This week we spent 5 minutes with the very talented Natasha Freeman, LPA Stylist!

This is Natasha on the set of a big LPA Campaign, The Big Poster Challenge.

What does being a commercial stylist involve?
Being extremely organised! I must admit that having a Producer’s head sometimes does come in handy when taking on commercial jobs as I find myself needing to think quick and act fast when sourcing items. I also know that being able to understand a brief is about understanding the brand, that’s why 99% of the styling I work on tends to be ‘real’ – I’d almost go as far as saying that sometimes commercial styling should go unnoticed in the final image as if something stands out, its clearly doesn’t look right.

How did you become a stylist?
Well, initially I worked as an Art Director in advertising for several years and knew that directing photo shoots was to me, the most exciting part of the role. One thing led to another and I started to art direct, style and produce shoots on a freelance basis having left advertising. The styling side slotted in naturally with the other roles I was carrying out and I now love the balance and satisfaction from working with great clients.

It must be fun being a stylist, all that shopping! What the best and worst thing about your job ?
The best part of the job is endless – being in the shops all the time, creating and making props, styling the final look along with hair and make up on the shoot and generally being the creator that helps towards it all coming together. However, styling always sounds like a glamourous job, especially to my friends! I guess it is to a certain extent, but the worst part is transporting large quantities of clothing and props around – it can strain on your back a little!  I also forgot to mention returns… I won’t go there!

Have you had a busy year so far?
I have had an extremely busy year so far, I’m actually shocked to know where we are at in the year already as there is so much I want to work on this year.

What are you working on at the moment?
A number of projects as well as commissioned jobs. I have some exciting projects coming up with photographers such as Julian Calverley, Kelvin Murray, Cormac Hanley, Howard Kingsnorth and David Ryle. As well as commissions in the pipeline for Head and Shoulders, Argos, P&O Cruises and DFS.

What one photographer would you love to work with that you haven’t already?
Gregory Crewdson. He is my photography hero and it would be an absolute dream to work with him.

What’s the trickiest styling request you’ve ever had ?
I can always guarantee that the most simplest of props or even basic clothing essentials are always the most difficult to find especially when you need them the most. Once a shoot has been and gone you will always see a million versions of what you are after. I have struggled however to find a particular union jack teapot and a vehicle speeding tracker device used solely by the police force.

What cant you do without on a shoot/what do you always carry with you on a shoot?
I have 2 kit bags that come to every shoot with me, 1 for wardrobe and 1 for props – inside is a multitude of essentials and tricks of the trade that there is no way I could be without. If I had to pick one thing it would definitely be my trusty pink steamer.

For any budding stylists out there, what advice can you give them of ways into the industry?
To gain as much experience working with as many Stylists as they can – and most importantly to always show willing. People will always remember someone that was willing to help with anything and keen to be involved.

What is your favourite blog or website?
Tricky as I have so many!

www.ffffound.com
www.adsoftheworld.com
www.aphotoeditor.com
www.chictopia.com
www.ted.com

Earlier this year LPA, the Mental Health Foundation and Clear Channel Outdoor teamed up to launch an exciting competition for an extremely worthwhile cause. They invited the nations creatives to come up with a poster campaign to help the public understand the invaluable benefits of mindfulness, a simple and modern form of meditation that alleviates stress.

The Winners:

LPA are delighted to announce that the winners are… Will Thacker and Blake Waters of KK Outlet- http://www.kkoutlet.com/

With over 11 years advertising experience between them Will and Blake are a creative team working for Hoxton based KesselsKramer London. The pair work on a multitude of projects ranging from global advertising campaigns to music videos and running creative workshops in other countries.

In their spare time they like to be as proactive as possible, shooting their own films and entering advertising awards and competitions, which led them to winning the Wanted Ads – Best Young Team of The Year Award 2007 and representing the UK in the European Young Team of the Year Awards.

When the LPA Big Poster Challenge came along, the boys stated they simply had to enter a competition that offered a somewhat unusual charity brief, industry leading figures as judges and the chance to create a national outdoor campaign with a quick turnaround.

The team continued, “Coming up with the winning idea and seeing it through from concept to execution has been a tremendous experience.”

The creative team’s winning idea was shot by LPA’s Rob Murray (http://www.robmurray.co.uk) and produced by LPA/Production. The final executions can be seen across the UK on 6 and 48 sheet posters for two weeks from the 13^th September.

Here’s the winning 48 sheet scamp and the final ads…

The competition was judged by the most esteemed names in the communications industry and sponsored by the countries leading photographic suppliers.

The Judges:

Rob Atkinson

(Managing Director – Clear Channel Outdoor)

Claire Beale

(Editor – Campaign)

David Buonaguidi

(Creative Director/Partner – Karmarama)

Jonathan Burley

(Executive Creative Director –CHI & Partners)

Martin Bush

(Creative Director – Golley Slater)

Chris Elliott

(Sales Director – Augustus Martin)

Dr. Jonty Heaversedge

(Celebrity Doctor/Mindfulness Practitioner)

Sir John Hegarty

(Worldwide Creative Director – BBH)

Michael Johnson

(Creative Director/Partner – Johnson Banks)

Harry MacAuslan

(Vice Chairman – Leo Burnett Worldwide)

Laura Parker

(Head Of Marketing – The Mental Health Foundation)

Lisa Pritchard

(Photographers Agent – LPA)

Jon Stubley

(Design Director – Elmwood)

With special thanks to Adrian Borra, Chairman of the Judges for all the time he dedicated to writing the brief and leading the judging event.

We’d like to thank our sponsors for the following-

Augustus Martin- Printing and delivering 1000 posters for the campaign.

augustusmartin.com

Big Sky London- Providing a studio for both the judging and the shoot.

bigskylondon.com

Broadcasting Agency –The models.

broadcasting.co.uk

Chase 55- The props.

chase55.com

Clear Channel Outdoor- The poster sites.

clearchannel.co.uk

Direct- The lighting for the judging and shoot.

directlighting.co.uk

Greater London Hire- The use of their executive cars for the judging and their courier services.

glh.co.uk

Hanger7 –  The artworking.

hangarseven.co.uk

Happy Finish- The retouching.

happyfinish.co.uk

Little Yellow Jacket- The cameras and digital operator.

littleyellowjacket.co.uk

Lisa Pritchard Agency- Thats us… we ran the competition… and produced the shoot

lisapritchard.com

Love Food- The catering for both the judging and the shoot.

lovefoodlondon.co.uk

Model Solutions- The model making.

modelsolutions.co.uk

Sarianne Plaisant- The set building.

righteousplaisant.blogspot.com

Wheal’s Far-Go- The location vehicles.

whealsfargo.com

A very special thank you must go to LPA Styles Charlotte Williams for her prop styling and to Natasha Freeman for her wardrobe and prop styling on the shoot.  We must also say a huge thank you to Rob Murray for all his hard work on this project, and to his fantastic assistants Jon, John, Daniel, Robin and Jack, and  also Leela who helped out over the 3 days.

Many thanks to Adam and Dan at Model Solutions for all their clever model making. What could this be for?
To find out, carry on checking the LPA blog and keep an eye out for 1000′s of posters rolling out across the country on September 13th!…

The plot thickens…

.

Thanks very much to Charlotte for her hard work, and to Rob Murray for helping out by visiting a few car boot sales.

Thanks also to Thea Potgieter at Wastewatch  and Matthew Hewins at The Community Technology Project for their kind donations.

Many thanks to our sponsors Big Sky for providing the casting studio and Broadcasting Agency for sending so many great models.  We’d also like to thank Jack Flynn for assisting and documenting the casting.

Watch this space for more sneak previews of this exciting production!

We are conscious there’s been a rather lengthy silence with regards to The Big Poster Challenge since the call for entries went out , so here’s an update…

You may recall that back in January LPA, The Mental Health Foundation and Clear Channel Outdoor teamed up to launch an exciting competition for an extremely worthwhile cause.

We invited the nations creatives to propose their ideas for a poster campaign to help the public understand the invaluable benefits of Mindfulness, a simple form of meditation that alleviates stress, www.bemindful.co.uk.

The prize was to have the idea produced by LPA and shot by one of their leading commercial photographers, the final execution being unveiled on 48 and 6 sheet posters across the UK.

Judged by the most esteemed names in the communications industry, The Big Poster Challenge has been the competition everyone is talking about and we’re delighted with the tremendous response we’ve had.

The judging panel (see below) got together back in May at Big Sky Studios, and after a few hours of deliberation chose the winner. It was a fascinating afternoon and a real privilege to hear the opinions of such industry luminaries.

So now we have a winner and production is very much underway!

Rob Atkinson-(Managing Director – Clear Channel Outdoor)

Claire Beale-(Editor – Campaign)

Adrian Borra – ( Chairman of the Judges/Creative Director- Forza)

David Buonaguidi-(Creative Director/Partner – Karmarama)

Jonathan Burley-(Executive Creative Director – CHI & Partners)

Martin Bush-(Creative Director – Golley Slater)

Chris Elliott-(Sales Director – Augustus Martin)

Dr Jonty Heaversedge-(Celebrity Doctor/Leading Mindfulness Practitioner)

Sir John Hegarty-(Worldwide Creative Director – BBH)

Michael Johnson-(Creative Director/Partner – Johnson Banks)

Harry MacAuslan-(Vice Chairman – Leo Burnett Worldwide)

Laura Parker-(Head Of Marketing – Mental Health Foundation)

Lisa Pritchard-(Photographers Agent – LPA)

Jon Stubley-(Design Director – Elmwood)

Keep an eye on our blog for more behind the scenes action. The final posters will be seen around the UK from September 13th.

Thank you to…
The judges for their time and support
Big Sky Studios for providing the venue
Love Food for  the refreshments
John Tonks for photographing the event
Adrian Borra for helping write the brief and chairing the judging

Watch this space…

WHAT IS THE BIG POSTER CHALLENGE?

LPA, The Mental Health Foundation and Clear Channel Outdoor have teamed up to launch an exciting competition for an extremely worthwhile cause.

We are inviting the nation’s creatives to propose their ideas for a poster campaign to help build awareness with the general public of Mindfulness, a simple form of meditation that is clinically proven to reduce stress.

The winning entry will be produced by LPA and shot by one of their leading commercial photographers. The final execution will be unveiled on billboards across the UK this summer.

Judged by the most esteemed names in the communications industry, The Big Poster Challenge is set to be the most talked about competition in the business for one of the most relevant issues of today.

WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?

Mindfulness teaches a range of techniques that help all of us manage stress and anxiety in today’s high-pressure society. It’s a modern form of meditation that’s easy to learn and can be done by anyone, anywhere. Research into Mindfulness has demonstrated how it can reduce stress, improve people’s relationships, job performance and emotional wellbeing.

In this post-recession era, it’s more important than ever to have ways to cope with our increasingly busy lifestyles and to focus on our own mental wellbeing.

Mindfulness can help us all achieve this.

For further information and to download the Mindfulness podcasts and information materials please go to www.bemindful.co.uk

THE BRIEF

The brief is to take Mindfulness into the mainstream and demonstrate mindfulness meditation as a technique to cope with the stress of modern life, outside the usual new age, alternative or religious context. We need to raise awareness of the prevalence of stress within professional and public services and drive consumers online to experience how mindfulness meditation can reduce stress levels with the launch of the first ever online Mindfulness course. (live from July 5^th) Historically Mindfulness has been taught in location specific centre’s, reducing the amount of people able to access this effective therapy. The online course will be taught over a month and teach the core principles of Mindfulness to participants.

The campaign must bring to life the reality of how stress can impact our lives and motivate audiences to make a change. At a time when society is reeling from the recession we need to resonate with the general public and demonstrate how mindfulness can change peoples lives for the better in both personal and professional situations.

For the full brief and details of how to enter please go to www.lisapritchard.com

THE JUDGES

Rob Atkinson (Managing Director – Clear Channel Outdoor)

Claire Beale (Editor – Campaign)

David Buonaguidi (Creative Director/Partner – Karmarama)

Jonathan Burley (Group Executive Creative Director – Leo Burnett/Arc)

Martin Bush (Creative Director – Golley Slater)

Chris Elliot (Sales Director – Augustus Martin)

Dr Jonty Heaversedge (Celebrity Doctor – Leading Mindfulness Practitioner)

Sir John Hegarty (Worldwide Creative Director – BBH)

Michael Johnson (Creative Director/Partner – Johnson Banks)

Harry MacAuslan (Vice Chairman – Leo Burnett Worldwide)

Laura Parker (Head Of Marketing – Mental Health Foundation)

Lisa Pritchard (Photographers Agent – LPA)

Jon Stubley (Design Director – Elmwood)

THE SPONSORS

Clear Channel Outdoor are donating traditional and digital 48 and traditional and Interact 6 sheet poster sites across the UK and Augustus Martin are printing the posters. Here is a full list of the sponsors including the leading photographic service suppliers that will make the shoot possible.

A1 Animals (Animal Talent)

Amazing Space (Locations)

Augustus Martin (Printers)

Big Sky Studios (Studio)

Broadcasting Agency (Models)

Chase 55 (Prop Hire)

Clear Channel Outdoor (Billboards)

Direct Lighting (Equipment and lighting hire)

GHL (couriers and passenger cars)

Glyn Owen (Set Design)

Happy Finish (Retouching)

Love Food (Shoot Catering)

LPA (Including LPA Photographers, LPA Futures, LPA Production and LPA Style)

Model Solutions (Model Making)

Urban Angels (Child Models)

Wheals Far-Go (Location Vehicles)