When Canterbury of New Zealand wanted to produce an iconic campaign poster to promote the Vodafone Warriors first appearance at Eden Park, they naturally turned to Icon Advertising.

The exciting concept of a line of players in the shape of a fern with the corresponding shadows creating the bottom half of the fern was developed and discussed. Trouble is it would have been impossible to produce such an image in a single shot. Not only would shadows have to fall in unnatural directions around the fern’s tip, the perspective and angles would not have been possible to replicate.

Our solution was to shoot each player individually, clearcut them, and position them on a field (incidentally shot on an entirely different day in a different place). Icon designers would then add the shadows, logos and effects to produce a final piece.

For the photography on the day we turned to Craig Brown, a Hamilton based photographer who had done extensive work with the Chiefs over many seasons. A room was booked at North Harbour Stadium and the shoot was done, player by player over two hours. Each player was photographed a minimum of nine times, arms folded, arms by sides, in different stances and on different angles to the lens.

Back in our studio, each shot was carefully clear-cut, boots were re-coloured, grass was created to sit over the boots, and shadows were generated. All in all, 40 hours of post-production. Final headlines were created, loved, hated, changed, and re-changed. After much blood, sweat and tears, the final version was approved for production.

End result. A fantastic concept – loved by Canterbury of New Zealand, and a great piece of artwork to kick the year off with.