Artist Collaboration: Holly Pereira and Axonista
Axonista provides the world’s video storytellers with technology that opens up new avenues for experimentation and creativity, so that they can push the boundaries of how stories are told. Our video innovation platform is used by product teams at media companies to deliver video products that engage viewers in all sorts of ways.
With this mission in mind, we wanted to commission some special swag for our team. We sought a talented, local artist with a keen eye for typography who could bring this to life in a visual way.
The Artist Collaboration
This led us to partner with Holly Pereira for this project. Holly is an illustrator and muralist based in Dublin who is a member of the Minaw Collective, an all-female street art collective that celebrates equality, diversity and tolerance through the medium of street art. Her work illustrates a style that invokes a bold sense of communication and celebrates her love of typography and language which made Holly the perfect match for our storytelling brief. She brought the imagery to Axonista’s brief with an air of whimsy and fun.
The T-Shirt Design Process
Choose Your Own Adventure or branched narrative stories, made famous by Netflix’s Black Mirror 2018 episode ‘Bandersnatch’ is a type of interactive video storytelling that we really enjoy. The viewer assumes the role of the protagonist and makes choices that determine the main character’s actions and the plot’s outcome. We were inspired by the message ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ as it applies to career development, as well as the industry that we work in, so we used this as an inspiration for our brief.
Prior to our first discussion with Holly, the Axonista team sent over a brief with the relevant information for the commission. Holly read the brief and had a productive chat with our team to ensure we were all on the same page and allow Holly to understand where we were coming from, including the visual references. She explained her approach to our brief.
Once I got a handle on the brief, I researched iconography and imagery from the time of early video games, which are very pixelated. I looked at video games that came out at the time and tried to get my brain to link into that visual language. So it’s not just designing for somebody else, but it’s how do I approach that, and what way do I get into that visual language.
– Holly Pereira, Illustrator & Muralist
Axonista’s Culture in the Design
The Axonista culture seems very inclusive. So the design had to look friendly. It had to look warm and welcoming. How do you reflect that? Use of colour is a really big way of doing that. Using really warm tones and not too many sharp lines. There’s a bit of a curve and there’s a bit of a jiggle. It also gives that hand drawn feel, which is a very personal and intimate way of drawing.
– Holly Pereira, Illustrator & Muralist
Storytelling in Art
At Axonista, we bring storytelling into everything we do, which includes eye-catching swag for our team. This was why storytelling was such a core part of the design brief that we sent to Holly.
I think there’s always narrative in any piece of art, whether it’s music, drama, visual arts or writing. Not even just in the “I am telling you a story” way but there is a narrative theme that runs through all work. I think when you’re making art, you’re saying ‘this is how I view the world, here’s a little look into that, do you want to join in on how I see things?’ And that’s basically to me what art is. It’s telling a story of my perspective or somebody’s perspective. It doesn’t have to be yours.
– Holly Pereira, Illustrator & Muralist
At Axonista, we bring storytelling into everything we do, which includes eye-catching swag for our team. This was why storytelling was such a core part of the design brief that we sent to Holly.
As well as representing our industry and interactive video in the design, we worked with Holly to include some other elements to represent working life at Axonista. Apple and Android logos represent the platforms where Axonista’s interactive videos can be viewed. A unicorn holding a glass of champagne represents the company’s ambition to scale, and the importance of enjoying the journey along the way!
These small edits really helped bring the design closer to what we were looking for and we couldn’t be happier with the end result.
For the t-shirt itself, we went with Stanley / Stella due to their practice of sustainably sourcing materials, working closely with the Fair Wear Foundation and supporting their partners with their Corporate Social Responsibility approach. Their mission has been “to create high quality garments in the most responsible and ethical way. We therefore integrate sustainability into everything we do, making deliberate decisions about who we work with, how we work and what materials we use.”
Music to Axonista’s ears!
If you’d like your very own Choose Your Own Adventure t-shirt, check out our careers page.
