The Davey Awards is judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 200+ member organisation of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts, dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media.

Staying true to theme, the day unfolded with the attendance of some interesting outfits. Some TJ’ers went all out and donned some of their scariest and, umm…interesting costumes. Everyone took part in the pumpkin carve-off and creations varied from good to bad and to the very scary. The winner, our newest retouch lady, Louise, took home some lovely bubbly. Surely enough, the evening unravelled and an impromptu TJ party ensued with everyone heading to our local for a drink, making for a very memorable evening!

Visit the awards site for more information.

To learn more about the project please click here or go Behind the Scenes for an exclusive look at how we made it.

Our work through McCann Erickson, Dublin for Heineken’s ‘Music’ campaign was also shortlisted in the Irish Print Category.

Please visit http://www.sharkawards.com/2010_winners.php and find out more about the awards!

“Our aim was to provide an insightful resource for creatives and commissioners, where our high-impact stills and videos can speak for themselves.We know our clients don’t always have time to view the hundreds of projects available, so work can be filtered by discipline, technique or subject matter and the Lightbox also provides a bookmarking function to enable agencies to build a bespoke selection of images which they can then share with colleagues and clients,” said Glen Taylor, MD and founder of TJ.”

There are many additional touches on the site that enhance the rich multi-media experience, including an integrated interactive blog, social networking interaction, production breakdown bars and related project links. Utilising HTML5 capabilities, the site is designed to work across all the latest platforms, from smart phone to iPad (see more on our iPad competition here).

The new site offers our viewers an in-depth understanding of how complex multi-part productions are built, from our exclusive ‘Behind the Scenes’ footage to the continuation of Taylor James’ renowned step-by-step scene build videos. This particular feature was retained due to popular demand, having been an essential reference to creatives and students alike on the previous incarnation of the Taylor James website. Our section dedicated to individual business studies also explores some of the fundamental issues that face some of our clients- from CGI photorealism to innovative solutions, made to meet client budgets and schedules.

Let us know what you think and blog about it in the comments box below!

The social initiative is running this month in conjunction with the ‘MTV’s Got Issues’ theme (the networks social programming series). At our in-house studio, the team filmed and photographed Rickie along with two female models before working their retouching magic in order to bring the concept to life. MTV commissioned the creative stunt to demonstrate to its 16-34 audience what digital enhancements are performed in everyday media and advise them not to take everything they see at face- value. Lisa Stokoe, Executive Producer, Production, MTV Networks UK & Ireland said:
“We wanted to create something visual, immediate and impactful that would highlight how unattainable the ideals created by the media are and reveal the techniques used by professional retouch artists. That’s where Taylor James came into their own!   With their extensive experience and excellent reputation within the industry, we knew they could bring our concept to life.   In a matter of clicks, they made the impossible possible. The results surprised us all!”

As always, we welcomed the unusual challenge, working on this creative concept with MTV.  Josh Rogers, Head of Retouch at TJ, who also featured in the video, explains the process:
“Having captured Rickie, we photographed our female models in exactly the same pose, position and lighting.  We then began the transformation, to manipulate Rickie’s photo using the female elements for the body, hair and eyelashes. We then applied some makeup, blusher, eye shadow, lipstick. At this stage, Rickie still had very short hair and muscular physique, so we went about swapping Rickie’s torso and hair for that of our females. Extensive colour work was required to carefully match up the skin tones – this was vital in achieving the seamless join between Rickie’s face and our female hair and body elements. As we work primarily on advertising campaigns, this was a rare and fun chance for us to retouch people to the extreme.”

The final part of the segment is the big unveil which was made to Rickie, and a group of unsuspecting audiences on the streets of London, who were asked to mark the new Rickie out of ten. “Seeing and hearing peoples final reactions to the final image was great! No-one suspected a thing” concluded Josh.

And what did Rickie think of his new look and what does he hope to achieve from this experience? “With a growing celebrity culture in the UK and an ever impressionable young society, it is our responsibility to make sure that our audience is made fully aware of what’s real and what’s not.   If it means I get turned into a woman in the process, then so be it!  Taylor James did a fantastic job and I’m confident this will make our audience think, as well as laugh!”

See the movie on the MTV website here: www.mtv.co.uk/shows/mtvs-got-issues-vote-2010/episode/mtvs-got-issues-digital-surgery

See the final artwork here: www.taylorjames.com/mtv-digital-surgery

TJ has come a long way since establishing ourselves as one of the leading photographic retouch houses.

(The text that follows are extracts from the feature in the Sunday Times Business pages on the 18 July, 2010 by Liz Colman )

In the past two years our workforce has doubled to 40 and turnover is expected to be £4m this year; the expansion led primarily by our decision to embrace CGI a few years ago- a technique which was reserved primarily for film productions at the time. “We spent £200,000 developing CGI in 2006, when we were turning over £1.2m, so it was quite a big investment for us,” said Glen.

Glen left school at 16 and attended the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, now the Arts University College. He was 20 when he finished the course and had dreams of becoming a film director. However, three month into a post-graduate course in advanced media he was offered a job at a digital retouching firm in London largely in part to some Photoshop skills honed through film making.

Back then, however, picture retouching was a tiny specialty- Glen estimates that only about 20 people in London could operate the £400,000 computers required for airbrushing photographs in the mid 90’s- so there was plenty of free-lance work. Which led him to his next role working in a post-production company- in turn; this would become his first rival when he left after 18 months to start up on his own.

Glen said his work ethic comes from his father, a carpet fitter. “My parents never had a lot of money. My dad has strong values about work and they were passed down to me- if you want something you need to go out and earn it.” Glen was a one-man band in a 150 sq ft basement flat in east London. After a couple of years he moved round the corner when then in 2004 he bought a five storey building in Shoreditch, where he now resides in the loft- which doesn’t help his workaholic tendencies.“It was one of the best things I have ever done. Owning this building has allowed us to grow without being constrained by leases.”

While a strong creative vision is essential to his business, Glen is a shrewd businessman as well. The key to success, he said, was to keep the business lean at the start. He still works an 11-hour day. A retoucher is a “perfectionist by nature…you have to take every opportunity, apply yourself, and deliver- and not feel that you could have done better.”

Everyone take note…

To view the article please CLICK HERE or for more of the latest from the Professional Photographer magazine, visit their site at http://www.ppmag.com//

Our creative exploit will be one of six new collaborative artworks commissioned by Creative Review, to be showcased. The works, aptly titled Joining Forces, helped shape Creative Review’s June CGI special, released on the 25^th of May, which combined the work of six esteemed image-makers and a CGI/post production company (read TJ Creates another Head Turner).

TJ’s creative exploration, a collaborative piece between one of our Creative Lead Ed Taylor and illustrator and artist, Von, was chosen for the coveted cover of the magazine with a striking image of an owl. Taylor James was pleased to take up the invitation to participate in the magazine’s annual CGI issue with such a unique concept.

The exhibit is a first of its kind to be commissioned by Creative Review in conjunction with their CG special. The final results are experimental and visibly stunning examples of how a combination of artists can work together with pioneering technology to create new and exciting images. The creative works can be seen from 9- 30 June and admission is free.

One of the longest running independent international advertising competition the 40^th annual awards results can be seen on www.creativityawards.com and will also be featured in the 400-page Creativity Awards Annual out next year.

The internship combines standard industry-based training in all areas of production and post-production along with live project experience and we’re looking to recruit more candidates for the placement by the end of August, 2010.

Having evolved from a high-end retouch house, we now provide creative solutions in all areas of production, including: CGI, live action, retouching and photography. This in-turn offers a more diverse learning experience to all of our interns along with unique employment opportunities. Our founder and MD, Glen Taylor said:

“London has the largest creative sector in Europe and industry leaders need to continue investing at the source of growth. As a complete production studio, we can offer the best production method for our clients’ requirements and our interns will get an introduction to working in all of these areas, from 3D layouts and CG animation, to scene-assembly, matte painting and even live-action.

“As specialists in content creation for print, interactive and broadcast media, we are looking for people with the right balance of skills, creative eye and attitude. The CGI internship concludes with a multidiscipline group project, where they can apply their skills and help us decide which of the candidates has the right credentials for a future at Taylor James. It could be one or it could be all, as was the case last time.”

One of our latest recruits through the programme, Panos Pallaris, previously a student at Escape Studios, said: “We all felt the course was well structured and covered a wide range of disciplines from concept through to production and editing. One of the strong points was that most of the training material was based on projects previously undertaken by Taylor James. This gave me a measure of the quality of work produced and what to strive for, while at the same time learning about working practices in the context of a real production pipeline.

“There was a great balance between technique and creativity. The advanced module week and end of training group project offered a full creative license for us all and I really enjoyed it. I am very happy to have been offered my position as CGI Junior Artist and I hope I can continue to grow and learn within the organisation.”

Throughout the year, TJ invests time presenting at universities and industry events in the search for talented and ambitious candidates. In May, we were guest speakers at the renowned FMX ‘Animation, Effects, Games and Interactive Media’ Conference in Stuttgart, Germany, in addition to the regular visits to universities across the UK.

“Having Taylor James on board throughout the project had a very notable impact on the overall creative vision of the brief. We were able to directly envision our initial creative ideas and more nearly realise our branding objectives by having a close working relationship with their creative team.

“Their creative direction allowed for us to determine the best possible technique to achieve the concept of the brief. Using CGI, we found we had more control over the project and the ability to edit the detail that we wouldn’t have had had with a live action production of the ad. The whole process was easier to manage than a full shoot which for cost reasons would have also been challenging in the UK. I feel happy with the results which delivered strongly against our repositioning objectives and feel the high quality production values represent the Calor brand.”

Sarah Haythonthwaite, Head of Marketing, Calor Gas

TJ will be presenting the hour-long spot on the 5 May and will give audiences insight into our latest CG projects and how the use of centralized assets are being utilized by big brands and agencies across all Medias, in print, digital and broadcast.

In the lead-up to the famous industry event, TJ said: “The advertising industry is changing rapidly. Our clients want more ‘bang’ for their buck and to get this they need to have well planned campaigns spanning different media types to maximise its effect.  Our background in high resolution print production allows us to develop campaigns that can be utilised across print, digital and broadcast. Cross media advertising campaigns strengthen brand messaging and can make the most of a client’s budget.”

“Our overall approach should be of interest to audiences at FMX, although we work on typically the same software applications as some of the larger motion picture animation companies, the pipeline we employ is very different. We can quite easily be producing assets that are five times the resolution of the largest film formats at the very highest levels of realism.”