Wally Olins – Branding Guru

If you’re a graphic designer then no doubt the name Wally Olins will be familiar to you. Wally was a pioneer, and one of the worlds most successful corporate identity and branding guru’s having worked with many prestigious brands during his long and illustrious career. To him branding wasn’t just about the message or visual identity – it was about the innovative culture of the people behind the brand and the evolution of the product or company over time.

Sadly he passed away last year leaving behind him a legacy. When I heard about a project about the ‘Wall of Wally’ almost a year after his departure, I thought it was a great way to pay tribute to the man who led the way in corporate identity and branding. The brief for the project is simple. Based on a supplied portrait of Wally create an illustration based exactly on this portrait in any style you wish. Not only is it a fitting tribute it will be a useful directory of illustrators for studios and ad agencies.

My contribution below focused on a hand drawn approach, hand drawing a variety of elements on paper using pens and ink then pulling these into Photoshop. To see the other beautiful illustrations you can visit the project here. Why not take part yourself?