Pixsoul | Logo v1

This is my original logo for what was originally my freelance design business; Pixsoul. A play on the word “pixel”, Pixsoul in a nutshell means “pixels with soul” or “images with meaning”. With so much design out there I really wanted to focus on what mine was about; simple and effective communication. My style is very minimalistic, I brainstorm a large amount of ideas, take elements from all of these and then simplify that concept down to the bare essentials. This really focuses on communication and function rather than aesthetics and prowess.

This 1st version of the logo culminated in a font which I designed using pixels. After designing dozens of pixel based fonts, this was the one that really stood out at me because it embodied the ”pixels with soul” the strongest. It is based on a pixel design, but it has an edge to it, it’s not a boring font that fit’s the general hum-drum of pixel founts. It’s like the James Dean of pixel fonts. It also looks simple, strong, reliable and adaptive; all good quality elements.

Pixsoul | Logo v2

As with anyone creative, you can never be satisfied with a piece of work. There is always something to be improved, even the tiniest of element or smallest blemish that needs polishing. After a while I still liked the original Pixsoul design and font, I still liked what it communicated but I wanted to take it to the next level. How could I push it’s simplicity to the limit?

After many new designs and re-designers, I settled on the below. It is merely the shadow of the original Pixsoul logo, nothing more complicated than that. The thing I like best about it, is effectively there is no font there at all now, only the shadow of one. It takes the simplicity to the next level and beyond, it’s almost like it’s saying something, without saying anything at all. It emphasise both the pixel and soul elements of the original level by magnitudes, making for a stronger logo tied together with the concept of not actually being a font at all…if you look hard enough, it just becomes lines; you’re not actually looking at the logo itself here, but into its soul…

Uni | Good vs Evil

This was a fun little exercise at uni, for a design competition at the AGIdeas conference. I can’t recall the exact entry concept you were supposed to design around but it was something like “Is what we perceive to be good/evil necessarily so?”. This is what I came up with, the eternal battle of your good and evil conscience…but what if you conscience also has such a battle? Your good / evil intensions might not always be pure…

Uni | SkinGear Logo & Clothing Tags

The aim of this project was to create a brand, logo and packaging for a new sub-brand of Jockey which promoted awareness with The Cance Council Australia. Featuring a custom typeface.

Uni | Imperial Logo

A logo created for a new imaginary brand of dark chocolate, Imperial. Utilising elements of the font chosen to create the motif.

Phoenix Project | Logo

The Phoenix Project was a collaboration between the Morelend Energy Foundation Ltd and St Vincent de Paul. The project was to take disused fridges, donated from the public. The fridges would then be serviced and modified to run as environmentally friendly and economically as possible. Then these would be given to low income house holds via St Vincent de Paul. It was a “re-birthing” of a fridge, giving it a new life; just like a Phoenix.

It was hard deciding a direction for the logo, do you go with a cold look like the fridges or a hot look like a Phoenix. In the end the client wanted to push the cold look more as that is what the actual project was about. We ended up with this logo, which takes the X and turns it into a snow flake, while not over doing it too much and making the X unreadable. The font was chosen because it looked solid and reliable, yet it had nice smooth curves and was quite open and friendly, after all this project was about giving.

Newman College | 2006 Newman Ball Poster

I have a friend who was a resident at Newman College, Melbourne University. She was on the committe organising their ball for that year and asked me if I could help designing the poster. The theme was “Circus Ball”, so that is the look I was going after with the poster. I stuck with bright Circus style colours, design elements and typeface. The main design element of the wedges is based on a big top, which draws you into the title in the centre. The other elements of the entertainers is just to liven the poster up a bit and give it a bit more of a circus, crazy feel. 

XXIV | Logo

The name XXIV originally came from the products that we started selling. We specialised originally in Dirt Jump and Street mountain bikes, a lot of which used 24″ wheels as this makes the bikes easier to do tricks on. So we took 24, changed it to roman numerals and voila! We originally thought we would refer to ourselves as “Twenty Four” when speaking to people but we soon realised most people said “X-X-I-V” instead, which stuck.

The logo also takes reference from the products and target market we originally started out with. Being “street” cultured, I looked to urban art andgraffiti for inspiration. I found some styles I really liked and came up with this logo. Unfortunately for me, I’m no graffiti artist and while I has happy with the design, I wasn’t happy with the “style” of the tag. So I commissioned a proper graffiti artist to do the finished art for me as a proper tag and then re-created this on the computer; it was a much better result, loads of style and attitude!

XXIV | Business Cards

Not much you can really say about a business card! It’s simple, emphasises our logo and colours while presenting crucial contact details in an easy to understand format. Simple, uncomplicated and effective.

XXIV | Banshee Bikes Introduction 1/2 Page Ad

This was a classic “night before” ad creation, we got given a last minute ad-slot at a good price; the condition was I had to have the ad done by the next morning at 9am. We had just taken Banshee Bikes on as a brand only a couple of weeks before this and wanted to take advantage of the cheap ad space to publicise that fact. Unfortunately with the time constraints we had next to no artwork to us what so ever, let alone create something. I did have Banshee’s mascot in high resolution, which is very recognisable. It was a simple ad which feature our distinctive yellow logo strip, so people knew it was us (XXIV). Also incorporated the very recognisable Banshee mascot and a little pun in the copy. Banshee’s most popular bike at the time was called the “Scream” so that got incorporated into the pun. Considering the lower circulation of the magazine it was published in, it worked by driving traffic to our site and we started getting direct enquiries about Banshee Bikes shortly after.

XXIV | Gamut “What’s Guiding You?” 1/2 Page Ad Series

The “What’s Guiding You” ad series spawned from Gamut’s own slogan. Gamut USA make Chain Guides / Chain Devices which are used on Downhill Mountain Bikes to hold the chain securely on the front chain ring, preventing it from falling off. They also offer protection to the chain ring, chain and racks via the bash guard. The slogan had originally spawned to make people question which chain device they were using and their reasons for using it. I took the idea of the slogan and twisted it to a more religious / astrological connotation. The core message I’m trying to get across, isn’t anymore just “What chain device are you using? Why that chain device?”; it’s developed into “If you don’t use Gamut, you better pray that your chain stays on”.

It’s about developing a mindset of distrust in their current product and trust in Gamut’s. Chain Devices aren’t rocket science to setup, but after many years as a pro mechanic I can say that above 80% of riders don’t have theirs setup correctly. Every chain device when setup properly will never drop a chain, fact. Every time I have ever seen someone drop a chain, there is always something incorrect in how their chain device is setup, this includes Gamut’s…they only work as well as they are setup, same as everything else. The ad accentuates peoples insecurities about their Chain Device, which are completely unfounded (because their device would work perfectly if it were setup correctly), but they are there none-the-less. We ran this ad campaign for a while and it was very effective in increasing sales, but more importantly improving the perception of the brand and products in people’s minds as “reliable”, which is the most important aspect about such a product.

XXIV | Gamut “Simplicity” Full Page Ad

Gamut USA made the proposition to us that they would like to run a full page ad in Australia as part of a world-wide ramp up on their behalf with promotion. They we’re willing to pay for all artwork and half of the ad cost, obviously we were only too happy to oblige. They were already using a personal friend of theirs for photography and design for their other world-wide ads and wanted to continue to use him. Obviously we wanted to design the ad ourselves, but as they we’re paying and wanted exclusive rights to use the ad elsewhere we came to the agreement that I would creatively direct the ad and design it, their designer would then supply the photography and do the finished art.

There are 2 major elements to the Gamut USA chain devices that separate them from the competition. Firstly, they are the lightest chain devices on the market. Secondly, they are the simplest chain device on the market, every other device comes like a model car kit and you have to put it all together before you can put it on the bike; often aiding to incorrect setup of competitors products. The Gamut USA devices are pre-assembled, all you have to do is bolt it on and some minor adjustment to your setup with the back plate spacing.

I wanted to really highlight the simplicity of the product and in effect it’s ease of setup and reliability. Simplicity was the message, and it made sense to keep the ad as simple as possible; Simplicity as the tag, a great shot of the product and a brief message about them being the lightest available also. This was the result.

XXIV | Straitline Components “Performance Enhancement” Full Page Ad

Straitline Components are a fantastic company from Canada, previously designing and manufacturing products used by NASA andUS Federal Agencies…to say these guys are smart, is an understatement. They designed these upgrade levers, which reduce arm pump (tendon fatigue in the arms from braking), increase power and modulation, oh and they look bling! The product was selling great in the Downhill market, especially with the bling factor. But we really wanted to penetrate the XC and Enduro markets which are massive and the product would really benefit these users.

XC riders are all about performance and weight, so while the product sold easily to Downhillers with the aid of “bling factor”, the emphasis on the performance was needed to get the XC market across the line. I wanted to create a little more factual ad, with a hint of advertorial. I commissioned Chris Benny to take yet another fantastic photo of the product, which really highlights the ergonomic qualities, precision manufacturing and finish.

Too often there are cycling products which claim to be better or superior, but at the end of the day you can’t put your finger on what it is about them that is better…or if it is better than the product you replaced in the first place. You can definitely notice the difference straight away with Straitline upgrade levers, so this was the direction in which I took the ad. I paired it up with some informative copy featuring scientific terms and mentions of experts…the Demtel approach! We ran the ad in magazines pertinent to the XC market and it worked very effectively in breaking us into that market as well as re-enforcing the product for other markets.

XXIV | Christmas Full Page Ad

Body Copy:

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chair lift with care,
In Hopes that St XXIV would be there.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finge aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chair lift he rose.

He sprang to his sled, to his team gave a whistle,
Andaway they all rode, down like a miss’le.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he rode out of site.
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

This ad was published in a December issue, so we really wanted to capitilise on Christmas spending and get people to treat themselves with our products or beg mum and dad to put some in their stockings. The bike industry is flooded with below average advertising, which 90% of the time consists of a photo of a pro-rider who is sponsored by Brand X, with an overlay of one of Brand X’s products…you’d be suprised the number of times you see one of these ads and the rider isn’t even riding that specific product! So I really wanted to do something without a pro-rider in it andsomething Christmas themed which really madethe products stand out.

Even though we are in the Southern Hemisphere, I decided to go with a “White Christmas” theme as we could use multiple brands (Gamut USA & Straitline Components) in the colour of white. I commissioned Chris Benny to take this photograph, he really nailed the Christmas Lights look we we’re after…such a great shot! I took the classic “Night Before Christmas” poem by Clement Clark Moore, trimmed it down and modified it slightly to relate to Downhill Mountain Biking. It’s laid out to lead your eye down to the products after first reading through the poem hopefully taking the reader into the mind set of when they were younger and couldn’t sleep for thinking what might be waiting for them under the tree the next morning…hopefully Straitline and Gamut products!

XXIV | Banshee Bikes “Tits!” Full Page Ad

 Body Copy: 

Cop a feel of a new 2008 Banshee, it’ll be the best thing you’ll ever lay your hands on…well ok, maybe the 2nd best. If you pin DH runs, smash out XC laps or throw down at the DJs, there’s a Banshee that’s been dialed in to do just that. So go jump on the nerd-box and scope out the new range…did we mention that we are doing up to 20% off the entire range for a limited time? Tits!

This ad definitely turned heads and really put Banshee bikes in the hearts andminds of the Australian downhill mountain bike community, it was a stellar success. The target market consists of 15-35 year old males, mostly blue collar workers who definitely use a lot of slang, a lot of which is specific to their mountain biking brethren. At the time, the word “tits” was doing the rounds in the community; meaning awesome / great etc. I found this quite amusing and decided it would be a great idea for an ad, to capture peoples attention and speak to them in a language they used with their mates when riding. The body copy also utilises this vernacular utilised by the target market. The end result was an ad that was eye catching to those who didn’t know about this culture, yet intriguing and humourous without being offensive. For the target market, it really hit the sweet spot and saw a dramatic increase in brand awareness, enquiries and sales.