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Mhairi Flett

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Feet on the Ground Wines

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feet on the ground wines

Gumboots, vine roots, and a sense of the earth - just the right mix for branding these wines... Feet on the Ground Wines Feet On The Ground wines are the creation of winemaker Paige McArdle in McLaren Vale, Australia. The wines sing of the land where the grapes grow—well-managed sustainable vineyards in the popular Murray Darling wine region. Not only delicious, but as a notable point of difference, Feet On The Ground wines also come with vegan credentials! Importantly, as the product is sold exclusively by specialist online retailer Naked Wines, Paige wanted a label design that communicated both the...

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Setting up Artwork Files for Print

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artwork

In this Education article, we take a look at some basic considerations for setting up print artwork... Some Artwork Basics A common cause of hold-ups in print work is artwork files set up incorrectly. This article covers some basics around setting up artwork to avoid the most common mistakes. For this article, we will assume Adobe Illustrator, InDesign (or QuarkXPress), and Photoshop are used to construct the artwork. And that the dispatch file to the printer is a high-resolution PDF (the industry norm for print artwork). We strongly advise against using office-level apps (such as Microsoft Word or Apple Pages)...

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Milla Milla

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milla milla

New Australian fragrance line, Milla Milla, recently caught our eye with its fresh brand and unexpected approach to packaging. GSM takes a closer look... Milla Milla - The Brand At the heart of Milla Milla’s range of handcrafted fragrances are exquisite native botanicals. This thoughtful approach permeates throughout the business—from sourcing ingredients to production and packaging, supporting industry and charitable initiatives, and upholding an ethos of sustainability in all areas.       Developing The Brand Milla Milla engaged Tom and Phoebe Simpson of Known By to develop the brand identity and packaging. The objective: capture the nuances of the...

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Quick Chat Creative – Best Strategy

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best

The Best Awards were again in full swing for 2023. The team at Strategy Creative, who created the lead campaign, decided it was the time to celebrate. GSM caught up with the team to talk about the "Bestival". The Best Awards, organised by the Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ), run every year to celebrate the ‘best’ in the local design scene. And, every year, a new lead campaign promotes entering Best and the awards night (…plus the after party). The team at Strategy Creative is to thank for last year’s campaign. We sat down with the team at Strategy...

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Quick Chat Print – Special T

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Special T

Corey London from Special T Print joins us to discuss starting a printery during challenging times, and the importance of staying true to your core values. Special T Print Based close to the M5 in Kingsgrove, South West Sydney, Special T Print focusses on service (the ‘T’ is for Treatment). Having recently printed the 2024 Ball & Doggett Calendar featuring student work from across Australasia (see article on page 50), we decided to have a chat with Corey London, Managing Director at Special T, to talk about what they do. Here is what Corey had to say; GSM: How did...

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Natralis – Play with Colour, Connect with Place

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Commercial vinyl flooring might not be the stuff of architectural dreams...but that was precisely the challenge Armstrong Flooring laid down for Nexus Design with their Natralis collection - make the architectural creators and thinkers take notice of what is literally - below them. The Natralis Brief With local production stretching back over sixty years, Armstrong Flooring is Australia’s only manufacturer of commercial vinyl-sheet flooring. Recently launched, the Natralis collection not only fulfils the practical requirements of commercial flooring—but, through the use of colour, also connects, on an aesthetic level, interior environments to the flora, fauna, animals, and places of Australia—a...

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Student Design Contest 2023 – Seasons in Type

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student design contest seasons in type

Our annual Student Design Contest, Seasons in Type, yielded another fab crop of entries - Here are the winners... The annual BJ Ball/Ball & Doggett Student Design Contest for 2023 followed the same format as in previous years. Two calendars were produced—one for Australia printed by Special T Print in Sydney, and a New  Zealand version printed by Centurion in Auckland. Both featured winners from their respective countries as well as a selection of ‘best of the best’ trans-Tasman winners that appeared in both. The Brief The contest brief was simple—create a colour palette for one of the four Seasons,...

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The Message Stick – Identity & Resilience

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The Message Stick

What we do is not learned or taught… It's lived, it's in our blood! It's our identity! Pat Caruso, founder and director of We Create Print Deliver, is, first and foremost, an Eastern Arrernte First Nations Graphic Designer and Artist. GSM talks with Pat about his unique story in search of his bi-cultural identity. Pat’s journey to reconnect with his Eastern Arrernte roots is a powerful testament to identity and resilience. Especially when we consider how it was disrupted by his mother’s removal in the 1950s. Through his business and art, Pat has bridged his personal and community identity. He...

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Navigating Bi-Cultural Design

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pakeha paralysis

In this installment of Rākau Kōrero, we talk to design educator Carl Pavletich about navigating bi-cultural design from a non-Māori perspective. For Pākehā, navigating the bi-cultural design process feels uncomfortable— like floating in a proverbial waka without a hoe. When your life experience falls heavily on the Western/Pākehā side of the scales, the bi-cultural journey is dauntingly steep and disorientating. Much of what we do, we do without thinking. For example, when we master a skill, we create subconscious shortcuts. Mātauranga Māori challenges us to question our worldviews and reassess much of what we thought was true. Participating in a bi-cultural...

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Marita Leuver – Creativity Takes you places!

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Marita Leuver

Australian designer Marita Leuver is best known for her work promoting festivals and public spaces. Strong forms, bold colour and illustrative typography characterise her design sensibility. GSM takes a look... The Leuver Family - creativity throughout Born into a creative family with dad, Peter Leuver, an Art Director, and mum, Joan Leuver, an illustrator, plus four siblings—all of whom are blessed with artistic flair—it is easy to understand why Marita likens her childhood to the American television drama, ‘Mad Men’. Marita studied at Randwick Technical College in Sydney—excelling in the two year graphic design programme. Marita’s sister, and one-time co-designer,...

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