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

Slapped up, crinkled, raw edges, fat dots, big contrast, clashing screens, visual tricks, awkward type, generous slabs of yellow and black, thick screen printed ink, big big big, here one day, gone the next. Nothing beats a street poster and this year‘s Melbourne Fringe festival street posters is the pay back for working late and tweeking elements, and shuffling stuff on white shapes. Thank you Rock Posters. Yum.

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

Last October (2007) the studio concluded it‘s work with Robert Horne UK, to assist with launching the Stephen paper range in the UK. Several pieces were produced, including this exploration piece that drawed on contributions from Paul Davis, Sara Fanelli, Jeff Fisher, Anthony Geernaert, Shara Henderson, Paul Sahre, Karl Schwerdtfeger and Jen Tyers along with writing, imaging making and design by the Studio. Each image maker selected a topic that told the story of Stephen, then let their approach to image do the talking. Thanks again all our collaborators.