Koskela
Project scope
Branding
Print and Digital design
Digital Marketing / Social Media
Photography
Styling
Copywriting
Web Design
UX / User Personas
Wayfinding / Signage
Event-Based Collateral
Presentation Design
An Australian Lifestyle brand seeks to celebrate what it means to be Australian, to improve people's everyday lives through good design, and bring joy, above all.
Begun as a small Surry Hills-based furniture design business in 2000, the brand grew to fill a beautifully converted warehouse in Sydney's growing suburb of Rosebery. Koskela included a furniture showroom, a large retail shop, a thriving commercial sector, an internal gallery, a workshop space, a holiday accommodation on the central coast, and a social enterprise initiative in the Northern Territories.
As their internal Digital Media and Visual Branding Designer, I looked after all print and digital design from 2012-2016 during a very expansive time for the company. They had recently moved from a small boutique storefront in a trendy suburb into a huge warehouse in an up-and-coming neighbourhood and were in their growth and establishment phases. This opportunity and the scale of the venue meant there was a lot of new projects, ideas, offerings and changes to design for at a rapid pace, plus we were evolving the brand to look more sophisticated, establish a brand persona (especially as Instagram was a huge sales and discover tool for our customers), and speak to the vibrant and sensory retail experience. Towards the end of my time, we’d reached an expansion phase of the business and my role split into several to accommodate the growing needs.
Branding
Koskela’s original logo had a strong “K” mark that was developed at the start of the business and had become recognisable within the industry. During our brand refresh, the “K” mark was retained but paired with typography that was more true to the brand identity that had developed.
As Koskela had many ways for customers, clients and guests to engage the brand, clear subbranding systems were also a big focus.
Koskela Kitchen
Koskela’s most stand-alone subbrand was Koskela Kitchen, the in-house dining space. Many patrons were not necessarily customers of the retail and commercial branches of the business so giving this space it’s own identity which was derived from Koskela’s was important.
Project scope
Brand rollout
Menu design
Digital design
Digital Marketing / Social Media
Photography
Styling
Copywriting
Web Design
UX / User Personas
House Branding
For a season, we developed a version of the branding around the idea of houses as a way to speak to the very wide audience we had. Commercial designers, corporate end users, stylists, workshop hosts and participants, resources retail enthusiasts, aspiring homemakers, artists, cafe patrons, photographers, and on and on.
This branding featured much brighter colours and bolder shapes.
Signage & Counter Design
Printed plywood signage marked the retail areas of the massive space. I designed them with the building’s existing details in mind to both provide clarity for shoppers and unity with the environment.
The retail counter also was a major project to complete. Functionality, flexibility (allowance for dowels in the pegboard to create additional retail displays), branding, photography opportunities for guests, storytelling and value sharing were all considerations with the design.
Selected Works:
