Although it has been a slow month for new work there have been a number of highlights. These have included Kokoro & Moi’s visual identity for Guggenheim Helsinki NOW, Folch’s work for homeware and fashion accessory brand Zuzunaga and Stranger & Stranger’s new packaging treatment for rare Speyside single malt Scotch whisky Aultmore. However, there were five projects that stood out and have made it into BP&O’s Best of Series, a feature that brings together the most interesting and unusual projects published on the site each month for another opportunity to be seen and shared.

Smack Lobster Roll designed by & Smith

Smack Lobster Roll is a takeaway business, located on Mayfair’s 26 Binney Street, serving freshly cooked lobster in brioche rolls, as well as a variety of other fillings. In conjunction with a name change, formerly Smack Deli, and to coincide with the opening of a second site on Dean Street in Soho, design studio & Smith worked with Smack to clarify brand position and develop a new brand identity treatment. This went on to include logotype, illustration, stationery, packaging, signage and web design.

See more of this project here

Island of Soil designed by UMA

島の土 / Island of Soil is an organic fertiliser created to help develop good quality soil and draw out and compliment the natural power of the land. The range is made using livestock feces and processed vegetable scraps from animals raised and produce grown on the Japanese island of Awaji. It comes in two varieties, a poultry manure and sawdust mix, and a rapeseed oil cake and powder mix, both packed in two sizes, a large 15kg bag and smaller 500g bag. These will be sold through large agricultural retailers as well as small gardening shops.

Island of Soil’s packaging was recently developed by Osaka based design studio UMA. It features an unbleached card interior and a bleached and printed paper exterior, closed with a copper split pin and featuring a bold typographic and iconographic approach to communication.

See more of this project here

UMFF designed by Studio fnt

UMFF is a film festival that takes place at the Ulju Arts Centre located in the South Korean city of Ulsan, and draws its name from the Ulju mountains to the west. Studio fnt worked with the film festival to develop a new visual identity treatment, which went on to include logotype, iconography, stationery, t-shirt design and signage, based around a contemporary interpretation of a traditional Korean image.

See more of this project here

Vocation designed by Robot Food

Vocation is a UK microbrewery, established and run by John Hickling, with a range of craft beers that have distinctive and punchy flavour profiles, and an identity, packaging treatment and naming convention, developed by design studio Robot Food, that draws on their tropical, fruity, floral and hoppy characteristics, and the brewery’s fearless, daring and renegade attitude.

Read more of this article here

The Mansion on Marylebone Lane designed by Pentagram

The Mansion on Marylebone Lane will be a 22-unit high-quality residential development in Central London with lower ground, ground and seven upper floors, roof terraces and two basement levels. It will feature reflective glazed terracotta external cladding with a subtle variation in colour and shade to achieve an element of interest and complexity, while the reverse will be a white reflective glazed terracotta inspired by the brick courtyards of Victorian London.

Informed by the long history of mansion buildings in London—built for those looking to secure a prestigious address in the city during the boom of the industrial revolution—Pentagram partner John Rushworth developed a strategy and brand identity treatment for the property based around a monogram, slab-serif typography, terracotta colour palette, lifestyle photography and illustration.

See more of this project here