After doing some research I found an amazing vintage inspired toy pedal car, a great gift by any means. This simply wouldn’t do though (please see above justification).

The first task I put myself to was adding a sense of luxury to the vehicle. Taking reference from classic vintage vehicles, and luxury sports cars, I installed a custom wood grain dash with wood grain steering wheel inlay. The process involved meticulously drawing the cutout sections, laser cutting the pieces from timber grain laminate, and adhering them in place.

The rear section of the car not only looked a bit simple and plain, but also had some nasty visible screw mounts in the rear. I complemented the interior by custom fitting a wood grain rear panel section, with a print and cut Pink Panther vinyl decal to finish.

Next up was the tricky part of de-badging and rebranding the vehicle. I removed the branded metal number plate and corporate branding badge from the car, to be replaced by a custom number plate and bonnet branding, befitting of the custom dragster.

The number plate was built by sandwiching laser cut black acrylic letters, with reflective vinyl fascia, between a black acrylic backing panel, frame and clear acrylic front panel. The fixing screws were sub-mounted inside the front panel for detailing and to keep away from little prying hands! The front bonnet badge is another print and cut Pink Panther vinyl decal, applied over a laser cut black acrylic badge.

The bonnet area itself was looking a little sparse, so I dressed it up with another custom vinyl decal of the “Pink Ladies”. This was complemented with lightning bolts, computer cut from reflective vinyl running down the side, reminiscent of the movie “Grease”. Secondary lightning bolts were placed on the rear wheel arches, with little Pink Panther decals on the door panels.

All in all the car was a hit with my number one niece, which makes any project completely worthwhile!

The Brief

When it comes to gig posters, more often than not there will be multiple shows at different venues. From a visual point you want to keep things complementary between posters, so people can identify with the branding. This works as a time saving benefit as well, by basically setting up a layout template to which each poster can follow.

Branding Design

When you’re pressed for time remember to work with existing fonts, they’re your friend! There is nothing wrong with utilising an existing font for branding, but just remember to use something appropriate, something that hasn’t been used to death (Helvetica) and never to simply JUST use the font as the branding.

As can be seen above the branding was kept simple, with some stripped back dressing around an appropriate font. Some interaction between the letter “O” in the copy and the linework brings the various components together and visual groups them as a whole, perfect for a poster design where the branding may be lost amongst the imagery or body copy. The horizontal underline running below the letters “BO” nicely links into the swooping curved line-work, but was also created with the intention of allowing key information to be run underneath and tie back into the logo for use in the posters.

Poster Design

When it comes to poster design the layout should always be created to allow the various pieces of information to be basically “copied and pasted” in place for different gigs or events, without any key information not being lost. This comes down to a good template setup and using a visual hierarchy of information.

As mentioned, the branding was designed with a short horizontal underline which allowed for each gig date to be placed below. This related each individual gig poster back to the branding, and brought the key information of dates immediately to the forefront. The reader immediately focuses on the image and branding, so tie-ing the date to both these items the information is immediately absorbed and retained.

Copy/Information

In terms of key gig information, this was positioned mid-level and next to the profile photo, which makes sense both in terms of hierarchy positioning and relevance. Any other placement of the information could create a visual gap between information and imagery, and the whole poster loses it’s impact and cohesion. The gig information was framed by creating a three tier information block, separated by underlines which both complement the branding and together emphasis the central information. This way the venue name has the most presence (every venues demand), but the key sub information still has presence on page without reverting to the use of bold font or something less clean or overpowering.

Finally contact information is run along the bottom of the poster. In terms of information it holds the least relevance for immediate contact with the audience, hence positioning it towards the bottom. In this instance it is perfectly placed as it runs alongside the profile photo. Placement towards the bottom also allows the information to be absorbed last and kept fresh in the mind.

So don’t be daunted by a tall order in a short turn around, because you can make your life very easy indeed!

When the sun comes out on a weekend there’s nothing more enjoyable than exploring the back streets of your surrounding suburbs and uncovering the hidden treasures it offers up. Here’s a few snaps of a little adventure through Richmond, South Yarra and Windsor …

Upon leaving the hotel we ventured towards what appeared to be the airport train station, but seemed more in keeping with an abandoned Area 51 military installation. Stained concrete walls framed the scarcely decorated entrance protected by two military men in full uniform who led us down the cascading stairs towards a dimly lit concrete cave. As we entered the cavenous station an eerie sense of apocolyptic imagery entered our minds, this truly felt like the setting of a zombie catastrophy movie. The walls were stained by half torn posters from 20 years ago, with smatterings of old timber chairs and tables, with random locked doors adorning the walls accompanied by vintage security cameras positioned directly above them.

After a few minutes of confusion and intrigue we arrived at what we presumed was the platform entrance and attempted to purchase our first ever Japanese rail tickets. After some random button pushing we were approached by another military man, again in decked out in full uniform. After some poorly and embarrassingly articulated Japanese phrasing, and much patience from our official assistant, we purchased our tickets and handed them to him. We continued a walk for about another kilometre along the 2001: A Space Odyssey hallway, now reminiscent of Cold War Russia, finally reaching civilisation and our train!

We jumped off the train at Narita and immediatley realised we had stumbled into something quite special. Distant music, chanting and singing could be heard over a densely populated crowd. Apparently we had decided to perfectly time our one day in Narita with their once a year “Narita Gion Festival”, a three day illumination of sound and light. The festival takes place in and around the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple and welcomes the start of summer, and is dedicated to Dainichi-Nyorai (Dainichi Buddha).

It’s hard to explain the pure pleasure that this festival brought to the day and to the overall experience of being in Japan. An overwhelming feeling of pure happiness immediately flooded over you, and it was completely contagious amongst the large crowds that poured out of the main streets and into the side alleyways. People of all ages and backgrounds were roaming the streets and busily weaving their way amongst the hundreds of food stands. Every shop along the main street opened up a miniature stall out front, selling local fruits, ice-creams, snacks and beer. Yes beer; on tap, on the street and spot on for flavour. We immersed ourselves amongst the street festival and watched as monks and followers of the Shinshoji Temple marched through the streets, singing and chanting atop giant timber floats carried on the shoulders of temple disciples.

As the afternoon stretched on we went in search of a simple bar retreat to soak up the street atmosphere from a distance. It was at this point that we heard the sweet sounds of 80′s hip hop oozing out of a little street bar. Upon entering ‘Dining Deco’ we were greeted by a wall of pure awesomeness; E.T., Back To The Future, Air Jordan’s and all the other wondrous trinkets you could imagine from the 80′s and 90′s. We quickly made a home here and were lucky enough to meet some of the locals, bar owners and general legends Kazunobu Oota AKA DJ Bebe, Go Lida and friends Fumina Kumaki. These legends made us feel like Japan was our new home, and it is people like these guys that are the reason why Japan is mind blowingly amazing.

The night continued into a boozy haze of shots, chats of Wu-Tang, comparison of Disney tattoos and re-enactments of our favourite 80′s and 90′s hip hop tracks … The shockingly sharp and abrupt 6:30am alarm to catch our flight to Okinawa the next morning couldn’t put a dampener on a truly amazing day and night.

The side streets offer all the things you wouldn’t imagine to find in such a small suburb, with basements full of 1950′s British records, single room shops packed to the rafters with old trinkets and antiques, four story high buildings full of vintage clothing and bar’s and cafe’s of varying influences (and yes they have an amazing cat cafe that you can even drink a beer at!). The defining characteristic of all these establishments, and what seems to be the defining elegance of Shimokitazawa as a whole, is the genuine sense that each shop, bar or outlet is run by an owner or staff member who has a true passion for what they are doing. Record store owners who know more about 1960′s Australian rock (check out The Purple Hearts who I discovered there!) than anyone I’ve ever met on the music scene, cat cafe workers who educated us on each animal’s life story and how they were rescued and are now being supported, design shop staff who supported local arts and designers, filling me in on the intricacies of various pieces … The list goes on.

Another point of difference in Shimokita is it’s abundance of raw graffiti and street art interspersed amongst alleyways, splattered across building walls and wrapped over shop shutters. You could easily lose an afternoon stumbling around the alleyways, aimlessly following the beautifully authentic street art, many with empowering messages or thoughts.

The architectural nature of the surrounding houses and apartments feels like they have an underlying European influence, with curving roof sections, large glassed window details and beautiful feature walls. I felt an overwhelming sense of warmth and cosiness from walking in and amongst the houses, something I didn’t expect to feel being so close to the city centre. You start to day dream of your life there; your train ride home from work amongst the busy streets of Tokyo, jumping on your bike and riding home, catching up with friends at one of the many intimate local 6 seater bars.

I honestly could go on and on about this place, to which I returned twice more that week, and to which I will go on and on about if you ever ask me. Shimokitazawa truly is a hidden treasure amongst the glitzy surroundings of Tokyo’s stand out areas of Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku.

Once we’ve trialled, refined and confirmed the designs, cuts and details they’ll be made available to you our loving public, so get excited woo!!

The topic of fair trade sneakers came about as a result of the design work I do for a certain sneaker brand, who also happened to be the manufacturer of my shoe of choice. I was posed with the question of why I find their shoes so desirable and collectable, to the point that most of the pairs I own don’t even get to see the light of day outside their carbon frozen box chamber. The honest answer is that they not only hold a nostalgic value for me, but also give me an overwhelming sense of satisfaction through their meticulously designed features. They really are the poor man’s Ferrari. I was then posed with the question of how I feel about this particular company’s stance on fair trade manufacturing and production. My response would best be represented by the emoji icon of Flushed Face.

So I decided to do some research and look into fair trade sneakers. My intention was to find a pair of sneakers that gave me the same sense of satisfaction that my current set of kicks do, but with the added sense of ethical responsibility. The initial wave of companies I found had truly amazing manufacturing values that supported local communities, utilising locally sourced materials and implementing non-destructive or ecologically damaging manufacturing processes. But they all lacked one thing; desirable design. Every shoe was either a lifeless carbon copy of a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor’s or an amalgamation of completely uncomplimentary materials. Don’t get me wrong, Chuck’s are great, but I wanted a true sneaker with it’s own design identity.

Fast forward a few hours and I found myself losing faith that there was a pair of fair trade sneakers somewhere out there with my name on them … Enter Inkkas

INKKAS SHOES

Founder and CEO Dan Ben-Nun’s ideology may be a little too airy fairy for your liking, and the cliche hipsters walking through the mountains is definitely more than a little off putting, but for me the companies heart is in the right place. They sum it up best themselves when they say “The Inkka’s creed is to create authentic and ethical products, available to the general public, while maintaining the utmost respect for the environment and local workers.” Not only that, they produce some kick ass shoes (pun intended) as well! So I decided to buy myself a pair.

I went ahead and bought myself a pair of Shadow (high tops) as they looked killer, referenced Star Wars in their product description and have a sweet name! I mean who doesn’t want to be wearing a pair of shadows? I was nervous though. I was nervous that the shoes wouldn’t fit comfortably, would look gaudy with their use of Peruvian fabric or that they’d fall apart from simply looking at them. All those fears were quashed as soon as my sneakers arrived though.

They are beautifully handcrafted, with meticulous attention to detailing. The fabric itself is not simply a thin canvas that you might find on a pair of Chuck’s or Van’s, it’s soft and padded like a pillow for your feet. The busy kaleidoscope patterning of the exterior fabric is offset perfectly by the subtle inner lining, and perfectly framed by the white sole with black accents. The toe sections have reinforced lining to create a much more comfortable and premium feel, while the soles are slightly softened to absorb impact. I couldn’t be happier.

I urge you to check out the Inkkas website as I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the variety of shoes they offer, as well as the variety of ways they support local industry, communities and the environment. If anything hopefully it makes you think about that next pair of sneakers you buy just like I did.

Since my discovery of Inkkas, I’ve been fortunate enough to stumble across a couple more fair trade shoe manufacturers that hold that extra special attention to design and detailing I really admire.

OLIBERTE

Oliberté produce some pretty damn awesome boots, with a beautifully weathered feel. Plus they support worker’s rights in sub-Saharan Africa.

FOR YOUR EARTH

For Your Earth have a few rad sneakers amongst their collection, included a cool pair of high tops with velcro straps I’m desperate to get my hands on. For the life of me I can’t work out how to purchase them sadly

With a studio space secured the focus has now shifted to getting our website fully pimped! And don’t forget to bookmark this blog which will be updated regularly with news, info, references, design features and more!

Love Lost Designs xo