texas historical commission – online banners

creative director: scott mcafee, writer: rob story, designers: brad maxfield, rob story, illustration: raymond swanland, animation: transistor

these were fun. the texas historical commission, a great client, was trying to promote their historical trails regions. this was a deal where people interested in all facets of texas history could follow some pre-planned routes (designed by the thc) and travel to “off-the-beaten-path” locations to see some lesser-known historical sites. we chose a pulp novel treatment for both the print and banners. this seemed like an appropriate way to amp up the excitement amongst people who might be interested in the action-packed history of our great state. by all accounts, it worked like a charm. brad maxfield had the idea to make these things work like pages in a pop-up book, and i took that thought and began figuring out how to bring it to life. i hired raymond swanland, who was a graphic novel/comic book illustrator and who did all of his amazing work digitally (no traditional pencil, ink, paint, canvas stuff). he had a dynamic illustrative style that was perfect for the “western pulp novel” look. we also hired transistor out of new york to bring the finished illustrations to life and make the pop-up book illusion work. because the actual banners were produced at a lower resolution than i’d like, i’ve included a high-res slideshow of the expanded banners (above). below, you’ll find all four playable versions as they appeared in their published form online.

here’s an early “rough comp” of the “bandits” banner when it was the “comanche” banner. it never made it out the door – for obvious reasons.