The Making of the STETSON Comic We came up with something quite unique for our Fall/Winter 2011 campaign. Gotham City as our collection theme: Just thinking about the inspiring DC comics evokes images of Batman & Co. What could be more spot on than using Comic illustrations for the campaign? So we ventured into new territory - and with Ralf Paul we were able to win over one of the greatest German cartoonists to team up with Stetson. We were thrilled to be able to work with him: He not only understood our philosophy but also knew perfectly how to seamlessly integrate our hats and caps into the comic strip. Action comics are Ralf's passion: in 1997, he published with "Helden" [heroes], the first German action comic modeled after American comic books. The first three issues were completely sold out within just a few months after publishing, and to this day they are still sought-after collectors' items. With authorization from the United States, Ralf was also the first German given permission to recreate a Superman and Batman poster as well as a cover for a German Spider-Man issue. After we saw some sketches, it was clear: Everything fit together perfectly! We were immediately drawn to his exceptional eye for detail. Behind the Scenes: the Drawings of the STETSON Campaign Together with Ralf we determined the overall framework of the story, the roles, and characters as well as the key points of the storyline. With our Detective JBS named in honor of John B. Stetson we created a hero who fights for justice in Gotham City. We gleamed a sense for the style and atmosphere of the comic metropolis from scenes of "The Spirit", "Sin City", "The American Detective" and certainly "Batman". After brainstorming on the individual scenes, our story came to life. Ralf put the storyboard together, what happens in every individual scene and what needed to be illustrated. An example: "The Murder". At the crime scene. Chalk outline of a person on the floor, police, detectives, and a reporter talk shop and consult with each other. 1
A rough draft of the image segmentation provided the framework to test different poses for the persons in the scenes: 2
Then there was a detailed clean drawing of the final motif in pencil: 3
The sketch was scanned after all the lines were cleanly traced by hand with black ink - after all, tracing the lines with a computer is just as tedious as with a brush on paper: 4
The pre-colorization took place on the computer: Ralf evenly colored in the areas, looked for and identified the right colors for the mood of the image. In the next step, Ralf added detailed light and shadow effects to all objects as well as other details: 5
In order for the Stetson hats and caps to look real and at the same time still true to the comic style, the products were photographed in the respective positions and then incorporated into the illustration. Ralf added light and shadows to the styles and traced the outlines with ink. Done! And this is how 11 sensational Stetson comic pages came to life to tell the story of our hero JBS. We hope you enjoy the final pages! 6
The Making of: Characteristic Details of the STETSON Collection In addition to the campaign, Ralf also helped us with our product development: He designed the Stetson "POW" and the "Mystery Mask Man" important details of the Fall/Winter 2011 collection. An additional Special created by Ralf Paul & Stetson: the Comic flip book which graces all products in the Gotham City line as a hang tag. Ralf drew 24 individual JBS images that illustrate frame by frame how his hat is being assaulted by the wind. Take note: Once real danger appears, hold on to your Stetson hat! We tip our hat to Ralf Paul His talent and creative input made our campaign as unique as a Stetson. With such an enormous dedication this is naturally a given: his own Stetson cap! Ralf designed his personal Cuban cap his favorite model in a hip black material. On the cap he immortalized his motto for life, "Born To Draw", with a script he fashioned himself. There is a stick on the inside of the cap bearing his signature. The Highlight: a small pouch to hold a sketch pad and pencil. The perfect cap for fashion aficionados and artists! By the way, Ralf Paul's comic line "Heroes" back in the time also published in the United States and Norway - has recently been made available online: You can take a look at the comics free of charge at http://www.ipp-comics.de. Enjoy! 7