UK Coat of Arms – Lithographic rendering date unknown, of numerous renderings

Vector computer drawing

US Great Seal – Lithograph of 1885 design

Vector computer drawing

Australian Coat of Arms – granted by King George V, 19 September 1912

1912 detail

Vector computer drawing

Hearldry is a graphic expression from the past which has contributed to contemporary branding. A somewhat quaint remnant of hearldry is the coat of arms, which now seems to brand a country, province, along with flags and seals.

This post came about from the research process we undertook in making a coat of arms for a new brand. This is not our first coat of arms, and it is always a pleasure to dig around the internet finding work from the past. One is always struck by the eye, skill, detail, quirk and awkwardness loaded in hearldry.

Our latest journey was filled with thrills and disappointment, all centred around the Australian Coat of Arms. One has always admired Australia’s elaborate 1912 rendering of the arms – The scratchy fur and feathers, the Art Nouveau flourishes, and the tangle of wreathed wattle – a complex, confident, yet simple rendering with a distinct sense of place.

We dug a little more and discovered an unremarkable vector rendering (line based drawing), on wikipedia, representing Australia’s contemporary Coat of Arms. What we found was alarming, everything of this new form was troubling (with respect to it’s creators) – it’s a rendering in our option which simply lacks the creative skill and artfulness worthy to represent a prominent country. Thinking that we were generalising, we then compared this outcome with similar official  renderings developed by other countries. After encountering numerous well rendered contemporary coat of arms, we wondered why an innovative country like Australia, with its infinite wealth of creative people, has an administration lacking the foresight to have a contemporary visual in place, which at the very least reflects the values of the 1913 rendering in a contemporary context. We feel that this situation, yet again demonstrates the space in which Australia occupies, in terms of creativity and artistic expression – their are other more important things to worry about like sport, sport, trade.

At this point it is easy to launch into a mad creative person’s rant, so we have taken the liberty to act like any good colonial citizen – we sort reference from distant shores, collected samples, and allowed our readers the opportunity to compare and judge for yourselves.

If your are reading Prime Minister Gillard and Minister Crean – Minister for the Arts, we invite you to compare too. Australia at the very least deserves to have a contemporary coat of arms created by a highly skilled Australian designer / illustrator, worthy of all the innovation, skill and know how that often litters our political soundscape – a new contemporary Coat of Arms for Australia is an opportunity to make a significant cultural gesture for the rest of the world to see.

Melbourne’s hottest Japanese bar is booked, copies of Astro Boy and Blade Runner are sourced too. We were tasked to develop event collateral designed to shake the woes of 2009 and welcome in 2010.

We started with exploring traditional Japanese symbols and images and developed an illustration of intertwined Koi that also is an abstract of the Ying and Yang symbol. Vertical type setting is exploited as well as a one off vertical Gunn & Taylor brand. The Japanese custom of new years postcard giving – nengajo, is called upon and range of Gunn & Taylor new year postcards are developed as a gift for the night. All we need is generous slabs of white paper, black and red ink.

Thank you Mr Gunn and happy new year!

Final poster – 4 x A0 plan prints, double sides tape and silver streamers

Established in 2006 Eye Saw invites designers to respond to a theme in the poster format. Eye Saw is overseen by Mark Gowing Design – it is an invitational poster exhibition held in Omnibus Lane, Ultimo, Sydney.

This year the studio was honored to be invited to produce a poster for Eye Saw. The brief invited participants to consider the theme humanity/equity.

Posters design is an individual process and it is difficult to develop a poster image that speaks of the idea, means something to its designer and connects with an audience. We thought of humanity/equity in terms of grooming compassion, nurturing our hearts. Everyone knows that to care for a plant you have to think to water it regularly for it to grow, so we twisted this metaphor and invited viewers to nurture their hearts.

The poster was cost effectively produced as four A0 black and white plan prints with fine streams of fine silver light plastic streamers flowing from the watering can’s spout.

Thanks to Simeon from Anagram in Sydney for installing our poster. A big thank you goes out to our friends at Melbourne studio Hofstede Design for pitching in on the day, while installing their work in Sydney, and helping Simeon with our installation. We are very fortunate and privileged to have peers like Simeon King, Wendy Ellerton, Dom Hofstede, Paul Garbett and Mark Gowing who share their ideas and pitch in from time-to-time – even from great distances.

Jasper claims our site

Wendy and Dom in action, Simeon on oranges

Wendy and Dom continue...

Dom shows us how to exploit chalk...

Hofstede’s completed “Equality” chalk piece

Wendy installing Hofstede’s – Flag piece

NaughtyFish explore equality

Toko smash out pixel doilles

Walter Wakefield’s interactive response

Omnibus Lane, work by Eskimo right.

Eye Saw 2009
Humanity / Equity
Omnibus Lane, Ultimo, Sydney
9 to 16 August 2009
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Visit Eye Saw here, Hofstede here

Located 140kms south east of Melbourne, Phillip Island is an out-of-the-way sea side spot in Westernport Bay. Discovered by George Bass in 1798, Phillip Island was once roamed by Bunurong people for 39,000 years.

The current population stands at 7,000 people whom often witness some of Australia’s most restless weather systems generated from the unpredictable Bass Strait.

Autumn in Melbourne is one of city’s finest seasons. The rains return, there is still a little late light in the evening and the colours turn in a spectacular fashion.

It is with this spirit Andrew made this image for Pearl Café’s latest menu. Communication design at its most simple expression often gives the client and designer the most effective and inspired outcomes. Thanks again to Andrew and Geoff for the great brief.

The studio has either dabbled with retail, or worked with a range of retail customers of late…

The cut and thrust of developing retail products and offers is that one has to risk the time, resource and money in realising, developing, production, marketing and distributing the product. However, the risk can be reduced, the ultimate success of a product can be fast tracked by working with rigorous market research and developing a comprehensive product strategy and marketing. Yet the true test of any product, is putting the product in front of the customer to discover if they find the product desirable enough to purchase it.

The market offers one the truth of the retail process — an opportunity to witness products succeed whilst others go unnoticed. This assists one to develop patterns or formulas for product designers to work by. Studying people‘s purchasing habits reveals that many successful products are attractive, obvious ideas, and well worn clichés. With a world burgeoning with obvious, attractive and clichéd product choices, a new opportunity emerges for product development —  for offers that tap into shifts in desire, as people seek new offers that rekindle their desires. It is a balance of finding and timing new ideas that a product designer negotiates. Knowing when to let one cliché go and bring to the customer‘s attention a more obscure idea, or cliché to desire.

The biggest trap a product designer can fall into is solely believing that their taste, style or insights of product will guarantee success. The other trap is shaping ideas that are too abstract from the common ideas that all people associate with — to name a few — love, hate, family, friends, beauty, ugly, happy, sad, dogs, ducks, war and peace. Many new ideas are simply old ideas recast, rehashed, redreamed.

In a restless world in restless times, one of the biggest wishes we have for the world is peace. Peace in war time, peace with the environment, peace in our homes and work places, peace with our selves.

It took little convincing to present this idea as big and as beautifully as possible with Melbourne based South American inspired fashion retailer Origén. The holiday campaign for Origén is a bold yet simple campaign that only finds its way on select, prominent and existing applications. Rather than creating a raft new applications specifically for the season campaign — instore posters, ticketing, wraps, shopping bags, wobblers…  This approach aligns with the studio‘s sustainable design process — saying more and using less.

Our peace dove was created by Sarah Furzer in pen and ink and brought into the digital relm for execution on the store‘s external windows, and on Origén‘s 2007 greeting card.

The studio was commissioned to develop a house wine packaging for Pearl Restaurant, inspired by Pearl‘s Sommelier — John Evans. Interpretations and images of our Thin Man were developed by illustrators Jane Reiseger and Sarah Pickering, which was then fused with Thin Man typography executed in a red foil that blocks over modest black printing. The range starts with a Pinot Noir, a white wine and sparkling will follow soon.

By Jane Reiseger

By Sarah Pickering

Visit Pearl, Jane Reiseger and Sarah Pickering here

These guys say… a festival is looming.

Chamber Music Australia (CMA) facilitates this region‘s largest and most revered chamber music events. The studio was tasked to develop a suite of communications items — from the brand to programme, apparel to advertising, signing to certificates and the web.

We wanted to put in place an image that positioned the event on the world stage — employing a confident and engaging graphic that suggests music, excellence and a sense of excitement.

The event programme was particularly rewarding project. With the guidance of CMA we assessed how the audience uses the programme and restructured the information to make the reading and review process intuitive, visually exciting, efficient with increased legibility.

The brand mark had several renderings a striking true mono solution, two to four colour outcomes and outcomes that are illustrated interpretations of the event graphic.

The event was declared the most successful competition on all fronts in CMA‘s twenty year history by the CMA‘s President Bill Forrest. With this result under our belts, we felt that it was timely to resign our eight year design and sponsorship partnership with CMA. We are focusing our energies on cultural partners in greater need of raising their brand and communications profiles in the community.

The studio ensured that materials had a extended usage life, building into the design outcomes multiple purposes and functions. We used sustainable printing, recycled papers and local manufacturing to produce desirable and highly reusable objects.

Folder, event programme brochure, invitation

Café postcard, event brochure and invitation

Programme brochure that folds out to A2 wall poster

Programme front cover and a selection of spreads printed using two colours

A one colour presentation folder that doubles as a wall poster

Competition t-shirts and carry bag