D&AD

Brian Cairns, Foreman of the D&AD Illustration Jury, on why Spike Jonze-inspired magazine covers have been nominated for a D&AD Award:

The Church of London publishes two bi-monthly lifestyle magazines. Huck is rooted in surf, skate and snowboarding culture and Little White Lies lifts the lid on independent film.

The release of Spike Jonze’s ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ presented a unique opportunity for the magazines to collaborate.

‘As an icon of skate culture, Spike Jonze has always been the perfect candidate for a cover of Huck,’ explains TCOLondon’s Rob Longworth. ‘And as a great looking film, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ was perfect for the cover of Little White Lies.’

They decided to create one illustration that would span two covers, making a direct connection between the magazines on the shelf, yet allowing each to stand alone.

Warner Bros, who released the film in the UK, liked the idea and agreed to help, making it possible to commission Geoff McFetridge to illustrate the covers.

McFetridge was the visual artist who worked with Spike Jonze to create graphic elements for the film. ‘Commissioning McFetridge demonstrates intelligent thinking by The Church of London,’ says Cairns. ‘The covers work beautifully independently, but when paired together they gain an additional dimension to their interpretation.’

The covers show Spike Jonze hugging Max, from Where the Wild Things Are, while a ‘Wild Thing’ climbs into Spike’s mouth and emerges from Max’s. ‘The imagery is loaded with subtle details communicating affection for both Sendak’s creation and the working friendship of McFetridge and Jonze,’ says Cairns.

For Longworth, the opportunity to work with McFetridge on such a project was a dream come true. ‘I’ve never felt more anticipation for the delivery of a magazine than the day these two issues came to our door,’ he says.

Both magazines generated such a buzz that the agency quickly ran out of copies to sell. Demand was so great that the agency produced a limited edition run of screen prints of the artwork.

The agency is currently looking for further opportunities to collaborate across the titles.