Breaking New Ground in Baku

It was in October last year that we first shared with you some of the directions we had produced for the new Four Seasons Hotel Baku, Azerbaijan. Since then we have been busily developing over 100 collateral items; from tray removal cards to banqueting floor plan fact sheets.

Our role also involved sourcing and establishing links with a local printer within the region who were able to deliver to a high print standard. After assessing many dfferent printer calibres we eventually selected one based in Istanbul, a day or so drive from Baku. After having all the copy translated to Aseri the final artwork was sent out to production.

Colour proofs returned better than expected and it wans't too long after that the presses were running and the hotel was taking delivery well in time for their opening in June.

A very successful project where the challenges came more from working with new printers in unknown regions than developing new ideas.

Here are a selection of the items produced.

Qube Calendar 2012

For Qube's 2012 calendar we wanted to combine the everyday with people's love of taking notes, leaving notes, jotting down, scribbling etc. The challenge was how to combine the two and still make it aesthetically pleasing and useful.

After some creative soul searching we developed a TAKE NOTE 'block' which combined 365 days with a unique set of notes on the reverse of each day. The box had two sides 'Take Note' on one side for the days and 'Noted' on the other for the note papers.

The national holidays were treated slightly differently using a more exotic stock and printing techniques including de-bossing and foil stamping.

We also included the Chinese calendar dates which was very typographically challenging.
The packaging also worked as a stand making the complete package versatile and unique.

Curiouser and Curiouser

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you could live forever? What would happen if aliens attacked? Why sex is fun? We were asked the same questions when the Discovery Network approached us to develop a new campaign for their series Curiosity.

Our challenge was to develop a series of ads and accompanying eDM that best captured our sense of curiosity, asking the most fundamental questions facing the world. Each episode focused on a single enduring question in science, technology and society. The questions were so arresting, the most challenging part for us was to evoke a positive reaction to some very direct questions.

Here are our some of our initial concept ideas:

©Jupiter Images

©Corbis

©Corbis

With sensibilities in certain regions of Asia-Pacific, a more subtle approach was required as well as delivering a more clearer message to the audience. Here are the final results:

 

Make a Date

It's that time of year again when designers burn the midnight oil, thrashing their brains for the next big creative calendar idea.

Today, calendars are not just tools that tell you what day or month it is, but serve a much more subtle role in our lives. A well-designed and aesthetically pleasing calendar can alter the visual aspect of a room and can even be a subject around which casual conversation can revolve.

In our minds a calendar plays an imperative role in our lives and defines us by our tastes and styles. Latest advancements in technology have made it possible for us to incorporate our schedules and events into calendars in a virtual form in our mobile devices and computers, but nothing beats the experience of owning a conventional calendar. There are many who prefer to own and use calendars that are physically present which they can touch and feel, an experience that cannot be replicated by modern technology.

Last year we did away with convention and produced the Qubric 2011+ a thumb drive with a preloaded series of desktop wallpaper calendars. Altough we had some great feedback it was mixed with a sense of disappointment that we had not produced our regular calendar that we had been producing for the past 5 years.

This year we have teamed up with our printer and paper supplier in China to produce a collaborative desk calendar version.

Here are some of the design works currently in progress. We'll be sharing more as the project progresses...

Run Rabbit, Run!

Chinese New Year of the Rabbit is upon us and this year we decided to put together a set of Hong Bao's. These are traditionally red packets containing money given out during family or social gatherings during Chinese New Year or at weddings.

There are no clear sources which trace the origin of the red envelope tradition although it is said during the Qing Dynasty the elderly would thread coins with a red string. The money was called yāsuì qián and was believed to have protected the elderly from sickness and death. The yāsuì qián was replaced by red envelopes when printing presses became more common.

So, bucking tradition we developed a series of silver 'red' packets which featured 3 different tangram rabbits. Tangram (seven boards of skill) originated in China and is a dissection puzzle game using seven shapes. The objective of the game was to form an outline of an object. There are approximately 5,900 different shapes that can be achieved, we managed 3!

Letterpress, making an impression

There is something profoundly inspiring seeing true letterpress examples, even more so to acutally feel, touch and hold them. Maybe it is the notalgia of lead metal type, or that it evokes the very essence of design and print in its purest form, whatever it may be this dying trade has seemed to have found a resurgence in wedding collateral. Here are a couple of great examples by SMOCK based out of NY, we found them during our research for our Quentin's wedding invitation.

If you decide to go down the Letterpress route, the biggest challenge is to find a printer who can still do it. After some searching we found a printer based in Singapore who were willing to dust off their old Heidelberg and give it a try. PRENSA were very eager. Unfortunatley they did not anticipate the complications they would have rennovating their old machine, meanwhile the clock was ticking, the wedding couldn't wait. We had to go with a more conventional method of printing using debossing to achieve a similar technique. Still, next time we'll know where to go!