Wheelie Tired Arms

By: Lisa Slagle

I'm working on the Wheelie Creative Design winter ad campaign this week. Above is the web banner and Facebook cover pic I came up with. It took a full day of riding my bike around Whitefish, Montana to get the right shot, so I thought it was worth posting a bit of the design process.

Step 1: Do so many wheelies and manuals that you can't really lift your arms all the way to your keyboard the next day. Meanwhile as you wheelie, receive hilarious-yet-honest directions including, but not limited to:

• Bigger.
• No, bigger.
• You call that a wheelie? 
• Look up so it's a better profile.
• Smile.
• No, not a fake smile. A real smile.
• Tilt your wheel to the right.
  
• Get your dog out of the shot.
• Stop falling.
• Bigger.

Step 2: Realize you forgot to wear a scarf, so run around waving one like an idiot so that you can Photoshop it into the final image. Highly entertain the construction workers who are pouring a foundation right where you are running laps. Try not to trip on your oversized snow boots since this is already embarrassing enough.

Step 3: Go inside and eat cookies until you warm up. 
Step 4: Photoshop extravaganza: Cut out the bike, including each individual spoke. This takes a lot of patience, so when you get everything cut out, take another cookie break. Then finish Photoshopping any weird wrinkles and mud out of the clothing and glare spots off the bike. Turn the scarf orange, and try to make it look somewhat realistically attached. Desaturate the color on anything metal.

Step 5: Drag the Photoshopped file into Illustrator and test out a few ideas. Create some computerized sketches. Be aware of content, color choices, and the whimsical, holiday factor. 

Step 6: Work on it until you decide it's good to go, and launch it! 

Step 7: Eat one more cookie, and find someone to massage your arms.

Happy Holidays from Wheelie Creative Design!