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Laughing Man — Identity/Stationery/Packaging/Website/Architecture
We were asked to develop a brand, identity, packaging, website and retail store for Laughing Man Worldwide, a charitable organization set up by Hugh Jackman, whose first venture was to be the sale and distribution of coffee and tea. Albeit focused on the premium quality of the product, a secondary subtle undertone of social conscience was required.
Established wanted to convey the Laughing Man brand’s core spirit of ‘all be happy’ with a collection of packaging that was at once gourmet, joyful and modern. The product’s quality credentials called for luxury, so a silver and grey color palette and clean typography were used. Meanwhile the custom chalk type graphics used across the brand connote the idea of a hand-finished barista quality. The casually applied, unique laughing face stickers on each product are designed to reflect the universal nature of laughter, goodness and ethical-mindedness, which are fundamental to the Laughing Man brand.
The concept of constantly changing stickers also invites the consumer to interact with the brand directly by uploading their own laughing face on the website, for a chance to be used on future packaging.
The overall aim was to create a brand that broke the mold of ethically responsible products being packaged in a rustic, hessian and often ugly way. Laughing Man aimed to be a product that would look at home on the shelves of a luxury food hall as well as on a supermarket shelf.
Typefaces Used: Houschka Alt Bold, Foco Bold, Landry Gothic and Laughing Man Regular (Custom)
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Round Hill Music — Identity/Art Direction/Website
We were asked to design a brand, identity and website for a boutique music rights management company with a very high profile catalogue of product, including artists such as The Beatles.
Established wanted to illustrate the diverse qualities of the company; namely, its trustworthiness as a serious financial business and also its emerging reputation as be an artist-friendly home of music management, in contrast to the corporate powerhouses that form their main competition. The layout of the type and the way it is formatted on the page evokes a classic, old school feel. Meanwhile, the use of a piece of bright pink masking tape across the logo refers to tape’s common use in all aspects of the music industry, from notes on a grand piano to markings on a recording studioís mixing board to taping plectrums on the microphones during a live gig or damping snare drums.
Established created a library of computer-generated images for the company to use in all aspects of its business dealings that playfully show the pink tape in its multitude of uses in the music industry, thereby giving Round Hill an instantly recognizable brand icon which illustrates its music industry insider credentials in a very premium way.
Typefaces Used: Signal No1 D and Blair ITC Light
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Bar Milano — Identity
Typeface Used: Futura Bold
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Aschen and Voss — Identity
Typefaces Used: Garage Gothic Bold, Galaxy Polaris Light and Garamond Regular
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Brooks Brothers — Brand Brook
Typefaces Used: Redrawing of the logo and various weights of Gotham
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Brooks Brothers — Existing Collection Packaging
Typeface Used: Various weights of Gotham
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Joh Bailey — Identity/Stationery/Packaging/Architecture
Typeface Used: Gotham Black
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Pack Back Fleece — Packaging
Typeface Used: Too small for me to make out… ;)
A Few Words from the Editor
This past month I’ve probably been the busiest I’ve ever been, hence the occasional ‘bi-weekly’ wait for new updates. For the record ‘bi-weekly’ can mean twice a week or every 2 weeks ;) Nevertheless, it’s Friday which can only mean one thing: SI Special with plenty of high-res imagery! The studio that has been given the “SI treatment” today is Established a multi-disciplinary studio based in NYC. Not only is it great to feature more talent from the States but this studio may come as a pleasant surprise to those of you who were previously not acquainted with their work. Enjoy :)
Big thank you once again to Sam and Felix for supporting SI and of course for making this feature possible.
About the Studio
Founded in 2005 by British designer Sam O’Donahue and Becky Jones, Established is a full-service, boutique, creative agency based in New York that offers architectural, graphic and product design all under one roof.
This post is tagged Architecture, Art Direction, Books, Branding, Established NYC, Identity, Packaging, Sam O'Donahue, Stationery
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