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P&W wins 2 Design Excellence Awards

We are excited to announce that we’ve just won 2 Design Excellence Awards for our Tesco Spanish Juice and our Fresh & Easy Italian sodas.

 “The PLBuyer Design Excellence Awards is an exciting awards program developed by PLBuyer – the #1 media brand serving the private label industry – aimed to recognize the very best in private label package design. The PLBuyer Design Excellence Awards was judged by a distinguished panel of package design professionals.” PLBuyer

We were also finalists for the following projects with our work on display at the PLMA trade show in Chicago:

Fresh & Easy Plastics Range

Fresh & Easy Kitchen TO GO Range

                Tesco Spanish Orange Juice                                                       Fresh & Easy Italian Soda

Photography 101

Over the summer Heather and I (Danielle) took a photography class at the Manhattan Beach Art Department to refresh our skills. We went once a week for 8 weeks and learned some valuable lessons from our teacher Brian, who happens to be a very experienced and famous toy photographer. 

The casual environment made it a relaxed and comfortable learning experience, which we loved! Over 8 weeks, with our digital cameras set to manual, we learned how to:

1. Explore depth of field using aperture/f-stop (shallow vs. deep)

2. Use shutter speed to control light and introduce blur 

3. Adjust ISO settings

4. Read and measure light

5. Shoot with strobe and flash

6. Determine color/white balance (shooting in artificial light, daylight, tungsten, etc.)

Meet our teacher, Brian. See his work here

Shallow Depth of Field Exercise - Inside Classroom vs. Outside

Practicing the "panning technique" - We chased each other around the classroom
for about 30 minutes! 

Over Exposed Heather vs. Under Exposed Heather - I adjusted my strobe settings 

to get the perfect exposure.

Experimenting with Studio Lights

P&Wig Day

Things got a little spooky today in our Los Angeles studio. Halloween is such a big holiday here in the US - costumes aren't just for kids! So we thought we'd give our UK studio a good scare by wearing ridiculous wigs during the morning Skype call. Pretty terrifying right?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM TEAM P&W

A-Z | Hobby on a Film Set

The late Oscar winning actor Yul Brynner is better known for his roles in movies such as The King & I (1956) and The Magnificent Seven (1960).  However, an exhibition at The Little Black Gallery, London highlighted a little known talent for photography which Brynner honed during long idle periods on film sets.

His candid, personal shots of some of Hollywood's brightest stars reveal subjects relaxed and at ease in his company, happy for him to view them through his trusty Leica.

Brynner amassed more than 8000 photos before he died in 1985,  from which his daughter Victoria selected and curated the show.

 

Audrey Hepburn was a close personal friend of
Brynner's, this shot was taken in Venice, 1965Robert Mitchum takes a break from playing a mercenary on the set of Villa Rides. 1956 

The enigmatic Frank Sinatra emerges from a helicopter, tumbler of whisky in hand. 1964 

Ingrid Bergman shows her playful side while filming Goodbye Again 1961 Sophia Loren in a moment of concentration, House Boat 1957 

Elizabeth Taylor plays with her daughter Liza Todd Burton at her Hollywood home 1959 

Grace Kelly in 1966 

These unique portraits are an enticing glimpse of life behind the celebrity facade, from a time when celebrity still retained a certain mystique.

photos-  http://www.thelittleblackgallery.com/shows/yul-brynner-a-photographic-journey

P&W wins Silver Pentaward

We are excited to announce that we’ve just won a Silver Pentaward for our Tesco Spanish Orange Juice range.

 “A prestigious awards program dedicated exclusively to Packaging Design, judged and awarded by an international panel composed of 12 packaging design professionals” 

The goal was to create a design solution that stood out amongst other ordinary orange juice, an eye catching and unique solution for this specialty juice. Orange juice is a crowded category, complex and difficult to shop, for a specialty juice to thrive it needs to be identifiable on shelf.

The design reflects the origin of the oranges whilst keeping it light hearted and distinctive from the array of other orange juices in the fixture – the idea of the Matador was used to create an iconic symbol - integrating the photographic orange within the illustrations for a sense of fun and still differentiating between the smooth and with bits orange juice varieties. It also had to have the ability to communicate strongly within the juice category, which is all about refreshment and flavor.

"We think the highly creative solution is eye catching and distinctive, the design wraps around the pack truly bringing the character to life “ –P&W

A-Z | Creative Exercise 01 Self Portraits

With offices in London and LA, our studio relies on a solid creative process to keep us connected as one big happy design family. We decided to strengthen that process with little "exercises". Using pens, paper, film, books, tasty food, music, whatever we can get our hands on. 

The first exercise was so ridiculous and funny, we had to share the results. So here it is, the very first of an on-going series of P&W challenges, designed to keep our creativity flowing!

P&W wins 4 GDUSA Design Awards

  We have won 4 GDUSA American Graphic Design Awards for our work with Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

Winning entries in Packaging Category:

• F&E Imported Italian Soda
• F&E 100% Pure Vermont Maple Syrup
• F&E Baking aids
• F&E Roasted Veggie crisps

“Being recognized for our design excellence is an honor and we are extremely excited to be a winner. We are proud of our creative solutions and credit goes to our outstanding team” – P&W

 F&E Imported Italian Soda Range

F&E Baking Aids Range

 

F&E Vermont Maple Syrup

 F&E Roasted Veggie Crisps 

Outstanding Olympics

London hosted an amazing games, here are some of our highlights and memories.....

 Danielle-My highlight of the London Olympics was seeing the city and it’s people so proud and patriotic

Mel- My highlight was the opening ceremony - goosebump moments including the huge, industrial golden rings rising into the night sky, and the lighting of the fabulous cauldron.

 Nicola- The London Olympics was an unforgettable experience!

  Jess- The Olympics was summer at last! full of colour and cheer.

Ben- My fav part of the olympic festivities was enjoying the Olympic park as night fell, among excited fellow Olympic fans from all over the world :)

 Lyndsay-LA-The highlight of the Olympics for me was the FAB 5 American ladies winning the gymnastics gold medal!  So young and so amazing!!!

Celebrating Design History

Beginning scene from their film "Powers of Ten"
www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/44/dorrian.php

This August we’re celebrating Charles and Ray Eames. For all of the Eames lovers like us, you probably know both Charles and Ray passed away on the same date, August 21^st, exactly ten years apart. 

In an article written for Vogue in 1959, Alene Talmey wrote “They are intensely practical. They work as partners, both designers, both filmmakers, both at ease in their life.” This unique connection to each other and to the world of design inspired us to take a closer look at their story.

It all started with a chair. Ray Kaiser, with a background in abstract expressionism, met Charles Eames at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. She was commissioned to create sketches and models of Charles’ chair design for an upcoming competition. A year later, in 1941, they married and moved their life to Los Angeles, California. At the time, the traditional armchair was tired and boring. Charles and Ray set out to re-design it, leaving behind all upholstery and cushions. Their one-piece plastic moulding, called “The Shell” hit the market and before they knew it, their goal of making “affordable, practical, beautiful design available to the masses” was a reality – Herman Miller began manufacturing their furnishings.

Most people know Charles and Ray for their home furnishings, but they dabbled in just about everything. With furniture design came other industrial matters, like toys. “The Plywood Elephant” for example was strong enough for kids to play on, but doubled as a sleek sculpture that parents could appreciate too. Genius! They are also known for outstanding contributions in film, photography, exhibition, and architecture. It’s safe to say, they saw beauty in everything around them, and offered ground-breaking progress for the future of modern mid-century design.­

Charles once said…

“Any time one or more things are consciously put together in a way that they can accomplish something better than they could have accomplished individually, this is an act of design”. He must have been talking about his life with Ray, because together this duo was dynamic.

See more about the unique story of Charles & Ray Eames in the documentary “Eames: The Architect and The Painter” – definitely worth watching!

Charles and Ray showing their sense of humor!
www.smartfurniture.com/hermanmiller/resources/herman-miller-and-eames.html

Charles and Ray in front of their house in the Pacific Palisades, CA
www.eamesfoundation.org

The Wire Chair, produced by Herman Miller until 1967
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/eames/furniture.html

Herman Miller catalogue showcasing Eames' chair designs
www.mid-century-home.com

The Eames Plywood Elephant...you can buy it here! 

The Eames House (also know as Case Study #8) is located in Pacific Palisades

 and is definitely worth a visit 

www.flickr.com/photos/bwucinich/with3904355535/#photo_3904355535

The Eames living room on display during the LACMA "California Design" exhibit
feltandwire.com

Rooftop Tea & Golf Party

British food architects Bompas and Parr have created a cake bases crazy golf course on the roof of Selfridges. Open until September 2nd the 9 hole course is designed as a homage to all things British. The challenging cake inspired holes take the form of London Landmarks including Tower Bridge, Nelson's Column and a rotating Gherkin.

14 of P&W's finest putters teed off on Thursday to compete in this culinary Grand Slam. As the sun set over the roofs of London's West End competition was tense between the 4 teams who arrived suitably dressed for the occasion.

Spanish Orange Juice | Tesco

We have designed the Spanish Orange Juice range. The new design was implemented on Tesco's own brand packaging across 2 varieties.

Kitchen TO GO | Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

 We have designed the Kitchen TO GO branding for Tesco’s US chain Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. The new branding solution was implemented on their private label packaging, advertising and point of sale materials.

Organic Branding | Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, USA

We have re-designed the organic branding for Tesco’s US chain Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. The new branding solution was implemented on their private label packaging, advertising and point of sale materials.

Unique LA Event

               

  

The Venue @ the Historic Barker Hangar

The 2nd Annual Unique LA event in Santa Monica last weekend was the  go to spot for new trends in food, fashion, design, art...you name it, all created from local designers and artists. Corey, the newest addition to the LA office went to the event and came back with a good review. All hand picked, these designers were chosen to exhibit their goods (and passion) to hopefully get some major exposure and new customers. In addition, Unique partners with many non-profits and donates 10% of the ticket sales! Once your in-- not only do you get a free ticket to the Orange County Fair but they have food trucks, free drinks & food samples, silkscreen t-shirts, photo booths, massage center, DIY (do-it-yourself craft booths) and much more! There was far too much to see in a few hours and the venue gets crowded, a good tip is to go in the morning to get the first looks. Unique is still very new, having launched in 2008 the creator, Sonja Rasula's mission is "to bring modern Made-in-America design to the masses, my goals are to help designers and small businesses grow and become sustainable, to support the local economy, and to teach shoppers the value of conscious consumerism." 

A-Z | Prairie Style Architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American Architect born in 1867 and a pioneer of the prairie school of architecture. He was a strong believer in bringing the outside in and designed buildings which he felt were sympathetic to their surroundings in harmony with nature. 

 Frank Lloyd Wright's home and Studio, Oak Park, Illinois - http://gowright.org/home-and-studio.html