Drake Eatery is a relaxed, neighbourhood eatery in the heart of Bondi. It was such a pleasure designing the branding for this little gem and working with the talented owners Ian and Alex. 

They wanted their branding to be unique but approachable, reflecting the restaurant’s relaxed beachside vibe. The name, derived from Ian’s grandmother (who taught him his culinary magic and lived on Drake Avenue), adds so much heart and soul to the brand. I explored different graphic styles around male ducks (ie. the drake) and it felt more meaningful to hand illustrate with charcoal a proud drake wing. The wing is like a modern crest and reflects the craft and soul Ian and Alex have poured into this amazing, wholesome eatery. The supporting design collateral flowed on naturally with hand drawn feathers to bring to life the menu and coffee cups. This was a fun project working with amazing clients that are super passionate and just genuinely lovely people! If you haven't experienced Drake it's a must when visiting Bondi. I recommend the coconut margaritas -- they are delish!!

Photography by the lovely Juni Ross

A brand close to my heart, co-founded with my beautiful mermaid business partner Miss Parki. It started when we were living in London and giving ourselves a weekly face mask pamper sesh. Fast-forward 6 years to Bondi life, trying to source a face mask and skincare range that flipping delivered what the bottle promised. We have both had our share of skin ailments from eczema, pigmentation, acne and skin cancers, so we’ve always held a personal interest and passion for finding the best quality skincare. 

Failing to find a killer face mask and natural skincare brand that we absolutely adored, we teamed up with a clever chemist and developed our own brand inspired by the benefits of the ocean. Since launching our first product, the ‘Active Hydration Mask’, we’ve had great success in Australia and the US, receiving an incredible response to our unique packaging and marine-inspired face mask formulation.

After an amazing journey we have sold the company and wish the next S2S guardians all the best for the future.

Consiglio in Italian means "trusted adviser", a perfect name for a company providing corporate and financial communications advice to listed and private organisations. Founded by two extremely experienced and talented ladies, the branding needed to reflect their precision and expertise. The slash that cuts the 'i' gives the logo a dynamic, unique edge and reflects the sharp thinking and cut-through service the ladies offer at Consiglio. A monogrammatic colour palette felt right for the brand echoing the bold, professional visual identity they require.

Calling Cards or ‘tart cards’ originated in the 1960s in places such as Soho, London, as handwritten postcards advertising female services, and were placed in phone booths, windows of newsagents or shops.

Descriptors for wines often mirror the way we talk about the female body..."long legs", "full-bodied", "earthy", "fresh". This play on words sparked the concept behind the Calling Card range by Saint & Sinner Wines. 

Based on the calling card, each label depicts a unique and interesting female personality and her services. The wine labels have a phone number to text each ‘lady’, resulting in a sassy, playful reply. This engaging marketing strategy successfully gave the brand an interactive platform breaking category codes and conventions. It was a really fun, creative project to work on, and the wines are yummy too!

Creative Role: Senior Designer
Company: Boldinc.

I did my university thesis on Absolut Vodka & since then I’ve had a huge appreciation for the brand & its creative genius. So it was really exciting when Absolut came into the Boldinc studio. The whole team worked together on getting this project to launch and I was had the opportunity to illustrate and paint the artworks.

The project was quirky from the start -- “Who stole my berries?” was the name, derived from supposedly pissed off Swedish animals who wondered where their berries were. It brought the story to life using a traditional botanist’s pen to capture the intricate leafy, feathery, furry details combined with free flowing watercolours to show the yummy flavour infusions. The single sourced Vodka has been muddled with Scandinavian berries & bottled in super cute mini iconic Absolut bottles. This has been one of my favourite creative projects!

Creative role: Artist
Company: Boldinc. 

The Principles of Luxury brochure was about exploring the fundamental principles that are an integral part of developing luxury brands. The brochure is a showcase of the Boldinc. portfolio and how these principles have been successfully demonstrated. I was like a kid in a candy store choosing sexy print finishes and paper stocks to make the brochure presentation a beautiful feast for the senses.

Creative role: Design Director
Company: Boldinc. 

Working for Jimmy Choo began with my love of shoes; being intrigued by the philosophies behind luxury brands and my curiosity around designing beautiful pieces of art that you can wear on your feet. I put together a little book full of my shoe sketches and sent it off to Jimmy, but it wasn't until months later after moving back from England to Australia that I got a phone call from Creative Director Sandra Choi, Jimmy Choo's talented niece, asking if I could pop in for a chat. I jumped on a plane back to London & started a shoe design internship pretty much straight away (it was an opportunity too good to pass up). It opened my eyes to the world of high end fashion. I learnt the foundations of shoe design with hands-on experience from conceptual stages to finished product. It was an amazing whirlwind of creativity and has helped me understand the world of luxury shoe design and branding.

The idea for Femme Fatale takes the notion that descriptors for wines are synonymous with the way we illustrate a woman’s tantalising qualities.

This exclusive limited release vintage sparkling from Saint & Sinner wine is irresistibly rare and tasty. Hand crafted from beginning to end in the traditional method from fine North East Tasmanian Fruit, Femme Fatale is a 2006 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier.  

The original concept of the label was based on a seductive lace face mask using hand-crafted script typography to show the delicate, seductive personality of Femme Fatale. The colour was an obvious choice with the red and black adding to the dangerous but sexy vibe. We had a bespoke black leather, quilted red silk lined hand bag hand made especially to house the wine.

Creative role: Senior Designer
Company: Boldinc. 

One of my favourite brands to work with is Nuzest! Not just because the brand is creating a ripple effect of goodness across the world -- I love a green smoothie and healthy living -- but also because the team behind this brand are lovely people. It’s been a colourful, creative journey developing this vibrant nutritional brand from its birth 6 years ago to the global reach it has today.  Our goal was to create a fresh lifestyle brand to stand apart from the sea of same-same overtly hippy or clinical health products that populated the category. By breaking the conventional health brand mould and creating a ‘Friendly Science’ mantra, Nuzest cut through the competition with their unique branding and packaging. Nuzest has successfully captured an international market, distributing to 16 countries around the world and growing exponentially. Good things happen to good people! 

Creative role: Designer

Coffee is always a good idea!! Move over George Clooney there is a new Italian coffee brand that packs a punch in taste and personality! Enter MAP Coffee a down to earth brand that’s friendly, approachable and celebrates everyday people enjoying life. Map’s modern Italian spirit comes to life through the photography of happy people enjoying life’s simple pleasures. The successful packaging redesign improved sales dramatically making MAP one of the leading capsule coffee brands on the market. 

Creative role: Design Director
Company: Boldinc.

I have had the opportunity to work on many alcohol brands over the years but it all started during my two year stint at Claessens International - Alcohol Branding Design Specialist. Working as a junior design these are a few my favourite branding projects I worked on as a team at Claessens.

She Can DJ is a competition unearthed by EMI Music showcasing the best female DJs in the country. The branding needed to look electric with a sexy, cool feminine vibe. The 'S' in the logo is made from a graphic record that has been cut by a needle, and the vignette throughout the logo creates movement and energy. Art directing digital illustrator Michel Sycz to render the iconic futuristic DJ was a great collaboration. The future DJ graphic became the visual identity of the brand and set the tone for the whole campaign. The competition has now gone international, launching the careers of talented female DJs around the globe. 

Creative role: Designer & Art Director

Digital Artist: Michel Sycz

Company: EMI

Who doesn't love a cuppa tea? I love tea like Beyonce loves shaking her booty in a sequinned leotard, so sipping beautiful teas while watercolour painting in my little studio for a lovely tea brand is my idea of design heaven. I worked with a team of creatives on the branding, packaging and strategy for Tetley Tea for around eight years at Boldinc. My favourite project was the Tetley fruit & herbal infusions range where I was let loose with my watercolour paints to bring the beautiful fragrant flavours to life. Tetley is one of the most friendly, steadfast brands on the supermarket shelf and always has a place in every home.

Creative role: Designer // Watercolour Artist
Company: Boldinc.

Whilst working at Claessens International, I spent almost a year working on the Russian Standard Vodka portfolio designing branding, alcohol labels and marketing collateral including the decal for founder Roustam Tariko’s private plane. The brand is an incredible convergence of science and nature, craft and technology, history and revolution combined to create a revolution in the vodka category. Balancing the design influences of traditional opulent Russia with a modern twist to appeal to today’s audience was a challenge. Russian Standard Vodka is Russia’s number one premium vodka, and you can find it in more than 80 countries around the world.

Role: Junior Designer

Company: Claessens International

Befitting Adam & Eve’s original sin, Begin is a handcrafted gin that takes exotic aromas and flavours from traditional blends of botanicals, much like those found in - The Garden of Eden. A genuine Australian dry gin, distilled in Victoria and bottled using a bespoke bottle design. The biblical and botanical theme was key to creating the brands style by crafting an ornate ‘B' to hero name and story. I worked with a team of talented creatives on this project.

Role: Senior Designer
Company: Boldinc. 

Positive Change For Marine Life is a conservation movement dedicated to minimising and reversing the impact that we are collectively having on the ocean. I have been working on different conservation projects, the latest being Plastic Bag free Byron Bay a campaign to drive a shift away from plastic bags across the Byron Shire! I designed a logo, brochure and petition to support the campaign. The idea is to minimise the use of plastic bags because they are so deadly to our marine life and the environment, leading the way in the plastic revolution.

http://pcfml.org.au