T&G feature in the 2009 Melbourne Design guide

A case study of a packaging re-brand completed for small tea manufacturer, Somage Fine Foods as part of Design Victoria's Business Immersions Program has been published in the 2009 Melbourne Design Guide.

Design Victoria's Business Immersions program provides funding association and facilitation support to approved Victorian SMEs to engage a designer on a project aimed at improving business performance and competitiveness. Check out Design Victoria at designvic.com

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Case study - Design to a Tea

Small Melbourne based manufacturer Somage Fine foods learned first-hand how important first impressions can be through the Business Immersions program.

"The final packaging design and labeling embodies the brand values & 'tells the story' through its unusual geometric shape, creating intrigue and encouraging interaction," said Taylor & Grace Director Darren Taylor.

Sales of the retail packs increased substantially without any formal promotion of the product.

"Orders from existing customers have almost doubled and we have secured around 40 new retail customers, of which several are from New Zealand, a market we have just begun to develop," said Somage Managing Director, Nathan Wakeford.

The full version of this case study and other business immersions can be accessed at www.designvic.com

Redefining the herd – Rune Guneriussen

We've fallen in love with the work of this amazing Norwegian photographer. His images look simple but are actually meticulously composed stories, giving life to man-made objects as though they were animals or even humans. Everything looks like it belongs; the objects in the landscape and the landscape surrounding the objects. And we're very inspired by the way he uses light and colour – the images just leap off the page. For more of Rune's beautiful work, go to http://www.runeguneriussen.no/

Online Addiction #1

(The first in a regular series of websites we love. This week: brekky & pressies)

Breakfastout

If you're like us and the idea of starting the day without coffee and vittles is nigh on impossible, you'll love this site. From the nifty fried-egg map of Melbourne to the dynamic and easy-to-navigate design, it's got the lowdown on the best places in Melbourne to eat that most important meal of the day. Best of all, the reviews are written by people who want what we want – great food, great ambience and great service. Check it out at

http://www.melbourne.breakfastout.com.au

Etsy

This is where we go to find fabulous handmade products from all around the world. Whether it's for someone else or a vitally important present-to-self, we always find the perfect thing on Etsy. But here's a tip: let the wonderful people at Poppytalk Handmade do the hard work of wading through the thousands of products. Their site showcases monthly selections of the best items on Etsy and is the quickest way to the next must-have goodies.

http://www.etsy.com/

http://www.poppytalkhandmade.com/

Above: image a. LittleRobot image b. Lucymachine image c. Papaververt image d. TwoSarahs

Blogs - better than any magazine on the market!

A new style of social media "Lifestyle and fashion blogging" is sweeping the global online community. These blogs are highly professional and beautifully art directed and typically feature interesting articles, reviews, stunning photographs, fashion, product design and art and craft from all over the world. Many of them are updated daily and subscribing's entirely free.

Visiting a blog is not unlike reading a good magazine, but with a refreshing twist - is an exciting way of sharing news and exchanging ideas, inspiration and opinions with like minds. These blogs are particularly valuable to designers because of the easy access to a plethora of new and unmoderated daily content.

Here are two of my favorite blogs, will post more in the coming months:

Happy blogging! Grace X

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The Sartorialist

The Sartorialist is a daily site dedicated to fashion was recently selected as one of Time Magazine’s top 100 fashion influences. The Sartorialist is authored by an ex-fashion industry New Yorker. The Sartorialist travels the world photographing beautifully clad people on the street. "When I worked in the fashion industry (15 years), I always felt that there was a disconnect between what I was selling in the showroom and what I was seeing real people (really cool people) wearing in real life." What I love about this site is the realness of the images and the clothes. http://www.thesartorialist.com

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Finding the good ones can be like finding a needle in a haystack. I currently follow around 100 blogs and to avoid being inundated with notifications, I've set up RSS feeds (RSS = Really Simple Syndication). Once you've subscribed to a blog's RSS feed, the updated content will feed into your nominated feed directory (not your inbox) allowing you to receive new content shortly after it's been updated, without clogging up your email.

Feed directories are built into most email and web programs. There are also online feed readers that you can subscribe to.

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Record the Day

A daily blog – ‘an ode to each day’. The artist behind the blog handmakes an inspirational collage and posts it daily. Each piece is a unique, raw and Inspirational work of art. The artist has an interesting eye for colour palettes and composition. It is a great resource for designers or anyone in need of an ounce of daily visual inspiration.
http://recordtheday.blogspot.com