Formed in 1911, while San Francisco was rapidly rebuilding after the devastating earthquake of 1906, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) has been serving audiences in the Bay Area and beyond for 111 years. In 2018, Esa-Pekka Salonen – a Finnish conductor and composer – was announced as the incoming musical director, with his tenure to start during the fall season...
Panettone has origins as far back as ancient Rome, but its connection to Christmas was first established in the eighteenth century. This sweet bread – originally from Milan – has earned its place across the globe as a staple of the festive season. However, earlier this summer, Barcelona-based twins Chiara and Francesca Pavolucci opened a bakery to bring panettone to...
Few products have successfully integrated ethical, sustainable and environmental concerns with a product than coffee. It’s hard to imagine a time when the conditions of cultivation (both human and environmental) were not equal to flavour and – if we’re getting technical – whether the roast is blended or single origin. With its smaller volumes, the speciality coffee market has challenged...
New products, new markets and new consumer groups generate new aesthetics – or, at least, you would hope so. Too often, style migrates from one category to another, or the identity of a sub-culture (visually speaking), is exploited in a commercial context. This is where ‘authenticity’ emerges, to support genuine origin credentials, or to mask the appropriation with narrative context....
Pizza making is a lot like brand identity design. It has many potential configurations: it can be generic or wildly individual, but fundamentally, it’s systematic, a framework of organised elements. It is a base that holds a variety of communicative assets and techniques (the toppings, if you will). Appeal is determined by how well this is orchestrated, and how well...
American industrial designers Ray and Charles Eames fundamentally believed that good design should be available to everybody. It’s ironic, therefore, that today – in part due to institutional bodies, galleries, collectors and capitalism – their work has been elevated far beyond the reach of the common person. Design that was supposed to be accessible has become a symbol of taste,...
Design-savvy duo and father and son team Dylan and Frank worked alongside Gary Todd Architecture and interior design team INDYK Architects to develop Ebb, a contemporary boutique hotel located at the heart of Dunedin, a city on the South Island of New Zealand. Ebb is uniquely situated at the edge of the reclaimed Otago Harbour–a place where Polynesian travellers would...
The Hyundai is one of the three major department stores in South Korea, with its 15 branches across the regions of Seoul, Yeongnam and Hoseo accruing more than $6 billion in annual sales. Petit Planet is the Hyundai’s new specialised children’s division, presenting premium brands in an environment designed to stimulate young imaginations. This post includes Extended Insights for BP&O...
The Art Gallery of New South Wales, founded in 1872 as the New South Wales Academy of Art, suffered from a fragmented brand architecture. Addressing this through a rationalised and simplified system, and reinforcing the master brand across all Gallery collateral became a central part of developing of a new brand identity which would support a repositioning strategy that moved...
With manufacturing and sales teams throughout Australia, UK and the USA, Autex has grown to become the market leader in interior acoustic products in New Zealand, and the go to choice for leading architects aspiring to reduce the amount of atmospheric noise within cutting-edge residential and commercial spaces. Their products are innovative, produced in a variety of forms and colours,...
Piedmont is a small city in California named after the European region in the shadow of the Alps (from the Italian piemonte, meaning ‘foothill’). Surrounded on all sides by Oakland, the neighbourhood has a population of roughly 10,000 people and an active charity scene. This includes the Piedmont Arts Fund, a nonprofit group that promotes and supports visual and performing...
Metamorphoses is a contemporary art gallery that curates unique pieces by makers who turn one thing into another. It takes a special interest in works that are inspired by the past while displaying keen attention to present issues. These pieces, selected by the gallery, are often drawn from a body of work by artists who reflect on aspects of cultural...