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...
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...
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...
In July 2019 New York-based Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh announced that they would be splitting their shared practice after nearly a decade of innovative and boundary-pushing work together. In the amicable separation, &Walsh took over the commercial projects while Sagmeister announced he would exclusively be working on ‘self-generated design’ under Sagmeister Inc. Having made his millions, Sagmeister’s days are...
Water masquerading as an edgelord-baiting energy drink (Blackletter fonts, skulls, and a name straight out of the heavy rock canon); running shoes aping a chesty cough remedy; olive oil bottles that owe more to the science lab than the Mediterranean. Packaging at the moment, it seems, is frequently playing fancy dress. That’s no bad thing, of course: brands borrowing aesthetics...
Global strategy, branding, packaging, and graphic design studio Mucho created this colourful new identity for coffee tech startup BrewBird, working with Scottish artist Craig Black. Mucho was appointed to create a new brand identity and ‘memorable’ packaging system to help BrewBird communicate its story around uniting cutting-edge tech, taste, and ‘the artisanal craft of coffee roasters’. According to Mucho, drip...
The balance of power in the US isn’t decided in Washington. It’s decided in state capitols where Republicans have gained overwhelming control, asserting systematic bias on voting rights and election processes. Through policies of suppression and gerrymandering, certain priorities and populations are often neglected in election results. Forward Majority is a political action committee on a mission to accelerate Democratic...
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,...
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...