Shoes of Prey

In the olden days, people... the well to do at least... used to go to a tailor for their clothes, a milliner for their head attire and when after a pair of shoes, the town bootmaker was the man (sorry, girls) for the job. Footwear was lovingly and painstakingly hand made, and repaired by the local cobbler season after season to gain the absolute maximum lifespan. These days, we have a boundless array of foot fashion to choose from... but we've not yet had the pleasure of specifying EXACTLY what material, colour, finish and heel height we're wanting, until now. Enter Shoes of Prey.

Actually, it is a similar concept to what Converse and a couple of other sporting shoes companies have offered for a while. But the key difference is these are fancy, dressy shoes for us girls. Choose from soft leather, patent leather, glitter, snake skin, fish skin, cotton, silk or lace. Choose the style, the fit, the laces, the heel height, go completely Priscilla-esque or Nanna-style... and create a pair of shoes which is uniquely you.

Put the Spray Away

We recently developed this campaign for the Asthma Foundation of NSW, the challenge being to encourage teenagers in school change rooms to switch their hair and deodorant sprays for non-aerosol equivalents. Asthma is a disease which we are all familiar with, and it's particularly rewarding to have the opportunity to help increase awareness for these issues.

Lauren De Lange from AFNSW shared some of the feedback with us in a recent email:

"I just wanted to touch base with you to inform you that we have received an incredible response to our schools aerosols and asthma campaign. Below is some feedback from teachers:

'Thank you very much for sending through the “put the spray away so we can all breathe a little easier” posters!  What a great idea, we have placed the posters in both our change rooms. Being an all girls school we are constantly reminding the girls to not spray - the great thing about the posters is that they give the reason why students shouldn’t spray the deodorants/body spray/hair sprays in a very easy to read appealing manner.'

I just wanted to say thanks for much for all the efforts you and your staff made in developing the posters for us; they have really hit the mark with this group and have appealed to both teachers and students."

Thanks to Siobhan from The Writers' Group who helped out with the copywriting for this project as well. It was a wonderfully successful team effort!

Tiempo Packaging shortlisted for Desktop Create Awards

Creatives, if you haven't picked up a Desktop magazine lately I recommend you do so. Australia's favourite (only?) graphic design publication of its kind has recently undergone a facelift and I for one really enjoy having a flick through its uncoated pages filled with relevant, interesting and well organised content when our copy arrives each month. If you're not near a newsagent this minute, check out their website which is a great source for info on trends, events, tips and other handy designy stuff.

Seems too that some of the big names in Australian graphic design are sitting up and taking notice, and this year the level of competition for the Create Awards seems to have reached new heights. I'm so proud to see that Boheem are still in there; this year we have been shortlisted for the packaging we designed for Tiempo Coffee by Scottie Callaghan.

Inaluxe Prints

Aren't these prints just lovely? They are by Inaluxe, a little design studio in country Victoria owned and run by Kristina Sostarko and Jason Odd. I absolutely love the attention to detail which has been applied to these wonderfully organic, slightly retro  prints. The colour palettes are just beautifully resolved. These guys offer a wide range all designed in the same style as both small and large prints. Their online Cartel store makes it all too easy to make one of them yours.

Aranjuez

Aranjuez is the latest font by Koziupa and Paul. It more or less combines all of the recent trends in typography design, with a celebration of the resurgence of thick/thin forms together with some fancy ornamental calligraphic swirls. It's the perfect go-to for anything which requires a bit of modern day class. This typeface is loaded with personality; it doesn't take itself too seriously and yet offers the structure and neatness which is so important for legibility.