Illustration for ODU-USA's Connecting the Future advertising campaign. This was one of the boldest and coolest briefings I have ever received from an advertising client, good enough to make you drop anything else you are doing just to start it as soon as you can: we are floating in space, peering into the window of a spacecraft. There is some debris floating nearby from an alien creature. There is also noticeable damage to the craft from claws and acid. Through the window we are able to see a woman in form-fitting blue, futuristic clothing sitting on an examination table with her back exposed. ODU's metallic connectors are plugged into her back, traveling down her spine as one of the robotic arms around her plugs a connector, cables extend neatly into some kind of diagnostic machine with vital signs displayed on flat-panel monitors. The examination room is neat and clean with lots of glass and contrasting metal surfaces lit by white and blue LEDs. A space suit with burn marks is draped over the table. It should now be apparent that the woman being examined has just fought the alien outside the craft and is now in the medical examination room to assess her damage. We must show the profile of her face so the viewer can be drawn in by her green eyes.

Too bad it was too much information for just one ad and as much as we wanted to do the whole thing we dropped the outside view idea and focused on the woman inside the examination room, with the robotic arms and holographic computers and monitors all around her. We first decided to go with a darker mood inspired by the visuals of Tron II movie but after some revisions the powers that be decided they wanted a lighter approach for the ad. We really like both pieces, they each give different moods and have different design elements. I'd love to do more ads like this!