IWC Schaffhausen
Finding Mr. Klaus - Inside the illustrations
Have you already found the legendary watchmaker Kurt Klaus? Or the musician carrying his guitar case? Or the two dogs barking at each other? Italian illustrator Filippo Morini, creator of the IWC series “Finding Mr. Klaus”, talks about the creative process behind his drawings and invites every single one of us to take a closer look - at his drawings, and also at our mechanical watches.
IWC Boutique Schaffhausen
“The IWC headquarter in Schaffhausen was probably the most challenging illustration, mainly because it was the first one. I had to dedicate quite some time doing research on the buildings and studying the best point of view. It took a lot of sketches before getting the point of view that I wanted.
When drawing the little characters, I remembered the cheerful and lively people in front of the IWC headquarter the last time I visited Schaffhausen. Somehow they reminded me of the pleasant atmosphere I enjoyed in the university courtyard right after classes. I particularly enjoyed drawing the redhead girl angrily staring at her phone under the tree on the right.
These illustrations are meant to inspire curiosity to the observers. We are invited to get closer to the drawings, to take a better look at all the details and all the situations that are going on. This action of “getting the eyes closer” is the same as when looking at the tiny details of your watch. I really like this analogy.”
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IWC Flagship Boutique New York
Filippo Morini:
“What makes me smile when I look at this drawing are the angry people behind the driving wheels shouting at each other, I can almost hear the cars honking. Also, the trio of students in the middle of the crossing, two girls laughing and a boy holding some books and a box with a frantic face, I really like how they turned out. On the other hand, drawing all those cars in different positions was a bit challenging in the beginning.
As for the creative process behind each drawing, the first step was always a very rough sketch of the buildings in order to nail down proportions and perspective. I did this on paper. Once I was satisfied with that, I scanned it and went on digitally on my computer.
The second step was the people. I drew around 150 characters for each illustration and there is no two identical ones, every one has been drawn from scratch. I didn’t make sketches for people, I just improvised, drawing straight forward one after the other.
The third step was adding colours, I used custom brushes that digitally imitate watercolours.”
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IWC & Chinese New Year
Filippo Morini:
“Looking at this image, you can almost feel the warm atmosphere created by all the people that are having a good time together, relaxing and partying during the winter holidays. My favorite part is the group of young people who are messily posing for a photo in the lower left corner of the nine-turn bridge, and thereby annoying a couple of old folks.
When creating an illustration with so many details, you go through waves of uplifting, challenging and frustrating moments. These kind of images need a lot of time and care, and the challenge is always to achieve the desired result within the time available before the deadline. I experienced some frustrating moments when I noticed that characters far away from each other have a slightly different size. Being consistent throughout the illustration is complicated but absolutely fundamental.
Either way, once colours are finally added and you see that every aspect of the image is interesting to look at and well balanced - without being overcrowded or too saturated - that’s when you feel immense joy and pride.”
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IWC Flagship Boutique Shanghai
Filippo Morini:
“Shanghai was a bit complicated in the beginning because the building in which the IWC boutique is located is curved; I had to do several sketches for that one.
For my research and location scouting, the internet turned out to be a fundamental resource, especially considering the worldwide travel restrictions. I mainly used “Google Street View” to check the minor details of each location - the position of the streetlights, the trash bins, the benches, the trees - but I also I looked up generic street images of each city in order to try to catch the essence and the vibe of the places and their inhabitants.
I remember the huge amount of scooters waiting for the green light while walking on a crossroad when I visited China last time. I actually reduced their number in this illustration. What I particularly like in this drawing is the couple eating noodles on the second floor, right above the last IWC boutique window on the right.”
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IWC “Racing Works” Boutique Zurich
Filippo Morini:
“The first thing that went through my mind when learning about the “Finding Mr. Klaus” campaign was a memory from my childhood. I used to read and play with a series of puzzle books called “Where’s Wally”, which is the main inspiration behind this project.
I had always worked on illustrations in portrait format or with just a very few subjects. So, this was the first time I approached a composition where the main protagonist is a large crowd of people. It was something totally new for me and this made me jump with enthusiasm into the project.
In the Zurich Boutique drawing, I particularly like the little situation in the lower left corner, with the old lady losing her groceries and the girl shouting at her, while the dogs bark at each other scaring a couple. But my favorite character is the messy boy whistling with his eyes closed while walking his dog. What was a little challenging were the details in the IWC boutique window. It took me much more time to get them right than I had expected.”
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Credits
