Ceiga Issue 18

8/12/2019 Ceiga Issue 18

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E I G H T E E N

U N I F O R M



“This is Sam from the Vimeo Staff. In case you’re not aware,a bunch of us on the Vimeo Staff are big fans of your site. I

personally check the Ceiga blog every day.”

Sam Morrill



Stephen ArdernBusiness Developm

Laurie Jonesreative Director - Film

-

Michelle FordHead of Operations

Charlie PastorSenior Creative

ceiga.co.uk

C O N T E N T S

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Editors Letter

After the success of the Saddington Baynes issue I’ve decided that from issue 17 onwards

the magazine will focus less on individual artists but creative production companies around

the world that don’t really get much recognition for the great work they produce and I’m

starting this o with a company called Uniform.

Uniform is an independent creative agency based in Liverpool, UK. They’ve worked forwell known organisations such as West eld, the NHS, Foster + Partners and Carlsberg.

Although the team creates print designs and do a lot of lming I believe their strength is

in their visualisation work and that’s what I’ve decided to focus this issue on. The Shard,

Hermitage Plaza, West eld Stratford and many more well known buildings and even someyet to be built have been visualised by this team and I hope this issue can give some well

deserved credit to what they’ve done.

I was introduced to Uniform by Mark Lee the senior CG Artist who sent me an email last

year informing me of their new website. I had never heard of Uniform before and I was

impressed with their website, minimal, responsive and colourful but most importantly

showed o their work well, which there was a lot of.

Anyway enough rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the issue.

Richard Bray

E D I T O R

richbray.me



Uniform is an independent creative agency. They create brands, content and products that

help businesses connect with their customers and deliver results. Their studio is on Bold

Street in the heart of Rope Walks, Liverpool’s creative hub. They use a rigorous creative

process to uncover insight and simplify the complex - taking a step back to nd the right

strategic step forward. Driven by a restless curiosity and a desire to innovate, they use

their mix of skills and instinct to craft beautifully unexpected ideas. Their goal is to create a personal

connection between thier clients and their customers.

Stephen ArdernBusiness Development Director

Nick BentleyFounder & Creative DirectorArchitectural Visualisation

Andy ChambersChairman

Nick HoweFounder & Managing Director

Laurie JonesCreative Director - Film

Tim SharpCreative Director - Brand & Design

Pete ThomasFounder & Futures Director

Michelle FordHead of Operations

Mark LeeSenior CG Artist

Natalie LoughranHead of Finance & HR

Marcus McCabeSenior Creative

Scott McCubbinHead of PR

Conor MoodyHead of Digital

Charlie PastorSenior Creative

Martin SkellyCreative Technologist

Ami GuestClient Manager

Lucy JohnstonClient Manager

Bryn JonesSenior Client Manager

Susan WilsonClient Manager



Mayfair is one of the world’s most exclusive areas, with the highest concentration of

luxury hotels, ne shops, and high value residential dwellings in London.

RER had an ambitious plan to build a new 12,000 sq ft luxury apartment block in theMayfair Conservation Area. Mayfair Chambers, located between Grosvenor Square,

Berkeley Square and Bond Street, would include six high-speci cation two and three

bedroom apartments, including a 1,900 sq ft penthouse with a rooftop garden.

Uniform was commissioned to create a series of realistic internal and external images to

pre-sell these premium properties. At this pre-build stage, high quality images were to be

the primary sales tool.

RER said the level of detail “re ected their exquisite standards,” with images so good it

was impossible to tell whether they were architectural images or photographs.

Despite the economic situation in early 2013, RER sold every one of the properties before

the building was completed.



RER

Mayfair Chambers



The investors behind Porto Montenegro had an incredible vision to take the unspoilt

Montenegro coastline and create one of the world’s most luxurious waterfront

developments. The aim of the transformation is to develop Porto Montenegro Marina

Village, attracting super yachts and the World’s elite, turning Montenegro into the next

‘must visit’ holiday destination.

Uniform has worked with Porto since 2012, creating the highest quality architectural

visualisation images to communicate the vision to a global audience. The images run

across marketing collateral, from websites to brochures and hoardings, generating mediaattention, and appearing in some of the world’s most exclusive publications. Within one

year, the location was already being described in the media as ‘the new French Riviera’,

attracting the calibre of property investors targeted for the development.

The marina’s success was quickly recognised amongst in uential international

organisations, including the World Travel and Tourism Council describing Montenegro as

‘one of the top two fastest growing tourist economies in the next decade’.



Porto Montenegro



1) Could you tell me a little about your background and how you got

into visual design?

I studied product design and visual studies at LJMU way back in 1996!

One of our modules was focussed on ‘ 3D modelling ’ which at the time

I’d never heard of before. I got hooked on the idea of creating objects

in a virtual space almost immediately, from an early age I was pretty

addicted to building Lego... When we set up Uniform, our original

intention was to design products and furniture, but we didn't have any

capital to support us, so when we were o ered the chance of designing

a restaurant space, for real money, we jumped at the opportunity.

As part of our design process we modelled the spaces in 3D to help

communicate our designs to our client. The CG aspect was something

that I really enjoyed and af ter a couple of years of designing interiors

and products, we decided to focus on building a CG team. The prospect

of having the creative freedom to create images of a space, without

the constraints that photographers have to work within is something

which really excited us. We also knew we were getting quite good at it

and thought it made more commercial sense than working for bar and

nightclub owners!

2) What does it feel like to be the co-founder of Uniform? What are

all the events that led up to that?It all started as a result of Nick Howe, Pete Thomas and I meeting at

University. We were all on the same Product Design course and became

good friends through spending long hours constructing things in the

workshops, as we were all dedicated to giving our projects a really high

level of nish. We have spent 15 years working together and although

we all have families and other commitments now, we still spend social

time outside of work together. When I think back to the early days when

we’d just started out, it’s amazing to think how far we have come, and

although what we do has evolved over the years, our principles are still

rooted in great design, producing work of the highest standard and

creating something we can be proud of.

3) Being in an industry for over 15 years is a long time, has much

changed?

Yes and no. Obviously technology and software has had a big impact

on the ease of which realism can be achieved, however the fundamental

principles of composition, colour harmony and a sense of narrative

PRODUCING CREATIVE

&EFFECTIVE

WORK

I ’m sure you’re enjoying the work of Uniform – but it’s always good to know a bit about the company and how it

came together. What better way to do that than to get an interview with the co-founder and Creative Director of

Visualisation Nick Bentley .



which a ect the success of imagery has been the same for centuries.

In the mid 90s we pioneered the use of what people called ‘ hollywood

style’ visual e ects in our lm work for architectural schemes. We wanted

to create adverts for buildings not walkthroughs, we won some awards

and very soon the industry followed. Every lm is now a story or an

ad, technology helped this, and the price point of software dropping

allowed people to create quality work . But again the simple rules of

narrative and creative storytelling remain the same as they have been

since the evolution of the lm industry.

4) How did you get involved in speaking at conferences and what is

that like?

The rst major event I spoke at was around nine years ago, when

Autodesk asked us to support them in a European Tour. They had been

impressed by our lm work and wanted us to tell their audience about

our process using their software. Since then I’ve spoken in the UK,

Sardinia, Moscow, San Diego and Venice. To be perfectly honest I still

nd the prospect of talking to big crowds fairly terrifying, but once I get

started it feels better, and it’s often a useful exercise in terms of taking astep back and evaluating our working processes.

5) How many employees are currently at Uniform and what is the

atmosphere there like?

There are currently 32 of us in total. Our main studio is in Liverpool, with

collaborators in Scotland and a recently opened studio space in London.

The atmosphere in the studio is busy and productive, and having teams

with a wide range of expertise makes things really interesting. It’s a

relaxed and friendly agency, everyone gets on well, and our new space,

which we moved in to around nine months ago, has a big kitchen and

dining area where we can all sit and have lunch together, which has

been a great bonus and has really brought people closer together.

6) What are your typical day to day tasks as the creative director of

visualisation?

Leading the team and encouraging them to think in new ways, looking

at di erent approaches to solve problems. Reviewing projects and

providing creative leadership, discussing new creative opportunities with

the client management and business development teams. And keeping

a step ahead, constantly looking at how we stay ahead of the game as a

business, and how we develop as individuals and as a team.

7) What makes Uniform di erent from other creative agencies?

Because we set up the company whilst I was still at University, I don't

have the experience of having worked at any other agencies which issometimes a good thing and sometimes not! What makes us di erent is

the mix of skills within the agency. We’ve got ve distinct discipline-led

teams; CGI, Film, Brand and Design, Digital and R&D. It’s not often you

get that all under one roof.

We’re very ambitious as a business, we want to work with the best

brands and produce the most creative and e ective work, and build

It’s a relaxed and friendly agency, everyone getson well, and our new space, which we moved in toaround nine months ago, has a big kitchen and diningarea where we can all sit and have lunch together



We are currently looking for atalented Senior CG Arti to joinour award winning Archite uralVisualisation team.

Join us

[email protected]



a great business whilst we’re at it. We’ve got a strong board and

management team who are all working together towards this same goal

and that helps keep the culture dynamic and energetic.

8) What has been the most challenging project you've worked on

and why?

Lots of them! - It’s very di cult to single one out - every project brings

it’s own challenges, whether that’s gambling with the weather when

trying to organise a helicopter shoot, or getting the best from actors

and extras on a greenscreen shoot, managing the clients needs and

working within the project constraints while at the same time injecting

the best possible creative, to the more technical challenges across large

complex projects. I think that even after doing this for 15 years, we still

learn something from every project, and that’s one of the aspects which

keeps it exciting.

9) Lastly if you could go back in time and tell your younger self one

thing what would that be?

There are actually quite a few things I’d tell myself…Less procrastinating around business decision making - get on and do it,

then adjust later if it’s not 100% right, rather than not making decisions!

Ensure you give people enough responsibility and space to develop

their skills and careers.

Work with people who are better and smarter than you.

Think big, be ambitious, don’t be afraid to chase the dream, have

con dence in your abil ity.

Don’t be scared of change - constant evolution and growth is cr itical. If

you’re not moving forward, you’re losing ground to your competitors.

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, you’ve

given brilliant answers which I’m sure will bene t the readers.

You can keep up to date with Uniform’s activities by following them

on Twitter (twitter.com/uniformtweets), Instagram (instagram.com/

uniformtweets) and Vimeo (vimeo.com/uniformltd).

We’ve got fve distinct discipline-led

teams; CGI, Film, Brand and Design,Digital and R&D. It’s not often you getthat all under one roof.



Developer CIT saw an opportunity to take a brutalist building in London’s thriving SouthBank and redevelop it as one of the capital’s newest, luxury residential properties.

The former King’s Reach Tower would undergo an extensive redevelopment, creating 191luxury apartments and penthouses. The new building, to be named South Bank Tower,

would not only bene t from a swimming pool and spa, but extensive views across the

Thames, including the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral.

Uniform was asked to produce a series of interior images for marketing purposes.

Working alongside architects KPF and interior designers Johnson Naylor, Uniform created

a series of photo-realistic images, including the lobby, apartments and the pool and spa.



CIT

South Bank Tower



Principal Place is a £290 million, 1.2m sq ft o ce and residential development in

Shoreditch, London. The o ce element of the agship project is a 16-storey, 623,000 sq ft

block designed by architect Foster + Partners.

Uniform was appointed to create several internal and external images for the o cedevelopment, as Hammerson the developer looked to market the project and generate

interest from the world’s major corporate businesses and attract high level tenants.

The images had to communicate the quality of the development, especially the lobby, and

the view from the luxury roof terraces. To create an accurate impression, Uniform had to

complete the skyline across the City, including the buildings still under development.

In 2012, Hammerson put its o ce portfolio up for sale, but retained a few key unbuilt

projects, including Principal Place, one of it prime sites.



Hammerson

Principal Place



With £3.5 billion of private investment already committed, Croydon is described

as London’s next big regeneration opportunity. Working at the heart of the town’s

transformation, West eld has identi ed the Whitgift Shopping Centre as one of the

group’s main UK development opportunities in the town centre.

In 2012, the developer briefed Uniform to create a set of CGI images and animations

to support the planning application, Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and marketing

collateral. The objective was to secure public and stakeholder support for West eld’s

plans.

In early 2013, West eld formed The Croydon Partnership, a 50/50 joint venture with

another developer, Hammerson, to deliver the £1 billion development. Uniform is nowcreating updated images for the new joint venture as it goes forward to nal planning

consent.



West eld

Croydon



West eld, the world’s biggest shopping centre group, built Europe’s largest urban

shopping centre at the London 2012 Olympic Park in East London. West eld Stratford City

became one of the most high pro le retail developments in the world.

With the aim of attracting over 300 occupiers to the destination, West eld workedwith Uniform to create a set of 18 photo-realistic images to help visualise the 180-

acre development. Used extensively for marketing and media within the UK and

internationally, the images positioned West eld Stratford City within the context of East

London, articulating the social and commercial success of the regeneration.

Prior to the Olympics, West eld had secured 95% lettings. Uniform has since been

appointed to create further images, as West eld looks to develop the site further, creatingnew retail space and extending the landscaping.



West eld

Stratford City



Single Images



KPF - Bondway Tower



CIT - St Edmund’s Terrace



Mount Anvil - Union Street



Sellar - The Shard



cgstepinside.com



CONTEN T EDITOR

ADVERTISING MANAGER

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

MARKETING MANAGER

Ceiga Issue 18

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