The output: a premium retail solution for the bottle and closure design to visually reinforce the ‘ancient, mystical, Celtic and druid’ brand proposition – which helped to position the brand to meet the client’s aspirations within the the premium drinks market at launch point.

The Brand was launched in November 2011.

Images are copyright of González Byass S.A.

Following the study I was asked to devise and develop and new brand, that would stand for all the environmental benefits as well as contemporary, personality driven design. Coming up with a strong new brand name and new word would help to support our wish to do things differently and also provide greater flexibility in terms of .com domain name registrations and intellectual property issue.   Stålson was conceived, which translates as ‘son of steel’ in Swedish – the Nordic purist approach to design reflects our  design philosophy. My task was then to develop the brand’s graphical and communications styling.

I  spent the next year designing the range in the build up to our launch at the 100% Design Show – Earl’s Court, London. Prior to the show, I put together the Stålson catalogue and designed the exhibition stand. The concept for the exhibition was to create a simple space that would allow visitors easy circulation and a clear view of the faucets which were exhibited on eye level podiums like individual sculptures in a gallery. As a luxurious finishing touch, each podium was capped with marble, granite and semi-precious stone which was provided by Chiltern Marble.

The launch was a great success, with many premium publications within the industry running editorials on Stålson products. The leading idfx magazine for interior design professionals noted that Stålson were ‘the stand to be seen’ whilst Homes & Interiors magazine ran an editorial feature on the little malmö faucet which was the little star of the show!

See www.stalson.com for the full range.

The Italian town of Modena is known as the “capital of engines”, since the factories of Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati are all here. Made from 100% stainless steel, the Modena faucet is a thoroughly modernist creation – its acute angles, flat planes and fast lines reflect the light dynamic ways, evoking a 3 dimensional cubist sculpture or stealth aircraft. A feature of the design is revealed when you lift the arms to turn the water on – as the arms raise, the configuration of the faucet changes:

the flat machined surfaces along the sides and across the top of the faucet, gradually break up and rotate to form juxtaposed angular shapes.

We exhibited a prototype of the Modena at 100% Design in September 2011 for feedback from visitors. With a few minor modifications, the faucet should be ready for launch during Spring 2012.

A key output for the brand at the show was not only to invoke a postitive response to the designs and production quality, but also to ensure that Stålson was positioning itself correctly within the market place – particularly in terms of pricing and design originality.

The show has lead to a number of publicity and editorial scoops in major national magazines and continues to benefit from a growing number of architects and interior design professionals who now specify and include Stålson in their portfolios for a wide range of commercial and domestic projects.

For more information about the 100% Design Show, visit www.100percentdesign.co.uk

A series of visual and verbal identity studies followed that included: photographic style, tone of voice and typographic concepts which was presented to the board. The studies helped to visualise and verbalise the aspirations, business style and philosophies of the  company founders and leaders and helped to energise the board, acting as a steer for more effective and focused internal and external communications.

The business of fish can be slippery and confusing. For the consumer, it is difficult to know how fresh the seafood they buy really is, and where it has come from. With a decrease in good fishmongers in the marketplace, and an increase in consumer awareness of overfishing, transport miles and CO2 reduction; there is a growing need for an ethical, sustainably sourced, super fresh fish retailer.

Hampshire based SuperFish™  will focus on providing complete traceability in the produce it sells by working with the best suppliers, who use computer tracing technology to identify each species, the harbour it was landed and even which boat it came from. Consumers will then be able to make fully informed purchasing decisions.

The fact is, it’s currently almost impossible to know for sure where the seafood you eat has come from. If you live in Hampshire, why eat fish from Grimsby when there are equally good local harbours on the south coast?

The brief was to create an identity that was spankingly fresh, and which also spoke of responsibility towards sustainability, animal welfare and carbon reduction. Packaging for example, will be kept to a minimum (it is still common in the industry for suppliers to use polystyrene boxes which is about the worst material you could use for biodegradability) and only degradable cardboard will be used for the delivery boxes. The idea that super fresh fish could also be seen as a gift also helped to shape the design.

The imagery used takes its references from the ‘localness’ of the produce as well as making cultural references to the south coast harbours where most of the fish is landed. The colours inspired by the fishing vessels and marine paraphernalia,  and the painted plaster of Brixham harbour town houses inject further variety to the brand tapestry.

Being an internet based business, every opportunity to advertise the SuperFish™ website must be taken. The delivery van livery for example, forms a large part of the brand’s face in the public realm (much like Ocado or Tesco delivery vans do) so a simple large format website address supported by the mark keeps the brand communication clean and to the point.  Much the same approach was applied to the clothing.

SuperFish™ will be launching in Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey mid 2010. Watch this space!

The Mark can vary like markings on fish

Having said this, at least I now have a portfolio format that I can update quickly and easily. My old flash based back-catalogue was a real pain to maintain.

“Reviewing my work has also given me chance to take stock and think a little about future design direction”

I’m currently working on some new designs for steel and copper products – products for the homes and gardens market – a new challenge for me which combines the functionality of everyday objects with sculptural forms and decorative motifs. Looking back over the past 10 years at the type of projects I’ve worked on, reminds me of the design lessons I’ve learned, which gives me some confidence. On the other hand, as I move into new areas of design in which I have little experience – reviewing my portfolio has also highlighted the gaps, which keeps me on my toes and focuses my attention on areas in which I need to improve my knowledge.

To view my full portfolio please click here >>

I’ve always disliked waste. When I was a boy I imagined one day having a company that went around scraping all the left-over ketchup, mayonnaise and toothpaste out of bottles and tubes, to recycle back into food for sale.  About a year ago this thought popped into my head again, whilst I was trying to squeeze out the last dregs of tomato ketchup. I worked out that on average, up to 50grams of sauce gets left in the bottle and is thrown away. I read somewhere that 97% of UK homes keep ketchup in the kitchen and that each person gets through about 3 bottles per year.  There are 60million people in the UK which means we throw away about 3000 tons of tomato sauce each year! 3000 tons!! Image how much that equates to around the world and imagine how much other stuff we waste too? Literally millions and millions of tons down the drain.  Arrghh!

“nobody is going to pay that for a small lump of timber”

So I had this idea for an upside down stand that would help drain out all the last drops of goop in your kitchen or bathroom. Then I designed it, making sure the angles and aperture and depth of the holder could accommodate a wide range of bottle shapes and sizes (see my previous article on Hedstand™ here). I prototyped it in wood and used it around my house for all sorts of things. It worked a treat. Friends commented on it and wanted one for themselves but I never got round to doing anything about serious production until now. I liked the idea of using wood because it’s pretty much indestructible, involving no molding or plastics so production would be environmentally friendly. If sourced from sustainable forests the CO2 cycle would be completely neutral. The problem I had was that to make them in wood in the UK was simply not economically viable. At a mass production cost of over £10.00 each they would need to retail at more than £20.00 and nobody is going to pay that for a small lump of timber –no matter how ingenious. It needed a rethink.

I realised that I was going to have to get this thing made somewhere else. Through my contacts in China I looked into production there. All perfectly feasible for large volumes and made in acrylic would look excellent, with different colours and transparency options. However, all this did not sit well with my environmental conscience.

“why not get it made in wood in Africa?”

Then the other day I thought “why not get it made in wood in Africa?”. It makes sense, Africa’s closer than China for a start so less transport miles, and surely they’ll be able to produce in wood, with their skills and long traditions in woodcraft. To begin with I thought about Algeria or Morroco which are close to Europe, with possible overland transport across the straights of Gibraltar. I researched online the different African economies and found myself on the Doing Business website http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/ which ranked Rwanda above Poland, Turkey and Italy in terms of the ‘ease of doing business’. It appears that since the genocide, Rwanda has done a lot to progress its economy, tackle corruption and red tape, and with an annual growth rate of 9.9% GDP and inflation at only 3.2%, it’s one of the best places in Africa to do business these days.  The Rwandan government is very keen to encourage exports, create employment and diversify the economy from its dependency on subsistence agriculture into a modern, broadly based economic engine. Perfect!

“helping the west waste less”

Here was the potential I thought, for a beautiful circle of mutual assistance. My guess is that the people of Rwanda waste nothing – yet we consumers throw away tons of perfectly good stuff every day. If I could help in my small way to generate employment and a little wealth in Rwanda, the Rwandans could help us too – by “helping the west waste less”.

I’ve since imagined all kinds of possibilities for patterns and designs burned, painted or carved into the surface of the wood. Having recently had experience of the promotional industry through my work with  ecobutton™ , it dawned on me that the Hedstand™ would make a perfect corporate gift – imagine receiving a really useful and unusual product with ‘AstraZeneca’ or ‘British Gas’ hot iron branded along the side, and underneath it say’s “handmade in Rwanda”. A swing label tells you all about it – how Rwanda is “helping the west waste less” and how we’re helping to create jobs over there.

Okay, so that’s all well in theory, now I have to find a producer. So far I’ve sent emails to the British High Commission in Kigali, the Rwandan Development Board and an ‘artisan’ collective via the COPABU – Coopérative des Producteurs Artisanaux de Butare. If anyone reading this has any contacts or can make any suggestions I’d be very grateful. Watch this space for further developments….

Follow this story on twitter