the gas project

Lurking under a year’s worth of work, we’ve discovered a programme cover we created for a conference in Rarotonga in 2023. Along with the full program, we developed the identity for the conference and created signs, banners, social screens and a website. It pays to keep exploring.

This year’s annual report for the MacDiarmid Report built on the idea of expansion – of expanding minds, expanding materials science and the expansion of a new breed of scientist into the working and research environment. Materials science is becoming increasingly important with climate pressures, energy supply and mineral and fossil fuel use. New and improved materials will lessen our reliance on fossil fuels and outdated battery technology, while new solar technology should lead to cheaper energy. All of these lines of research, and much more, are being done by the institute. Powerful stuff.

This is the second year we’ve been involved with WoolOn, a fashion event in Central Otago, promoting the creative use of wool. Aside from posters, we’ve been in busy designing social media tiles, newspaper advertisements and are about to start on a printed programme for the launch. We’re a firm believer in the benefits of wool, and in supporting local talent and our primary AND creative industries. Get it on.

We recently completed a simple identity for a jewellery designer based in Central Otago. As with jewellery, its all about the details – so we took the business cards to the next level with some letterpress-printed cards by Magpie Press.

It’s true, we will sometimes work for beer. Station Brewing are a small batch brewery based in Alexandra. We’ve known the owners for a couple three years now, and were chuffed to be asked to help out with some identity and graphic work for the new brewery. We produced some branding, including logo work, website and help with some social media for the 2 owners, who are committed, hardworking, make great beer and undoubtably do the best fries and chicken wings in Central. They’re off the main drag in Alex, in the industrial part of town, occupying a space that used to be a car wreckers. Right up our alley.

ICL are a Central Otago-based accountancy firm with offices in Alexandra and Ranfurly. We were approached to put together their annual Farm Survey, a key document for the firm and their many loyal rural customers. The project involved wrangling numbers, graphs and text, while searching and updating the photography featured throughout. Based on a template from another local designer (our friend and ex-co-worker Jonny Simpson), the 48 page document featured quick turnarounds, much like rounding up sheep.

Tenaya is a Spanish-based climbing shoe manufacturer who still make all their products in Spain, also the home of Camper and Bob Dylan’s Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather. We were asked by the local distributor, based in Central Otago, to create a website for these world-class shoes. Safely roped in, we designed and built the site for maximum flexibility and ease of use, showcasing the shoes and some gravity-defying imagery.

To check out their range, head to their site here.

Oh boy, this book was a biggie! Close to four years in the making, various points of contact, hundreds of images and the weight of responsibility with working on one of the county’s most loved brands.

Sure to Rise: The Edmonds Story tells of the famous baking powder, patents, trademarks, the hugely popular cookbook, renowned factory and gardens, the family behind the brand, and the landmarks founder Thomas Edmonds gifted to Ōtautahi Christchurch.

Authored by Peter Alsop, Kate Parsonson and Richard Wolfe, the book uses more than 500 images to help document the Edmonds family story alongside the evolution of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most distinctive brands and its domestic trademark – the Edmonds Sure to Rise logo. Done and dusted, and available from (most) good book shops.

This project is one that is very close to home. In fact, it IS home. When we moved to Central Otago in 2019, we commissioned a simple house by Christchurch architect and sometime collaborator Charlie Nott. It’s still a work in progress, but we were stoked to win a few awards in 2023, an NZIA Southern Architecture Award, an NZIA National Award, the NZ Interior Design Award for a residential building and a Best Design Award. Good things come in small packages.

The Otago Brew School is a full time brewery course run by Otago Polytechnic / TePukenga from their Bannockburn, Central Otago / Comwell Campus. The by-product of teaching brewers is they make a lot of beer – in various styles. So they created a retail arm and Gas were tasked with naming, branding and package design. The can design is based on the location in Bannockburn, near Lake Dunstan – an environment surrounded by mountains and dramatic skies. The site is not only a brewery, it is the future of brewing in Aotearoa, by offering hands-on learning to help craft the next generation of brewers. We’ll drink to that.