Elleski Design

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Posts

July 13, 05:06 AM
Where the magic happens

I thought I post some photos of my desk. This is where the magic happens! Where the creative juices flow!

So what’s on my desk?
I absolutely LOVE flowers! Any chance I get, at the markets, the grocer, the local florist, I pick up some beautiful blooms for my desk. Their scent and colour really inspire my work!
I also surround myself with vintage photos of my grandparents. I glance at them every now and then. They are my angels! I also love the little golden oval frames. Back in the day, my Papa Jerry was a profecinal photographer and took the images himself. Nana Nina used to hand colour the black & white images. How fascinating! I guess creativity runs in the family!
Music. I always have music playing while I’m at my desk. At the moment I’m listening to the smooth sounds of Bossa Nova. Bossa Nova is a type of retro 1960′s jazz, originally from Brazil. ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ is a classic example.
Art! Art is so important to me! It’s where design comes from! Above my desk is a vintage Spanish painting I found in my grandparents garage, framed in a gorgeous detailed ornamental wooden frame. Was quite dusty when I pulled it out. I wonder where it comes from and if it’s worth anything?
The cat is ‘Baby’. I was baby sitting ‘Baby’ when I took the images. How cute is the Cath Kidston cherry mug! Of course it’s filled with earl grey tea – my all time fave!
The beautiful antique desk is a hand-me-down from my cousin Lindy. I love it!
There’s also a pile of papers I have to sort out… One day, if I can be bothered…

March 16, 12:12 AM
Surf Safari!

Invitation design for Josh’s Barmitzvah

Josh wanted his invitation to be a simple postcard. Just scribble an address on the back, stick a stamp and drop in the mailbox. So we designed the card as if he were on a Surf Safari and sending his mates a postcard from somewhere exotic!

That’s Josh’s face on a surfy dude in a messy suit, leaning up on a retro long board. The entire image is a collage of sourced photographs from old surf memorabilia. The invitation really set the scene for the party!




March 15, 12:20 AM
2 Mood Boards for Mecca & Kit

Last week I designed 2 mood boards for Mecca Cosmetica and Kit Cosmetics. The idea of a mood board is to visually demonstrate the ‘look & feel’ of a brand, so if someone was to look at it with fresh eyes, they would understand what the company was all about.

MECCA
To get the ball rolling, I brainstromed answers to questions like:
“If Mecca was a car, what would it be?” or “If Mecca was an animal, what would it be?” Or what food, celebrity, movie, cocktail, and so on.  Using this as inspiration I placed images and decriptive words as Polaroid photos .

Mecca mood board – click image to enlarge

KIT
As I’m such a voyeur, I love the idea of looking into a house and seeing how people decorate their rooms. So I designed the mood board as a doll house with 5 different room that represented 5 stong points about the brand:

The Green Room  (top)
The Pamper Room  (middle left)
The Sensory Lab  (middle right)
The Fun Room  (bottom left)
The Chillout Lounge  (bottom right)

Kit mood board – click image to enlarge


February 10, 05:05 AM
Polixeni Papapetrou – Between Worlds
Photographer Polixeni Papapetrou and I collaborated to design her hard cover book, Between Worlds. Because her beautiful photographs are like fairy tails, we designed to publication in the style of a children’s story book.


February 08, 09:19 PM
Sokol – designer furniture
Sokol is a new Melbourne company that wholesales replica designer furniture online.



I designed their branding to reflect the young company’s bright energy and passion for retro furniture.



To make things a little more personalised and fun, I created 3 individualised buisness cards.
Each card has a different arrangement of iconic chairs and a table on the back.



 
Sokol warehouse
Sokol showroom

Click here to visit the Sokol website


January 20, 04:32 AM
Love in the rose garden
Wedding Invitation, Website, Candle in a box & Thank You’s.
Designing my wedding invitation was one of the most challenging yet rewarding projects! I wanted to create something completely original that captured the energy and emotion of the day. We registered www.loveintherosegarden.com and created an online version of our printed invitation. Guests could RSVP via the site and later view images from the big day. This is by far my favorite design!
The invitation – 4 squares concertina folded

Screen grabs from loveintherosegarden.com
Flash animation, RSVP form, photos & a short movie

‘Thank You’ post cards

Guests received a rose centered candle in a love in the rose garden box

The love in the rose garden cake

The rose garden girls

…and what a lovely day it was!


January 20, 03:16 AM
Wicked Bliss – Boutique Salon & Skin Clinic

Maria Papakiriko, owner of Wicked Bliss beauty salon, recently moved premises and asked me to completely re-design her visual identity. We started with her logo and then building signage, promotional printed material, products and packaging.

Stationary
Maria had already sourced a Victorian floral motif and wanted to incorporate it into the logo.
Black & white was chosen as an elegant, edgy and non-gender specific colour scheme.


Street Signage
Products & Packaging
Maria also hand made her our line of luxury beauty products.
Massage oils, essential oil bath bombs and fragrant candles. They are beautiful!
These are the labels for her packaging.

Now Maria and I are looking at re-working the staff uniforms and possibly extending her wickedly beauty products line.
I also personally recommend her exceptional beauty treatments!
Click here to visit the Wicked Bliss website


January 20, 02:13 AM
FIG branding and stationary
Branding and stationary for FIG – Flora Installation Gallery at the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens.

I’ve always been inspired by vintage botanical drawings.
I love collecting old books, wall paper, photographs and drawings.
Last week at the St Kilda night market, I came across a little old lady selling hundreds of vintage drawings dating back to the turn of the 19th century. I couldn’t believe my eyes! How wonderful! I bought a pile of original drawings of garden flowers. The paper is yellowing and the smell reminds me of old book. I love them!
These are some vintage books I found at Chapel Bazar. I turn to them for inspiration. 



January 19, 02:25 AM
Dream Engine Branding and Stationary
Ryan from Dream Engine approached me to design a new logo for his Digital Films Productions Company.
Original business card                    
New business card 
I decided to reinvent his original logo that his clients were already familiar with.
The colour scheme was updated to dreamy blues and a new typeface was applied.
www.dreamengine.com.au


I always like to present at least 3 different options to a client.
This is example of another solution for the same project.
Alternative option – logo, business cards, letter head, with compliments slips & envelopes. 

January 17, 07:23 PM
Nellie Castan Gallery
Nellie Castan Gallery started in 1999. 10 years on, it is now a well established commercial art gallery in Melbourne.  In 2009 the director, Nellie Castan, decided it was time to refresh and update their corporate ID. Rather than creating a brand new visual identity for the gallery, I simply changed the style guide, keeping the signature red, creating a new look for their exhibition invitations and advertising, introducing a new typeface and designing a completely new website.
Stationary
Original logo (top)
New logo (bottom)
The new logo is now red text on a white background which makes it much easier to place. The little white circle has been changed to a red dot symbolising the sold sticker on a painting.
I have also removed the ABN and replaced the email address with the website.
New branding applied to gallery stationary.
Promotional material
The old exhibitions invitations were very large, 210mm x 210mm and tended to bend in the mail. The gallery used to buy custom made extra large square envelopes to fit them in.
The Problem: Each envelope would require 2 x 55c stamps to post. During the rebranding stage, Nellie asked me to think of a cost effective solution while still retaining the boldness to her iconic square invitations.
The Solution: I reduced the size of the invitation to 120 x 120mm and printed them on a really thick card (420gsm) with a high gloss varnish on both sides. I also found preexisting envelopes from Paper Point. Now the exhibition invitations only require one 55c stamp. They not only looks fresher, but are better for the environment as they less paper. The square cards are also printed by an eco friendly printing company – Finsbury Green.
I designed long red address stickers that wrap around the envelope rather than getting custom printed ones. The stickers have come in handy as they can be used to label other things like CD covers, folders and large postal packages.

These Nellie Castan Gallery books are given to new clients to showcase the gallery’s represented artists.

Website design Before & After

Click here to visit the Nellie Castan Gallery website
www.nelliecastangallery.com

Behind the scenes blog
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Posts

September 25, 02:44 AM
Radio commercial for Baltika Beer

Intro

Part 2

Part 3

September 05, 03:23 AM
Elleski Flower Girl

September 05, 04:05 AM
Me On Three video application

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

Elleski TV
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Graphic Design ♥ Event Invitations ♥ Branding ♥ Business Cards ♥ Stationary ♥ Illustration ♥ Web Design

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