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PAINT IT PINK: From the Pink Test to Barbie, pink is our colour of the month.
SUREAL DESIGNS: Watch out Adobe, Microsoft Paint might take your job.
SWEET TOOTH: 200 years of Cadbury.
BLANDING: Another victim of ultra-minimalism.
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY: Apple hopes to change the way we interact, IKEA pulls off a prank and AI trends for 2024.
Highlights from January
We're back and refreshed for another year in the Greenhouse! Over the silly season, the team enjoyed some time off visiting family, spending time with friends, hitting the coast, and consuming their weight in Christmas ham.
We dove head first into the new year with the Pink Test taking place just a few days into January (more on that below!), as well as working across a huge number of websites which we're excited to share over the coming weeks.
Content on January Recap
SOMETHING WE MADE
Designing the 2024 Pink Test
Content on January Recap
Content on January Recap
Something we get asked often: 'What do you enjoy most about designing?' Is it the creativity? Is it the ability to create visual elements that 'wow' people? Yes, but designing for causes bigger than ourselves is what we love most.
This year, we were asked once again by the McGrath Foundation to create a whole host of assets for the 2024 Pink Test. The Test was a huge success, with the team smashing their goal to sell 322,000 virtual pink seats, which will fund a further 46(!) Breast Care nurses across Australia.
If you would like to start the year on a positive note, and are able to, you can donate directly to the McGrath Foundation via the button below.
Two Column News Article on January Recap
Doing it right by doing it wrong
Microsoft Paint: the ultimate tool for designing logos, illustrations, billboards, and brand assets, right?! Wrong. Or so we thought.
Normally, we would be skeptical of a statement like that, but cereal brand, Surreal, proved us wrong. By using Paint to create their January campaign, they perfectly encapsulated many people's approach to New Year's resolutions: great intentions, but poor follow-through.
Check out the so-bad-they're-good ads below.
2023's most viral marketing moments
When it comes to creating a viral moment, it's more an art than a science. Despite the best efforts of marketers, it's impossible to predict what will go viral and, more often than not, brands are left just as surprised as everyone else when they create a cultural moment.
There was no shortage of viral moments in the past year, so Smart Company took a look back at the 7 most viral moments from Down Under. From Barbie to Bunnings, the Tillies to Taylor Swift, check out the moments at the link below!
Two Column News Article on January Recap
200 years of Cadbury
Confectionary connoisseurs, Cadbury, are celebrating their 200th anniversary with a range of limited edition packages for their chocolatey goods.
The team at UK agency, Bulletproof, dug through the archives for the anniversary collection, bringing back packaging designs from 1915 through to 2003. The walk down memory lane is a design delight. We're particularly fond of the 1940 and 1961 designs, while several familiar designs have left us feeling particularly old (looking at you 1993 and 2003).
It's intriguing to see the trends in packaging design across the centuries, from the charming illustrative style of the early 20th century, to the inclusion of a hyperrealistic image of two glasses of milk and a square of chocolate on the label in the early aughts.
Check out the designs below.
Innis-free us from minimal design
When our designer, Jen, recently headed into Innisfree, she was surprised to find they'd rebranded. Innisfree is a South Korean beauty brand known for its natural skincare and makeup.
Previously, each product line had its own colour – green for green tea, pink for cherry blossom, brown for volcanic ash, and so on. Now, the store sports a bright green theme and modern font, and they've swapped out the coloured bottles for plain white ones, which are harder to tell apart, and in turn detract from the shopping experience.
In recent times, minimalist design has become synonymous with luxury in skincare and beauty. While it's good to keep up with the times, there's a balance between following trends and keeping what makes a brand unique, and we fear Innisfree has lost its charm.
