Behind the Scenes: Steve’s Plowing “Shuck Foveling” Billboard
Digital tools make our creative lives easier in many ways. But sometimes it’s more efficient to get off the computer and get your hands dirty.
Such is the case for this billboard design. We had this headline idea for months—a clever way to swear on a billboard without actually swearing. It was never appropriate for our other clients.
Then our friends at Mixed Media in Chicago asked us to help their advertiser, Steve’s Plowing, do something unexpected and un-f#cking-forgettable. Biggity-bam! We had the right context for the concept. Shoveling snow is universally hated. No one could be upset by this headline.
The Digital-First Approach
We jumped right on the computer and started Photoshopping the image. Pick a font. Type out the headline. Stock photo for the background. Brush around the edges of the letters to make it less perfect. Add some layer effects and shading.
And… meh.
It looks flat. It looks fake. It took too much time for a mediocre result.
Gettin’ Dirty
A full scale photoshoot wasn’t in the cards. The alternative is a scale model and a substitute material that won’t melt in two seconds. But what?
After a few trials and errors, all-purpose flour seemed to work well. Some black posterboard, a tiny brush we found in a kitchen drawer, standard kitchen lighting, and an iPhone. That’s all we needed.
One great thing about billboards is the size and distance hides imperfections and poor quality photography. You just need to give the impression of what your image is. No one is looking at details, and no one could see them anyway.
Yes, it was quite the mess to clean up later.
Good enough? Let’s put it in Photoshop and see what we’re working with.
Let’s Try This Again
Our first version of this was spot on. It looks real. It looks like it was written by someone pretty pissed off about shoveling snow.
Some color correction to make it cooler. Add a shovel for scale reference. Drop in the logo.
That took all of one hour. Should have done it by hand in the first place.
Something Different
The end result is a realistic, simple, creative, memorable, hucking filarious billboard ad for Steve’s Plowing. Not just another billboard with a business name and phone number typed out in Arial Black on yellow background.
