Adi Gilbert - Ad Designer Q&A

Adi Gilbert is an illustrator/designer whose work you will surely have seen over the last few years. He does all TWOAND8's products, some work for Red Bull and most recently Profile Europe. Graphic design is a huge part of what we see every day inside and outside of BMX so we asked Adi a little bit more about what he does...


99Seconds...

How did Profile get in touch with you?
We've known the dudes at Profile Europe for a long time now and a few years ago we (99SECONDS) did a website for them. Following on from that I guess they must have put in a good word with the people at Profile Racing in the US and they wrote to Kung and I asking if we were up for working on some adverts for them. Kung had already been taking photos of their team in the UK for ads and stuff so they were already aware of his work and through that they got to know about the graphical stuff I do.

Do you send them some suggestions or do they provide a brief and let you loose straight away?
Its a bit of a mixture of the two. Firstly when they first got intouch they asked us to pitch an idea for a new advert look for them. They didnt have a direction in mind but I was aware that they were coming up to a big anniversary period and thought it'd be cool to suggest through the graphics that they've been around the block in BMX for years and that, they had a heritage in building stuff for Race Cars. Retro / old car magazine adverts sort of fell into place. Now each month they give me a selection of photos to choose from and let me know what products the ads gonna be for. Aside from that they leave the layout / style largely to me. Its been a fun process to work through.

Did you design and build the website too?
We don't work on the Profile Racing US website, they have an in house dude for that, Marty. However Profile Europe did ask Kung and I to redesign and build an all new website for them to replace the old one we did a while back. The idea was to base the design for it on the new advert retro style so it'd all tie in. I designed the layout and produced all the artwork and graphics while Kung built the mechanics of the site and did all the code trickery and whatnot, basically the hard stuff that fries my brain. We work as a team on it under the guise of 99SECONDS. You can see that one at http://www.profileeurope.co.uk

How long does it take to make one ad?
It varies depending on what the photo is like or how much product is going in. Also sometimes the layout just works out quickly other times it takes a few goes to get the feel right. It usually takes between 1 and 2 full days, for the initial design and then I have to rebuild it in various sizes and formats for other magazines based on the initial full page one. That takes a while more. The style I've used in this series of ads requires alot of scanning in old textures, dirt, halftones and stuff like that. There are hundreds of layers in there so that makes the whole process labour intensive. I've made work for myself basically.

How did you get started with graphic design?
I've been drawing and designing flyers and stuff since I was a kid but I didn't train formally as a designer. I'm mostly self taught. I got my foot in the door at a creative agency in London as a marketing assistant (tea maker, box packer), working on bike, surfing, skateboard and snowboard stuff mostly. I hung out with the design team and picked stuff up from them where I could, playing with macs and stuff in the evenings. Eventually I got to help out on a few projects, largely cos I could draw and their own illustrator was leaving. They took a huge leap of faith and took me on as a junior designer and threw me in at the deep end, designing stuff for people like Quiksilver, O'Neill, Toyota etc. I'm so grateful to them for giving me the chance and for the senior designer there Dave Marcar for teaching me so much so quickly. At that same time I started designing all the stuff for Chico at TWOAND8 clothing, without those projects I'd never have got a portfolio together. Great experience and again I'm incredibly grateful to him for pushing the boat out.


One of Adi's Profile Ads... To see more click here.

What are your favorite companies you've worked for?
Well I'm really loving working with Profile. Everyone I deal with there, both stateside and europe are so rad. Super mello. I have the most fun doing all the design and illustration stuff for TWOAND8. Thats my biggest creative outlet, I guess its cos I just do what what I want. No pressure to sell or anythin, so long as it pays for itself its all cool. Its always good working with the little other indy companies too like The Movment, Loophole and Omni Snowboards. Its not really work its fun. On the other hand I did a bunch of work for Red Bull a while back and that was awesome too, they gave me alot of freedom and trusted my opinion. They're a good example of a big company keeping it real. I've done some fun illustration projects for Computer Arts Magazine too. Oh yeah, The Extreme Channel have been real good. Got to work on some ace stuff for them. Chuffed.

How would you suggest other people get into design in the BMX Industry?
Hmmmm, get your foot in the door any which way you can, start from the bottom if you have to. I think the most fun way of doing it is to start your own project. A component company, clothing, magazine, event, skatepark etc, doesn't matter what it is but it'll give you a blank canvas for you develop a style and to get experience across the board. And you never know where it'll take you! It could become successful in its own right as well as giving you a portfolio. I'm a strong believer in D.I.Y. If you wanna do something give it ago under your own steam rather than relying on someone else to give you a break. If that don't work out. start kickin doors down. Politely.

Does your bike have a full Profile setup now?
Haha. Hell yeah! It pretty much did before I was working with Profile but now that I am I must admit my bike has been brought up to date a fair bit! Its sweet now, it was looking decidedly 2002 before that. hah.

To view more of Adi's work - click here.

For Adi's agency 99 Seconds - click here.

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