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Published by Studio Constantine N° 2 2014

A periodical collection of themed words and pictures by thinkers and makers

Studio Paper N° 2

Guild

Artisanal products & people

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Studio Paper N° 2 Guild

Suggestions, discussions, typos or enquiries are welcomed to studio@manualelectric.com or on facebook.com/manualelectric

All work remains © Copyright of its respective owners.

Studio Constantine are a communication design studio based in Melbourne, with representation in Europe. We work with clients across the globe, in multiple languages and with all budgets. We draw together a team with a breadth of experience on the global stage of design, advertising, innovation, marketing and publishing.

As a boutique design house, we are able to foster creative, collaborative relationships with our clients. You know your market better than we do; together we can deliver impactful results through intelligent communication.

If you are looking for crafted and conceptual design, we would love to hear from you.

We are publishing The Studio Papers for clients, prospective clients, friends of the studio and peers. Each issue will draw together sector specific insight into design process and thinking, referenced global trend and opportunity reports, and practical design case studies into one resource.

Contents

Introduction

We would love your input for future issues, or to speak to you about applying these insights to your business.

If you know anyone to whom this paper would be valuable, please feel free to pass it on, or contact us for supply of additional copies.

studio@manualelectric.com +61 (0)3 9852 9886

Studio Constantine

The White Space Level 2 41—45 A’Beckett St Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia

All mail to: PO Box 8246 Camberwell North Victoria 3124 Australia

P.3 Trend report

Sales at Etsy reached $1 billion in 2013, and only 30% of small businesses in Australia use social media. Our trend report highlights the opportunity of being an artisan doer or maker in the age of consumer curation.

P.6 Recent work

We don’t just do one thing, but everything we do is committed to being beautiful, articulate, incisive, and relevant to our clients’ personality and market. A peek at some projects we’ve completed of late.

P.6 Food

The first time we ate at Arthur Radley, we recognised a commitment to capturing the best of Parisian bistrot style cooking and eating. A passion for using the finest of ingredients, prepared and presented with maximum care and minimum fuss.

P.7 Goods

Paper Chap’s products are designed for the end audience— the children. However, it was clear that the Paper Chap identity ought be fully focussed on the buyers; parents, family and friends. Exploring the idea of gifts as a statement of personal taste.

P.8 Case study

Take a cleanskin cider from regional Victoria— draw on it’s origins to create a unique voice and a boutique product identity.

“Why not?”, we thought whilst preparing content for this second Studio Paper.

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From coffee and cake to jewellery and clothing, people are now as interested in the process and craft of the product as they are in it’s functionality or price point. This is providing a great opportunity for artisan makers and brands to tell a unique provenance story, hook consumers and reach a broader audience.

Importantly, social networks and online platforms are giving artisanal producers a voice and marketplace that was previously lacking. As people look to fill their lives with unique and individualistic products, small-scale production and retail platforms are gaining credibility in consumers’ purchasing decisions. Platforms like Etsy (etsy.com.au), Folksy (folksy.com) and Shopify (shopify.com.au) are helping create a link between independent artisanal producers and consumers on the look out for something

authentic and crafted— sales at Etsy recently reached $1 billion, with over 1 million individual sellers1. The platform has even developed a relationship with US retail chain West Elm (westelm.com) in order to give local sellers a place to sell their wares offline, in Pop-Up Shops, as well as providing Etsy a way of expanding its brand awareness. In early 2013, Etsy established an ‘interactive product wall’ in the Atrium at Federation Square in Melbourne. The showcase included individual handcrafted works from a variety of Australian designers who are using Etsy as their international springboard.

Curation is also playing a key role in artisan brands gaining a wider audience, as they often lack the financial clout and expertise to mount large marketing campaigns. Nuji (nuji.com) and Fancy (thefancy.com)

are two consumer-curated platforms that allow users to create visual ‘wish lists’ or pin-boards, providing the opportunity for smaller businesses to spread awareness of their products. With these platforms also integrated into social networks, artisan makers can piggyback on the substantial infrastructure of sites like Facebook, to find low-cost marketing possibilities that rely on strength of brand and product, not scale of coverage.

Despite these platforms being digital tools, their value is based on one of the basic foundations of human society—peer recommendation. The power of peer recommendation can be the difference between a small business having just locally based customers, and having a global reach. A peer-influencer poll by CrowdTap found that 70% of people

It’s never been a better time to be an artisanal brand —people are increasingly favouring something authentic, raw and crafted over the slick look and feel of ‘the high street’.

Trend report

Provenance, process and serendipity

Curate

Image taken from the studio’s work with restaurant Arthur Radley (see P.6)

Guild

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Studio Paper N° 2

were influenced by a family member or friend to make a purchase over a three-month period, compared to 49% from traditional advertising2. Tapping into this trend is Mine (getmine.com), a twitter-like social network that shows contacts recent purchases rather than tweets—not only does it publish the item bought but also the seller, providing a direct route for people to make a similar purchase and for small businesses to get increased exposure.

Utilising social networks is a key route to market, with more than 70% of small businesses in the US using social media to promote their products3 compared with only 30% of small businesses in Australia4, despite an increasing number of users engaging with brands and products through social media5.

Adding a system to buy directly from these brands will open up opportunities and break down walls that have kept artisan makers from broadening their market. Facebook (facebook.com) launched Gifts in Australia in May 2013, albeit in a limited form, providing a built-in purchasing system where people can ‘gift’ other friend’s items bought on the site. By utilising the power of peer recommendation, this could be an important step in accessing a global audience through a mainstream network.

But people are looking for more than recommendation and peer approval when making artisanal purchases —they’re looking for a moment of pure serendipity, a sensation of exploration and discovery. With many consumers tired of restrictive and faceless recommendations produced by corporate algorithms on Amazon and iTunes, they’re buying into a marketplace that provides surprise and delight. Notanotherbill (notanotherbill.com) is a monthly subscription that gives exposure to artisanal talent through monthly-curated packages, with the consumer not having any

idea as to what’s inside their package—providing a moment of pure surprise and exclusivity.

Other artisan brands are looking at involving the consumer more in the production of each item, immersing them in the process of manufacture and helping create more unique pieces. Two businesses that are doing this successfully are Nervous System (n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com), who use 3D printing to create biologically inspired bespoke jewellery and sculpture, and Party, a creative studio who produce unique pop-up photo booths—Omote 3D Shashinkan (omote3d.com) —that print miniature model replicas of a person. Both involve the consumer in the creative process, generating something unique and affordable to them.

But what about artisan makers that want to access mainstream markets without sacrificing the small-scale quality that is central to their business? In this era of collaboration and co-creation, some big companies are seeing value in aiding or working with small-scale businesses. One such brand is the Boston Beer Company, which runs the ‘Brewing The American Dream’ program with the micro-lender Accion. The program supports collaborative initiatives between the brewer and smaller businesses, leveraging big brand expertise to help artisan producers get their merchandise to market.

With people looking to express their individuality through the products they buy, artisan makers and brands will be presented with opportunities to expand beyond a local or national consumer base without losing their core values. With a strong brand that expresses a unique product story, small businesses can be empowered by social networks and peer recommendation—delivering the moment of surprise, delight and craftsmanship that consumers are looking for.

1 Sales at Etsy reached $1 billion in 2013, with over 1 million individual sellers. (bloomberg.com, Oct 2013)

2 70% of people are influenced by a family member or friend to make a purchase over a three-month period, compared to 49% from multi-media advertising. (CrowdTap, 13 August 2012)

3 70% of small businesses in the US use social media to market their business. (USA Today, 7 Oct 2013)

4 Only 30% of small businesses in Australia use social media. (Yellow Social Media Report by Sensis and AIMIA, 4 July 2013) http://www.digitalbusiness.gov.au

5 35% of social media users follow groups associated with brands or businesses and 20% use social media to research products they are interested in buying. (Yellow Social Media Report by Sensis and AIMIA, 4 July 2013)

Nearly half of US adults “like to eat food or beverage products with artisan appeal” (Packaged Facts)

43% of small business spend six or more hours per week on social media to build brand awareness (VerticalResponse)

75% of new businesses started by young people are going global in their first 12 months (Go Global report)

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Keeping it real

& sometimes imagined

Work

Image taken from the studio’s contribution to Desktop magazine’s ‘Other Worlds’ feature - July 2013

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Studio Paper N° 2 Guild

Food : Arthur Radley

Arthur Radley stands for a tradition of food and drink as being greater than simply sustenance; it is theatre, relationship, community and ultimately a statement of personality and values. It’s a banner, which Arthur invites all like minded gastronauts to rally beneath.

The first time we ate at Arthur Radley, we recognised a commitment to capturing the best of Parisian bistrot style cooking and eating. A passion for using the finest of ingredients, prepared and presented with maximum care and minimum fuss. As we began to work together, it became clear how the commitment to quality and process transcended both of our disciplines.

Manager Anna Dragonetti and Chef Janeece Dodd invited Studio Constantine to work with them on the development of the Arthur Radley website. The challenge was clear; capture the magic of ambience, taste and service, devise a functional framework for key details and navigation, and deliver it all with a singular voice. In other words, how do we help users picture themselves in the restaurant and amongst the action?

Our response was to propose a series of images, not simply capturing plated dishes, but combining sets of ingredients and objects with spaces in the restaurant, and creating still life compositions. The intent was not to coldly document, but to communicate the essence of the Arthur Radley experience.

We took a good deal of inspiration in setting up the photographic compositions and lighting from the Dutch still life painting tradition.

In parallel to still life ‘hero’ images, we also shot a number of reportage style shots of food being prepared and enjoyed, as generosity and shared experiences are central to the restaurant concept.

James Money, Archibald Finalist – Visual identity, website design and development. Millar | Merrigan, Land Development Consultants – Corporate brochure, art direction, copy writing and design

We also integrated the #ARADSpecials twitter feed into the front page, so visitors are able to check out the daily specials on arrival.

With the images central to the web concept, we proposed a restrained, monospaced typographic system to accommodate menus, wine lists and other essential information, set in a series of vertical ‘panels’ within each content section.

The result is a rich, visually lead invitation to enter Arthur’s world and experience it for yourself.

Studio Constantine worked with Andrew Schweitzer Foto to make the project images.

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Recent work

Goods : Paper Chap

A commission here, some framed paper cuts there. A greeting card or two, and some patterned bibs and bags thrown in for good measure. Each item crafted with care and wit. This is Paper Chap. The brainchild of all-round creative owner and founder Jes.

What drew us to helping give a voice to the Paper Chap identity, was Jes’ drive to create greetings and goods that push beyond the banal, pastel coloured lifeless ‘vector wonderland’ that is the market norm.

Her vision to use colour, contrast and pattern, to create images with personality and an artisanal mark of the handmade, was much welcome.

Paper Chap’s products are designed for the end audience—the children. However, it was clear that the Paper Chap identity ought be fully focussed on the buyers; parents, family and friends. An audience that is aesthetically aware and views the purchase of artisanal goods as an expression of their own taste.

To that end, the identity had to be mature, refined and visually positioned in the realm of lifestyle goods and services.

Our choice of typeface had a dual reference. The high contrast sans serif places the identity both in the golden age of ‘the chap’ with 1920’s overtones, as well as a contemporary

fashion editorial space, with loose setting and absence of hand-drawn idiosyncrasies. The bow tie device sits where a bow tie ought, just below the main logotype, in a fair smack of conceptual conceit. It also provides Jes with a direct visual shorthand for the identity that can be applied to each cut paper design as a mark of ownership.

Application of the visual identity is played very straight in order to contrast and enhance the handmade character of Jes’ artwork.

The result is an identity system and online selling platform that will introduce Paper Chap to an aesthetically aware audience. It also provides room ‘to grow into’ as the business matures and diversifies.

We used Shopify as an ecommerce platform, as it is cost effective to setup and easily administrated and updated by Jes.

See more at manualelectric.com

Vibe Select – Architectural design consulting service, visual identity development and application to suite of materials. Melissa Melilli for M.Co – Visual identity, art direction, website design and development.

Attention is given to high context communication; a well wrapped and presented parcel, using tasteful materials and finished with care.

An early experiment in the identity development involved cut paper type, but we soon realised that aping Jes’ process was far less successful than contrasting and enhancing it.

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Take a cleanskin cider from regional Victoria—draw on it’s origins to create a unique voice and a boutique product identity.

And so, Trafalgar was born.

We should note from the outset that this case study is not held up as a complete picture of the process of identity development, which would always include thorough research, documentation and expression of the people, provenance and processes that go into making boutique products and services.

It is intended as an experiment in succinctly using association and symbolism to create a new identity, and express it through a packaging concept, comprised of inexpensive and available materials.

The product is a cider made and bottled near the town of Trafalgar in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. It is produced and distributed locally in limited cleanskin batches.

We took ‘Trafalgar’ as a starting point, as it both placed the product as

being intrinsically local, and also carried a rich historical significance in the British Naval victory for which the town was named —Lord Nelson and all it’s seafaring periphery.

The logotype and subsequent label typography are set in Boncaire Titling, a typeface inspired by the hand-engraved letterforms on 17th century nautical charts. The ultra fine strokes and idiosyncratic decorative details felt strangely akin to a modern, fashion aesthetic (particularly set in all caps), and was a good choice for walking the line between historical reference and contemporary product. The arrangement of typographic elements was heavily inspired by The Universal Penman, a sourcebook of traditional engraved typography by George Bickham.

Case study

Making a lot with a little

Do

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Case study

The botanical illustrations of apples, used on both swingtags and wrap, are from the 19th century French volume Poiteau Fruit Prints Pomologie Francaise. In the case of the tags, they are contrasted by a sprayed line in a deep Naval blue, intended to again introduce a sense of the contemporary, and an energy to imagery that is by its nature, static.

With the basic identity elements worked up, we move to the application of the brand through the packaging. The intention was to leave as little mark on the existing bottle as possible, using a beeswax dipped neck to attach a branded swingtag carrying product information. Tags are printed digitally onto a grey card stock, and attached with a navy ribbon that runs under the wax coating.

The ribbon further serves as a mechanism to easily remove the wax tops when ready to consume.

Using swingtags instead of labels is another allusion to the fashion realm, and creates a point of difference from other bottled ciders. Although materials are inexpensive, the small batch numbers allow for a more labour intensive brand application, which in turn, enhances the boutique feel of the product.

We also produced a bottle wrap using the solvent transfer technique. This involves using xylene to dissolve the toner on a single colour digital print and transferring it onto blank tissue by applying pressure.

The result? Perhaps the first few strokes of a brand with a visual language that is both placed within a historical context and absolutely contemporary in it’s expression.

Perhaps just a vehicle for some questions; “Do bottles need labels?”, “Can something be old and new and successful at both?”, “Can the process of packaging an object enhance its personality and provenance?”.

In any case, it certainly isn’t just about cider.

This process of harnessing symbol, meaning, association and context, is common to all the work we make at Studio Constantine. We believe it results in unique visual identities, communications and spaces that work and last.

If you’d like to ask some questions and find some answers with us, we would love to work with your product, service or brand to make something memorable, beautiful and functional, together.

You can call David on 0420 930 441 or Hannah on 0433 815 737 or email studio@manualelectric.com to start a conversation.

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Studio Paper N° 2 Guild

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Some things are important (to us)

Everyone has the right to thoughtful, lasting and sustainable identities,

objects and experiences; beautiful and vital.

And every client relationship ought be trusting, respectful and should equip each

with the courage to lead.

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Studio Paper N° 2 Guild

We’ll be back with Studio Paper No. 3 later in 2014.

If you can think of anyone who would benefit from receiving a copy of Guild, drop us their details to studio@manualelectric.com.

Studio Constantine

The White Space Level 2 41—45 A’Beckett St Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia

All mail to: PO Box 8246 Camberwell North Victoria 3124 Australia

Our mystery trends writer ‘BTS’

Who wishes to remain nameless, but can be contacted through Studio Constantine for comission of industry-specific trend reports and thought pieces.

Credit

Set in ‘Vaud’ by Wordshape

96pt on 96pt24pt on 36pt18pt on 24pt10pt on 12pt06pt on 08pt

Andrew Schweitzer Foto

For continuing support with documenting the studio’s work, and regular collaboration on client projects.

andrewschweitzerfoto.com

manualelectric.com