Financial Times

Alasdair + Jock made this set of teasers and illustrations for the acclaimed feature ‘Lunch with the FT’, an article that has been popularly carried for decades, and that features every major creative and business name you can imagine. The relaxed, yet spirited interviews take place in a restaurant of the interviewee’s choice, and the bill is footed by the FT, who else? The order and receipt are then published for your deliberation, cogitation and digestion.

With an extensive archive of wonderfully candid lunches to exploit, the FT editorial team wanted to give them a fresh twist. Alasdair + Jock developed appetising little mysteries for each interview, revealing subtle clues through beautifully animated vignettes that reflect the humour, warmth and flavour. With two new ones from Charlie Brooker, and Alma Deutscher, and two oldies from Jonathan Franzen (coming soon) and Nigel Farage, there was a nice mix of subject matter to call on.

Chris Swaine and Marty O’Brien at Fonic created beautiful soundbeds for each, which really help contextualise the pieces, even using a snippet of Alma Deutscher’s piano work to help illustrate her story.
Large established media houses have a massive mine of data which remains essentially untapped. For example the Financial Times has articles stretching back over a 100 years. These teasers demonstrate how archives can be made relevant to the contemporary media conversation for as history repeats itself they often become more relevant with time.
The interviews along with Jock’s wonderful illustrations were published in the FT Weekend edition, as well as online, and the teasers were successfully shared and re-tweeted on social media.

Credits:
Directed by Alasdair + Jock
Producer: Richard Barnett
Illustration: Jock Mooney
Animation: Alasdair Brotherston, Lesley Dart
Sound and Mix by Chris Swaine and Marty O’Brien @ Fonic
Commissioned by Natalie Whittle and Kevin Wilson @ Financial Times

FT | Charlie Brooker

FT | Jonathan Franzen

Ft | Nigel Farage