Gustini by Koto
Like many a geriatric millennial, a lot of my childhood was joyfully spent in front of the telly absorbing cultural pillars like Zig and Zag, Stoppit and Tidyup, and, of course, Wales’ finest export after Charlotte Church, Fireman Sam. Alongside the titular Sam, the show starred icons including ‘Naughty’ Norman Price (fun fact – my dad once mended the boiler...
Ventura Foreman by Studio Blackburn
Founded by Robert Ventura and Sophie Foreman, Ventura Foreman is a design and manufacturing studio based in Woolwich, south London, which specialises in quality workwear pieces for clients like Paul Smith, Matches, and much-hyped North London ‘liberal metropolitan elite’ take on the greasy spoon, Norman’s Cafe. Having been around for a while without a ‘brand’, there came a point in...
Entrée by Saint Urbain
More than three years since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, we’re in a strange situation when it comes to all the things that flourished due to lockdown – grocery delivery services like Getir, et al; streaming services that poured literally billions into what once seemed like a never-ending gold-rush of content-consumption; flashy home-centric lifestyle brands like Peloton. Indeed, the...
ZVYK by .Oddity Studio
Most people agree that demarcations like ‘millennial’, ‘Gen Z’ and ‘Gen X’ are redundant – little more than age brackets created for the convenience of marketing teams which have become shorthand for a series of traits we’re expected to believe somehow define an entire generation. It’s curious, then, that for every diatribe against such groupings there’s at least ten more...
Goldmine Gummies by Robot Food
While cannabis products still make up a sector overmuch in its infancy, it’s one that’s already birthed its fair share of design cliches – from Camden Market-leaning leaf designs to ‘millennial pink’ trendiness to branding that owes way too much to adjacent sectors, like D2C beauty products or ultra-minimal pharmaceuticals. This recent work from Robot Food, however, manages to demonstrate...
Chelan Beauty by Olssøn Barbieri
Olssøn Barbieri certainly seems to be on form this year: we recently reviewed the Oslo-based multi-disciplinary design studio’s work for Stereoscope coffee, and now, we’re delving into its smart designs for Chelan Beauty. Marrying clarity, functionality and a decent smattering of the unexpected, the surprises land early with this one: Chelan Beauty isn’t actually a ‘beauty brand’ – as in...
Stereoscope by Olssøn Barbieri
Oslo-based multi-disciplinary design studio Olssøn Barbieri has created the brand identity for Los Angeles-based speciality coffee roastery Stereoscope, working across its packaging design and printed materials with a typography-led approach that celebrates tactility. According to Olssøn Barbieri, Stereoscope is underpinned by a philosophy that sees coffee as a living organism rather than a commodity, and which takes its responsibility to...
Graza by Gander
Using olive oil has never been so squ-easy. That’s how Andrew Benin, founder of Graza, would like us to feel. As Kelsey McClellan reports for the Wall Street Journal, Benin knew the last thing the world needed was another snobby olive oil and the key goal was finding ‘the sweet spot between flavor and affordability’. This product does feel different...
TWELV. by Seachange
Maybe the recent explosion in astrology is thanks to a more secular society; or a post-Covid sense of generalised uncertainty that’s left us grasping for answers. Perhaps it’s the rise of Instagram/TikTok influencers; or maybe it’s just because its foundations lie in astronomical reality that’s been harnessed by civilisations stretching back tens of thousands of years. Whatever it is, where...
Divine Farmer by Base Design
International creative studio network Base Design is behind the branding for Divine Farmer, a California-based wellness company with an identity centred on New Age-style iconography and a heavy reliance on storytelling. Divine Farmer was founded by Polina Bowler, an acupuncturist and herbalist and owner of LA-based holistic wellness centre East Meets West who came up with the idea for the...
Eadem by Lotta Nieminen
The skincare industry is a varied visual landscape. At one end of the spectrum, brands like Glossier and Soft Services (reviewed July 2022) have found balance in softness and understated minimalism. At the other Dr.Jart+ (reviewed Jan. 2018) and Malin+Goetz bring pharmacy-chic with functional, type-led packaging. And then we have our classic, heritage brands – like Kiehl’s and Elizabeth Arden – which...
Unto by Studio Bergini
Five years ago, the discerning and culinary-minded were content with their everyday Waitrose Essential Extra Virgin Olive Oil. But now – as with wine – there is increasing awareness that the taste of oil is individual, depending on olive variety, soil type, climate, cultivation method, and a host of other factors. From The River Café’s hotly anticipated annual pressing to...