Creature - Same Same but Different

Organised chaos - that's how some describe Fringe.

The festival, held over two weeks starting in February, is New Zealand's only open access community based arts festival. For over 21 years it has been an iconic part of Wellington events calendar.

2011 marks the festivals 21st year. Fringe has truly stood-out and stuck-around. We thought that was something worth celebrating.

A shameless 'X' and 'F' combined with an extreme colour palette stamp the streets and supporting collateral with attitude.

Along with street level posters and a printed programme a website opens the door for all: the site attracts a huge audience and details over 50 shows.

Creature continues to be a proud sponsor of the New Zealand FRINGE Festival. 2011 marked our eighth year of contributing design services to the Fringe Arts Trust.

Keep safe your precious technology gadgets – that’s the idea behind the start-up, Boutique Geek.

The 'Geeks' have designed a range of 'protection-wear' that reflects the personal style of its customers and provides real protection to a variety of gadgets.

The core mark is typographic, playing on the 'b' and 'g' letter forms, to create a unique reference to gadgets for both boys and girls. An ordered circle of cables and ear phones complete the identity.

While women were our initial target, Creature broadened the product ranges appeal by designing a special gift-like packaging solution that was attractive to both male and female customers.

"Let's talk about sex". That was the opening-line when meeting Michelle Mars and Blair Bishop for the first time. Sexologists.

Michelle and Blair were in the process of establishing their practice and wanted an identity that reflected their confident approach to sex therapy.

Knowing New Zealander’s apparent coyness around all things sexual, we designed a bold brand with a no-nonsense approach. Sex is SASSI. Sex is Red. Sex is sexy.

The new identity was a sure fire conversation-starter. Being a start-up, though, we had to consider the required investment.

Our solution was simple, tactile and fun. We used a font that was sophisticated, organic and free. Embossing it out of an off-the-shelf metalic paper stock brought this tabu brand boldly to the fore.

When Chorus arrived at Creature’s door in 2007, they were pretty much a stranger to most New Zealanders. Sure, they had a core staff of 200 working day and night to keep the country’s telecommunications network seamlessly connected, but apart from a logo and the beginnings of a heroic story they remained a mystery to millions of New Zealanders who benefit every moment from their extraordinary high-tech and modern service.

Creature established the position of Nation Building and quickly set about creating a brand that reflected this. Helping Chorus build a relationship based on trust and transparency with the public, and third party suppliers.

This approach involved turning a potentially complex technological story into a personal one. A large graphic landscape was designed as the brand’s touchstone – showing people at a glance how the Chorus telecommunications network benefits New Zealanders by keeping 'us' connected. A toolbox of design elements was also created - allowing for consistent and economic telling of the emerging brand story.

Create a brand identity for an existing business with a new owner. That was the brief.

Cannibal is a specialist joinery company that creates highly crafted wood based products for museum exhibitions, visitor experiences and commercial and domestic interiors. Tools of the trade lay at the heart of how Cannibal delivers. And - as the saying goes "a carpenter is only as good as his tools".

This formed the basis of Cannibal's visual signature and brand strategy. A camouflage motif is made from traditional tools of the trade, juxtaposed with the textures of timber.

Re-name and strike out from the competition with a strong new brand. A brand that exudes modernity and an urban attitude. That's what we did.

Retailers have to put their best foot forward and provide customers with a relevant and engaging experience.

Arty Bees, in business for over 20 years, is now an icon in Wellington. A pre-loved bookstore, they cater for a wide range of literary tastes - from fine arts to sci-fi.

We started working with Arty Bees over six years ago, starting with a brand refresh. The original visual identity was dusted off, redrawn and energised. We interviewed staff and completed a brand audit - the resulting report highlighted areas for change. Namely the transition from two retail stores to one.

Creature continues to work with the team designing collateral and promotional material that has made Arty Bees the Capital Times 'Peoples Choice' for a pre-loved read 2010.

Booksellers New Zealand Limited wanted to reinvigorate and maximise its organisational relevance and promote their services to members: ulitimately helping member retailers sell more books.

The brand overhaul included refinement of the existing core mark and creation of a standardised framework for design of marketing collateral.

Booksellers’ revitalised brand helps place information at the fingertips of members and reinforces its trusted leadership role for members and book lovers alike.

A re-brand can energise and motivate an organisation. It provides the opportunity to express a new focus and direction.

The Deaf Association of New Zealand, renamed Deaf Aotearoa by Creature was a visually focused client who gave us creative freedom with their new brand.

The only mandatory element – to use a butterfly in some way. Not only does the butterfly illustrate freedom, grace and independence – it is also deaf – making it a perfect icon for the Deaf community.

This energetic new brand identity more accurately represents this progressive and dedicated New Zealand organisation.

Chorus wanted to promote its massive programme of work to lay fibre optic cabling and install high-speed broadband cabinets.

Wellington airport was an ideal location to get the message to people from as many places as possible in one go.

An installation made of white on white router cut layers, integrated with video content displayed on a bank of digital screens - reinforces the message that the work is real and happening now in numerous communities.

The installation is bold in message yet quiet given the environment.

Since 2005 Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand have campaigned to raise awareness of New Zealand’s third official language, New Zealand Sign Language. Each year they compete to be seen and heard in a crowded cause based environment.

Establishing the butterfly motif as a metaphor and unifying image to flag the campaign - butterflies are themselves deaf - Creature designed a range of collateral items that worked together to promote the week.

Hero campaign imagery was used across all promotional collateral: website, billboards, street posters, t-shirts, advertisements and brochures.

The New Zealand Post Book Awards promote excellence in, and provide recognition for, the very best books published annually in New Zealand.

Point of sale material including category posters,  a readers choice mini book, postcards, finalist banners and a winners pack were produced.

A series of distinctive interior spaces where readers indulge and enjoy their favorite read provide context for category finalists.

The material is displayed at street level and in-store.

Helping promote an active and balanced life, as part of an employment strategy, gave scope for energetic graphics and wordplay.

Telecom has had a great response from their employees over the past 3 years, providing branded sport t-shirts and cycle shirts for their various team events.

Iconic New Zealand design, bold playful statements and a vibrant colour palette keep the shirts fun and fresh for all ages.

The extended brand translates onto posters, signage, stickers and intranet alerts.

Keeping one strong voice when telling a story from multiple organisations can be a design challenge.

Collaborating with Angus and Associates, Creature developed the New Zealand Tourism Strategy document for the Ministry of Tourism, Tourism New Zealand and the Tourism Industry Association.

The strategy presented the Government and Industry vision for Tourism in New Zealand until 2015.

New Zealand scenes illustrated in a colours of New Zealand palette give a less predicatable approach for an industry that usually communicates visually via photography.

Coffee Supreme wanted to create a ‘typically untypical’ sales brochure that didn’t get lost in the pile.

We created a collage of photography and illustration to portray the ‘jungle to the cup’ storyline on one side of the concertina and the history of the company on the other... and not content with that, we hand screenprinted imagery over pre-printed sheets to give a unique handmade item. 

Different coloured covers rivetted onto the concertina identify two different stories.

The result? A sales tool that was made with as much love as Coffee Supreme’s own product.

Thinking about corporate gifting or how to say 'thanks' to clients for their support?

With projects large and small coming through the studio, we thought a 'mixed bag' gift said it all.

Creature designed and had made a classic duffle bag. We filled each bag with unique and individually wrapped gifts. Each gift and bag chosen specifically for the receiver.

Thanks guys. it's been another great year!

The Sensitive Skin Co. is an organic range of skin care products.

Creature was tasked with redesigning the packaging solution and website to promote the gentle skin friendly benefits of the range.

Primarily used when bathing, our approach was to create a water nymph character, herself bathing, combined with a calming colour palette. The logo mark uses organic typography and references Victorian signage.

The illustration was a key component of the design vocabulary. To create it we commissioned internationally renowned illustrator, James Jean.

The result - an attractive range of simply packaged products and increased sales through both retail and online channels.

Communicating with key stakeholders while engaging with your community is no-mean-feat. Creating two distinct sections within the DANZ website seemed to make sense and provide a way to manage quite different conversations.

The public section of the site details what DANZ are about, what they do and how they do. It also allows users to download resources, catch-up on what's happening within the community via the news feeds and event calendar.

The Sign Langauge Week campaign section allows Deaf Aotearoa to promote everything sign during Sign Language Week. An annual celebration of New Zealand's third officially recognised language. 

Staying relevant to recent graduates and recruiting the best, is a challenge for all businesses.

KPMG wanted the graduate recruitment section of their site to move outside their more formal global brand website.

Bold statements, contemporary typography and a brighter colour palette link to the energy and optimism of these potential employees.

The design fits well alongside the overall KPMG brand but speaks to a younger audience.