Base London

Hip shoe company, Base London, was looking to target young, attitudinal males and align their brand with an 'edgy' urban lifestyle that was cool, bold and unafraid of shattering taboos. "We want something provocative and controversial", they said. "We want everybody talking about us." 

So we created an alternative guide to London, a handbook of all the attractions the tour buses never show you. The seedy side of the city. Designed in stark black and white by the ultra-talented Frost Design, the Base Guide to London provided information on a wide variety of vices - from where to buy counterfeit Tommy Hilfiger jeans to the average prices for transvestite sex - in tone that was conspiratorial‚ slang-ridden and brutally frank. Considering this was several years before the likes of Vice magazine hit our shores,  the material was pretty shocking to say the least.

Over 250,000 copies were given away with Base items and the guide was promoted with outdoor ads on the Tube, 48 sheets and bus-sides. Sales of Base Shoes rose by 111% over the following year,

The guide was eventually banned under the Censorship of Publications Act and placed on the register of prohibited publications, further enhancing the buzz, infamy and desirability hat had grown around the piece. The brochure also picked up a D&AD Award.

Client: Base London
Agency: Banc
Skills: Journalism, Copywriting