Billboards by Global – Bird London stages the UK’s largest billboard network with Pascal Schonlau

With “Billboards by Global”, British media and entertainment company Global brings its large-format Out-of-Home offering together under a new brand. For the launch campaign, Bird London developed a series of visuals spanning the worlds of automotive, aviation, travel and beauty. The beauty visual was photographed by Pascal Schonlau – an elaborately constructed studio production featuring a model, water, rocks and a healthy dose of high-end fragrance aesthetics.

“Billboards by Global” comprises more than 4,500 classic and digital 48-sheet sites and, according to Global, is the UK’s largest billboard network. The new brand brings Global’s portfolio together under one cohesive visual identity.

The launch campaign was created by Bird London. The agency effectively turns the medium itself into the product: rather than simply showing billboard sites, the campaign features visuals that at first glance could be international advertising campaigns for cars, airlines, travel or luxury beauty brands. Only the “Billboards by Global” branding reveals the visual play.

This approach is particularly evident in Pascal Schonlau’s image. The making-of shows how the seemingly coastal landscape was constructed step by step in the studio. Model, rocks, water, lighting and backdrop come together to create a hyperreal setting in which the “Billboards by Global” object is staged like the bottle in an international fragrance campaign.

Making-of with Pascal Schonlau on Vimeo

For the campaign, Bird London combined different production techniques: three of the visuals were created using CGI, while the beauty and travel images were photographed. The series deliberately plays with the visual codes of major advertising categories – while simultaneously demonstrating the impact imagery can have in Out-of-Home.

“This set of out of home posters were crafted with the proper route to advertising and creative in mind, using fantastic set builds, quality photography, lighting, models, props and CGI craftsmanship,” says Rich Kennedy, Creative Direction, Art Direction and Design, about the campaign.

On the client side, Creative Directors were Mark Potts and Angela Edwards of Global. At Bird London, Rich Kennedy, Creative Direction, Art Direction and Design, was responsible for the creative. The shoot was produced by Lisa-Marie Dickinson / The Art Buying Company, with set design by Matt Huddleston and casting by Heather March. Retouching was handled by Neon Beast and Jake Hickman, while the CGI visuals were created by PICS.

Pascal Schonlau is represented by Emeis Deubel. Discover more of his work at the intersection of photography, CGI and AI directly via his agency.