shots Iconic Covers: Smith & Foulkes

To celebrate 25 years of shots we’re looking back at some of the iconic and memorable imagery that has adorned the covers of the magazine in that time. Last week, director Ringan Ledwidge spoke about being painted for the Cannes cover in 2012 and this week we speak to Nexus duo Smith & Foulkes about their portrait for the Animation Special last year.

The issue looked at some of the most talented directors in the field including Smith & Foulkes, who headlined with a brilliant cover highlighting their creativity and body of work. But what’s the story behind the piece and how did it come to fruition? The pair speak to us below about being recreated in an illustrated form for shots 148.

Tell us about how the illustration for shots’ Animation Special came about…

We asked the illustrator, Chris Martin, to create a brutally honest portrayal of us. And this is what you get. But I think everyone agreed that we look better as drawings than in real life.

Tell us about the initial approach you took when briefed with the task of creating a portrait?

Everyone seems to pull out all the stops for the shots covers. It’s the chance for us all to be rock stars for once in our lives. The best ones illustrate something about that person’s creative vision. So we decided to forego the pyrotechnics and cast of thousands in favour of severed drawn heads. Make of that what you will.

How well do you think the image fit with your feature interview?

It was the Animation Special so there was a certain inevitability that we would be sucked into a world of our own creation. It amused us to see our work compartmentalised in this way as that’s a fairly accurate description of our working methods.

Different jobs can be kept in their own secret laboratories to hopefully blossom into unique creations but they are all part of our overall house style. And there’s always an ideas storeroom to be raided as required.

What was the feedback you got from the image and tell us about the past year since the issue was released?

We haven’t noticed any dramatic new career opportunities as yet. It was more a reflection on how our career has come to this. We’ve just redecorated a few of our secret laboratories and begun some new experiments. Often tested on animated animals.

We’ve been dabbling in this industry for a good fifteen years now and it never fails to throw up surprising opportunities to achieve both.

To read the original Ad Icon feature with Smith & Foulkes please click here.