September Industry

Foreword
Today’s SeptemberIndustry special comes courtesy of Rhonda and Harry, two very nice folks who happen to run a design studio called Multistorey in London.

What makes this post a little different from the other SI Specials is the fact that each of the 3 projects is accompanied by a “short story” ;) which definitely adds more context and value to the images you see above. I did try condensing the text but to no avail; removing a single paragraph would just leave you in the dark regarding specific details.

So without further ado, I present to you, the work of Multistorey in all it’s hi-res glory.

Darkroom
Launched by Multistorey director Rhonda Drakeford and her business partner Lulu Roper-Caldbeck, Darkroom is a new London concept store that specialises in high-end, one-off and hand-made men’s, women’s and interior accessories alongside bi-monthly art exhibitions.The shop sells a mix of hard-edged modernist 20th century antique pieces alongside contemporary items. The brief was to create a unisex environment and brand image that was unique, had impact, was flexible and timeless and above all showcases the diverse product. Darkroom also design their own products and needed the brand to work beyond the store environment.

The starting point was the logo which was constructed from a custom drawn typeface. The font has been designed to be elegant and leggy but with the boldness that capitalised letters bring. It holds connotations of fashion with it’s masthead qualities and interiors with it’s geometric construction.

Following on from that, we designed a bold geometric pattern that uses shapes found in the logo – the intention being that the pattern would become as synonymous with the brand as the logo itself and could be used going forward as signature prints within products. The pattern became the founding structure for the shop-fit with a handpainted tiled floor that provides a grid format on which to place modular cubic display plinths.

To reflect the high end merchandise, quality of production has been key to the approach, from a hand painted sign and interiors, thermographic stationery and hand bound brochures to the custom made canvas carrier bags.

The Modern Flower Company
Multistorey were asked to re-brand an existing small chain of London florists under their new name — The Modern Flower Company. We felt the word ‘Modern’ was very interesting as it will always have different connotations dependent on when something has been labelled ‘modern’. Can something called modern in the 1950′s still be modern now? There can be something charmingly anachronistic about such labels, and we felt it would be interesting to approach the identity with this in mind — using historical reference points, and exploring what was “modern” to previous generations of florists. In this way, we could avoid producing a modern rebrand that would date very quickly…

Using traditional white garden trellis [very redolent of 1950's garden design], as the basis of our story, we then quite literally grew type around it like vines. The grid formations of trellis allows for a very structured and geometric grounding to the looser, organic forms of the type. Much difficulty lay in drawing letter forms that had to run along the 45 degree angles created by the trellis grid, whilst still retaining absolute legibility. We also created windows or shards within the trellis patterns to hold secondary type.

A 1950′s sugared almond pink was chosen for the background pattern and a brighter grassy green for the typographic element of the logo to complement and stand out from the pink. The contrasts in colours and harder and softer elements of the structures allowed for a treatment that wasn’t overtly feminine, it is men after all who are supposed to be the bigger buyer of flowers…, so it was important to us that we struck a balance with the tone of the brand.

A large suite of stationery has been designed for the client, each one with a specific trellis shape tailored to hold information for that item. One of the more interesting pieces is the bespoke carrier bags whose cord handles actually weave in and out of the trellis printed on the body of the bags. The wrapping paper is printed with more abstracted trellis patterns, wrapped and tied with ribbon printed with a continuous vine.

Victor Glemaud
Victor Glemaud is a New York based fashion designer who has worked as a PR and designer for such labels as Paco Rabanne, Tommy Hilfiger and Roberto Cavalli. In 2007 Victor launched his inaugural self titled line of menswear and asked us to create his identity. His modern and witty take on classic menswear inspired us to draw his typographic logo as an elegant slab serif reminiscent of the mid century neon signs you can still see adorning the façades of European clothiers shops.

We have devised a simple utilitarian approach to his corporate identity — his stationery appears to be printed on and cut from index cards, the only decoration coming from dividing lines based on the serif details within the logo. For a recent competition entry, we took the filing card device one step further creating a one off, hand-made expanding file to house the label’s information, press clippings and collection images. We printed text on 10×8″ filing cards and used black photo corners to attach glossy photographic prints.