Taylor James, the London-based creative production studio, has unveiled its latest designs for The Knowledge”s 2011 Directory.

Seven dynamic images were created for the Knowledge”s cover and dividers using Taylor James” in-house expertise in concept development and production, and utilising its CGI, photography and post-production services. The images feature some instantly recognisable objects from within the film and production industry, formed in 3D letters to make subtle but identifiable words.

This was an unusual and exciting project for Taylor James, which has worked with some of the world”s leading brands, including, British Airways, Coca-Cola, Amex and Heineken, creating content for campaigns across digital, print and broadcast media.

Alex Pickup, creative lead on the project at Taylor James, developed the concept for The Knowledge. He said: “Our team”s collective passion for film-making and story-telling meant we were instantly drawn to this unexpected project, and wanted to create images that accurately reflected the industry. The Knowledge is all about the day-to-day functions of film and TV production and the hurdles you may come upon whilst on set. I wanted to create common scenes that looked incidental, as if you had just come upon the objects in a real-life environment. It would”ve been simpler to have placed the objects against a studio backdrop but for me it was important that we took photographs that would serve as a backdrop and suited the perspective of our shots.”

Along with concept development, Alex Pickup also oversaw all of the production stages to final delivery. He continued, “We created the objects for each scene with CGI, integrated these with the backgrounds shot by our photographic department and brought the elements together with focus effects and colour grading by our retouching team. Having all of our services under one roof means we can control the production efficiently and ensure consistency in the quality of our work.”

Due to time-constraints, Taylor James asked a dedicated team of R&D technicians to write a bespoke script and software plug-in that would automatically cover the shapes with lettering. Giving the images that ‘incidental” feeling of coming across the objects in their natural state also meant extra time was invested in creating unique shaders for each object, allowing the hat, sandwich, and scissors to take on a feel of their real-life counterparts.

Edward Canavan, Associate Publisher at The Knowledge, said: “We were so impressed with both the quality of the work they did for us and the professionalism of everyone involved. As one of London”s leading creative studios, we knew they would be the perfect fit with The Knowledge”s values of quality and creativity.

“The designs are stunning representations of real production environments on set, beautifully lit and rendered in amazing detail. We couldn”t be happier with the finished work and are confident our subscribers will love the design Taylor James created for the 2011 edition.”

Taylor James was initially established as a high-end retouching house over a decade ago; it has since paved the way in producing photo-realistic work with CGI, live-action, creative direction and post-production, offering a broad spectrum of innovative solutions for their clients. Recent animation and live-action work for ads in the UK and USA has won the studio several accolades, including a Cream Award for ‘Best use of Animation” for Calor Gas and a Davey for ‘Best US TV commercial” on Bermuda Tourism.