2017 saw the 4th instalment of the bi-annual Formica Formations design competition, brought to you by Laminex New Zealand. Our continued role in developing the competition framework spanned from the creation of the design brief through to management and staging of the awards evening. The design brief was a departure from the past, in that it challenged New Zealand’s design community to think outside of the square, as it wasn’t anchored to any specific piece of furniture or known object.
“What defines a home, a design, an aesthetic or a style as modern? We live in a world of change, constantly challenging us to rethink the way we behave, how we engage and react to the people and places around us. In our homes, working environments and shared spaces we live out our relationships with the world in what can seem to be an ever-increasing degree of exposure. We’re all at once connected and separated, unified and fragmented. With that exposure comes responsibility. How can innovative thinking, using Formica laminate, enhance our modern environment and contribute to a better life, a better home and a better world for all.”
Traditionally the winning pieces, as selected by the panel of judges, made up of esteemed design industry leaders, would have been fabricated for the awards evening. In line with the “A Forward Life” theme, this year we bought the winning designs to life through a fully immersive virtual reality experience. The Formica Formations design competition represents a way for Laminex New Zealand to support the NZ design community while driving innovation allowing for its product to be showcased in inventive ways.
Fletcher Steel is New Zealand’s leading importer, distributor and processor of steel representing Fletcher Building’s Easysteel, Fletcher Reinforcing, Fletcher Wire Products, Dimond, Pacific CoilCoaters and Calder Stewart Roofing brands. At the heart of its business are its people. We were tasked with developing the visual brand identity and story for Fletcher Steel, working through discovery sessions to reveal insights into the positioning and overall creative representation of the brand for market.
“Davy & Chapman have a long-standing history of partnerships across several Fletcher Building business units including Fletcher Steel. We engaged with Davy & Chapman to work with us on our brand and marketing communications extending across all areas of the business. This included visual identity development, digital and social media planning, and management, plus specific ‘go to market’ projects. The team at Davy & Chapman bring strategic depth and skill to every project, with attention to detail and a responsive attitude, all executed with great creative. More recently, we worked together on the creation of the Fletcher Steel visual identity. It’s always a pleasure working with the team who allow creative collaboration across all projects and aren’t afraid to challenge our thinking, both strategically and creatively. The new brand has been well received across the business. We continue to discover new opportunities to work with Davy & Chapman as this ultimately influences the success of our business.”
Creativity and craftsmanship is the soul of a kitchen and bathroom design project and our opportunity as an agency was to reinvent and reimagine the NKBA awards platform for 2016.
Excellence in Design 2016 is modern, fresh, bold and progressive and we’ve been involved across all touchpoints including marketing, sponsorship collateral, creative design and execution, as well social media and event planning to bring a truly cohesive and successful awards season result for the team at NKBA. Our role as an creative agency is to have NKBA be a recognisable expert in supporting the design and manufacturing community and articulating that in our approach was important to elevate that profile and awareness in the market.
Relationships and connections among our clients, our team, our industry are incredibly important to the success of our businesses and with a passion for creativity will help our businesses thrive. As a design-led and strategically driven agency, we’re proud to be working with NKBA to support the creative community, elevate the positioning and awareness of the NKBA and the Awards brand to ultimately benefit its members.
We know that with the work that designers, craftspeople, and our industry do, that the end result has an undeniable influence on our lives - the kitchen and bathroom are clearly at the heart of our homes, so they influence not only our visual environment, but how we feel, how we live and how we interact with each other and together, we’ve created a platform that is creatively distinctive, special and engaging in todays market.
With this year’s incredible results in the number of entries, greater brand awareness both through traditional and social channels, together, we’ve set a new benchmark in what NKBA can be and achieve for its members and we’re proud to be their creative agency partner. To learn more, visit NKBA.
Featured winning entries below include (from top to bottom):
- Supreme Kitchen Design Winner, proudly sponsored by Fisher & Paykel - Morgan Cronin of Cronin Kitchens
- Supreme Bathroom Design Winner, proudly sponsored by Fisher & Paykel - Detail by Davinia Sutton (Manufacturer - Fineline Joinery)
We were approached by Mike Thompson and his team to begin looking at the process around establishing a new brand to accommodate 3 existing businesses; Teubel, Gael and Signet. We began the process of looking at the existing business, the market it operates in, the products, service expectations and the industry as a whole, always aligning back to the overarching goals of the business of what needed to be achieved. Given the nature of the electrical industry, we paid particular attention and consideration to the name, looking closely at tone, first impression and visually how it sounds in conjunction with the overall value proposition of the business and our vision for the supporting visual identity. We soon settled on ‘Trical - Innovation - That’s Electric’
Given the need to support three existing, iconic and market leading heritage brands, it was important to consider and reflect a customer centric approach for the business and its overarching brand. The identity needed to be personable, approachable, modern, yet be grounded in it’s history, spanning some 60 years and articulate the company vision of being an innovative electrical manufacturer, proud to be NZ made.
As part of building a holistic brand experience, we developed an ‘elevator pitch’ to help communicate to clients and customers the essence of Trical, the brands, their passion for being NZ made and the quality standards set by the Trical team and what they stand for:
‘We’re one of NZ’s leading suppliers of electrical enclosure and switchboard solutions including Gael, Teubel and Signet, servicing the electrical trades across industrial, commercial and residential markets. Proud to be NZ made, we’re fit for purpose; manufacturing ‘best in class’ products you can trust, supported by a passionate team.’
The end result was a modern, progressive brand identity, recognising the intrinsic value in each of the 3 iconic brands.
‘We engaged Mike and the team at Davy & Chapman as our brand agency to create and develop, a new company name, brand identity and fresh new look. We provided our mission statement, values, beliefs and a description of what we did and left them to it. They read the brief perfectly and there is very little we have changed.
Davy & Chapman are now involved in all Marketing aspects from general stationery items, signage, branding guidelines, graphics, advertising, “brand police” and the development of a new website. With an easy to understand strategic approach, they have worked closely with us to understand our business, the challenges of bringing three iconic brands together and the shift of three businesses into a new purpose built administration, engineering and manufacturing facility. It did not matter what we threw at Mike and the team, they took a proactive approach from day one, bringing creativity, fresh thinking, passion, on time, while juggling a number of tasks at once.
I am very thrilled and excited with the outcome and look forward to a continuing partnership as we build the brand further. It is very refreshing to have Mike who is so committed to the brand, the look and to have the attention to detail to make sure everything is absolutely perfect. I very much appreciate the practical advice and experience of an agency partner like Davy & Chapman and they will prove to be an integral part of our ongoing business success.’ Mike Thompson, Managing Director | Trical Limited
Laidlaw College is the largest interdenominational Christian College in New Zealand, offering qualifications from certificate to doctoral level, in the areas of theology and biblical studies, mission, ministry, counselling and teacher education. As a leading education provider it was important that their brand, and in particular website reflected the style, cultural diversity, values and approach of the college.
Having had a relationship for some 5 years, we were engaged to create a seamless online user experience with a clear purpose of driving engagement among prospective students. Together with Laidlaw College we established three goals: increase conversion of prospective students to the college; highlight the key services of the college and express the energy and life the college exhibits; and finally provide a portal for all other students, staff and alumni. In an effort to better inform our strategy, we conducted a comprehensive Discovery phase, drawing on key insights that set the foundation for the website and overall digital direction. We distilled the amount of information into a logical wire framing prototype to ensure the user journey was right, with clear ‘call to actions’ along the way to enhance the experience. As one of the primary marketing tools for the college, we were able to reduce the amount of written content and engage users through the use of rich video content.
In parallel to the site’s design, we were also reviewing their existing brand strategy and the college’s marketing collateral. Combining a clean design aesthetic with personal and engaging photography, rich video content and a bold colour palette that reflects cultural diversity, we were able to develop a website that has provided a significant return on investment, through increased usability, accessibility and increased enrollments.
“Service excellence and beautifully crafted creative is what we experienced working with Mike and the team at Davy & Chapman. They truly have put their heart and soul into creating a world class website, underpinned by clear and articulate strategy and blended with passion.” Shelly Neethling, Communications and Marketing Manager | Laidlaw College.
August 2015 will see an exciting new project come to life. Here are a couple of snapshots of various stages of an exciting new website, including photography and video production giving our client and their audience a fresh and powerful new user experience. Watch this space for further updates.
