SCHOFIELD WATCH BOX.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.
With Schofield being such a personal brand that really echoes Giles as a person, we wanted to get an understanding of some more of his personal interests and convictions. With a mere glance at Giles his love for tattoos is strikingly obvious. His hand can be seen on the right, bearing interesting and mysterious markings, which peaked our interest so we talked with him in length about the meanings and inspirations behind them. From this points tattoos became a major influence for us as we enjoyed the link between the costal theme of the watch and the traditional tattoos worn by sailors.
Sailors are well known for having tattoos that originate from superstitious beliefs. The fact that such ‘tough’ people hold onto 'such ‘silly’ beliefs massively interested us and we felt it was a perfect fit for the project.
Another thing we felt like interweaving into the design was Giles’ love for story telling. A common phrase stated by him throughout our interactions was “the best story wins”. This was in reference to his belief that storytelling is the best way to sell a product and any product without a good story is ultimately lifeless.
Through subsequent research we came upon tattoos that we felt had good depth and narrative behind them that we should add to the box. Here are some of them; The nautical star (believed to being good luck and always guide the wearer home), a cross (generally tattooed on the bottom of sailors feet to ward off sharks) and the number 13 (generally considered to be luck amongst sailors).
Along with this we then created a story that would be tied to the box. It goes as follows: A ship crashes whilst carrying precious cargo (the watch) leaving only one survivor. The form of the box is made to imitate that of a mast from the ship that has snapped in the middle. The lone survivor then washes up on a deserted island and protects the box as it is his last possession. With limited resources left on the island the sailor begins to feel his days are numbered and starts carving good luck symbols (the tattoos) into the box. The castaway eventually meets his untimely end and the box is then left on the island with the treasure inside, ready for someone to stumble upon it many years later.
Below is a collage of images of our final product for you to enjoy.
SIZZLE
Alongside the box we were also asked to create a promotional video or “sizzle”. For the sizzle, we aimed to build a tense atmosphere by keeping the visuals dark and moody, revealing only brief glimpses of the product until the final, epic shot. Inspired by a suggestion from Giles, we explored the video "Blacklamp, Black Light, and the Crepuscule" on the Schofield YouTube channel, a collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Luke Forsythe. Drawing from this concept, we incorporated night shots of the sea but chose choppier conditions to convey a "tough bloke in bad weather" vibe. This approach also helped create a cohesive visual narrative across Schofield’s promotional materials.
As part of a module entitled “Design for Industry” we were tasked with creating a box for an upcoming watch by Schofield Watch Company. The main focus of this module was to create a product for a client (Giles Ellis the owner of the company) to give us some experience of how this would work in the working world.
To give an understanding of the brand we were designing for here is a quote lifted directly from the Schofield website itself:
“SCHOFIELD STRIVES TO MAKE BEAUTIFUL AND CONSIDERED THINGS, MAINTAIN A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS, PROTECT PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT WHILST SUPPORTING THOSE THAT DO THE SAME.”
The watch we designed the box for is known as the B6. A very limited run, consisting of 50 in blue and 50 in green and it is described to “reflect
the austerity and grim weather that is often found across the UK”. During an interview with the client he likened the watch to “a tough bloke in bad weather”. This metaphor really resonated with us and was something that we definitely wanted to carry forward and make a driving factor within our design.