable to eat dairy, Chao is some of the best vegan cheese available. In order to promote their product and show quick and easy ways it can be used, CHAO TO: is one of a proposed series of recipe videos. Vegan food can seem intimidating and confusing, especially to those unfamiliar with it, so the goal of these videos is to show how easy (and delicious) the transition could be.
Theme:
Using the idea of simplicity, the photos predominately feature the ingredients, with little to no background information. As a 30 second video, too much visual interest could cause confusion and disrupt the ease of the animation. Using Chao’s current typographic branding, I used frame by frame animation to draw over their typefaces and create a handcrafted effect.
Material:
Using a Nikon D750 and a ProPhoto dual lighting set-up, the photos were taken over a period of a few hours. Using Lightroom, the photos were mass edited and then put into Premiere Pro to build the animation. The frame by frame type was done in Photoshop and then imported into Premiere when completed.
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MISSION 22 Veteran suicide Awareness campaign Brief:
With a team of three, the task was to develop a campaign centered on a social issue of our choosing. The goal was to use any medium appropriate to subject matter to educate the public on the issue and the one media requirement was that one of the deliverables needed to be something capable of sharing a large amount of text.
Concept:
22 is how many veterans commit suicide on American soil a day. That means that on average, every 65 minutes, a veteran takes their own life. 22 is a Social Issues Campaign designed for the Mission 22 organization, supported by the US Department of Veteran Affairs, which uncovers the shocking numbers behind veteran suicide and provides resources to educate communities on how to support active military, veterans, and their families. Suicide prevention starts with awareness of the problem.
Theme:
This initiative has a serious, heavy and attention-grabbing tone and is very informational to non-veterans. The message is comprised of impactful real statistics visualized through strong imagery, heavy, bold text, and testimonials from veterans who have been affected by this issue. This is achieved through the use of bright red color, grunge-styled imagery, and distorted typefaces to create a feeling of uneasiness to show the disruption suicide can cause to anyone involved, especially veterans and their families. This project should make civilians feel uneasy and make them curious about a topic that is not often brought to the table.
Material:
The first of the four final deliverables was an ePub document accessed through a QR code found on any of the campaign materials. The ePub had all of the explanatory text and information on the issue. The second was a poster series which drew attention to the three major statistics used throughout the campaign. The third was a bus wrap that showcased the 22 veterans’ statistic by having the wrap interact with the sun so that throughout the day, bullet holes would appear in the faces of the 22 veterans lining the sides of the bus. The final deliverable was a series of murals to be placed in the largest US base of each branch of the military, with each mural highlighting that branch’s specific statistic that created the average of 22.
SCAD Vignettes 2022 Juried Graphic Design Showcase Selection
Pia Miro Quesada
Lauren Odio
