Flockin' brilliant!

Infamous British chef Gordon Ramsay recently expanded his vast restaurant empire to include the unofficial food capital of Australia, Melbourne. Maze opened in February 2010 and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the eatery has a little bit of Oblong inside.

One of our clients, Black Sheep Coffee, who we did all of the branding and naming for was personally chosen by Chef Ramsay to be the official coffee for Maze. Apparently Gordon liked the different packaging. He was quoted as saying, "That packaging is F*CKING amazing!" *

This latest honour for Black Sheep will go nicely with the BAD Award the design won at the end of last year! Oh and the coffee tastes pretty nice too. Keep your eyes peeled for a Black Sheep website (the temporary one is at www.blacksheepcoffee.net.au) and make sure you grab a cup from the Black Sheep Coffee stall at the Rocklea Markets every Saturday.

The power of good design wins again!

*Not entirely accurate. He probably said something to that effect though, or 'bollocks'.

Behind the 'blong - Performance Anxiety

Welcome to the second installment of 'behind the 'blong'.

This exciting, cutting edge series takes you behind the scenes of one of the most talked about and controversial graphic design studios in Brunswick St - Oblong + Sons.

Today's entry showcases the Performance Anxiety journey. Our very 'hands on' designer, Jenna, decided to get a little scratchy with this promotional campaign for nationally acclaimed performer and choreographer, Brian Lucas.


Jenna sourced some really cool paper where the top layer of paint was able to be scratched off, giving the piece a very edgy, anxious appearance.


The angles she used to frame the type were taken from the angles in the accompanying photo of Brian. We reckon the result really captured the rough, confronting feel of the show.

Let your fingers do the clicking

Why do we need the Yellow and White pages books in these futuristic times of the world wide web?

I can't remember the last time I used one. They just take up precious space in my cupboard and make me feel guilty every time I have to move them to get to the vacuum cleaner. I know they're probably recycled, and Sensis claim to be carbon neutral, but not making them at all would make them even greener if that's what they want to be.

There's a little number you can call to stop receiving these stinky paper blobs, it's 1800 008 292.

Save a few trees and use the internet to do your Yellow and White Pages searching.

Brian Lucas Performance Anxiety giveaway

The winners have been drawn for our Brian Lucas Performance Anxiety ticket giveaway! As you can see, it's a very technical, yet very fair process.

If you've entered, you'll be notified of the result of your entry on Monday February 1. Congratulations to the winners in advance!

If you didn't win tickets, please take comfort in knowing that there are still plenty remaining for this great show through the Powerhouse website.

Reknit it

Waste not want not - the old adage has never been more appropriately applied than in the case of mother and son team, Reknit.

This guy's mum will knit a brand new piece of clothing for you if you send her an old 'sweater' (it's in America). She'll unravel it, knit it into something and send it back to you for the very reasonable price of $US30. Each month they have a new offer, this month it's a scarf, and if you're not much a of a scarf person, you can vote for what the item will be next month.

There's a downloadable shipping label on the website and nothing to suggest you can't be a part of the fun from outside of the states.

So if you're sick of people mistaking you for Don Burke in winter, you best visit the website.
www.rekn.it

Behind the 'blong - A work in progress…

Welcome to the first installment of 'Behind the 'blong'. A look into the seedy underbelly of New Farm's most feared design studio - Oblong + Sons.

Here's a scale mock up of a signage job in progress for a property client in Sydney and Oblong's own in house Prima ballerina, Emma, executing a textbook jeté.

Emma would jeté all day if we didn't tell her to stop.

The new growth area in packaging

Soon we might be throwing our old packaging on the garden as fertiliser.

In the world of packaging, it's hard to avoid polystyrene because it can be made cheaply in whatever shape you need. Unfortunately, it comes at a price – it's made from petroleum and doesn't biodegrade, making it one of the biggest forms of pollution on the planet. In the US it makes up about 30%(!) of all landfill.

Now two young New Yorkers have developed a way to grow packaging which does many of the same things as polystyrene. It uses agricultural byproducts such as rice husks and cottonseed and binds them together with mushroom roots. This is all grown in moulds to create an infinite variety of shapes.

The result is compact, light and can resist extreme temperatures. Best of all, it's fully biodegradable and its manufacture takes about one tenth of the energy of polystyrene. Learn more about it on their site.

Eben Bayer, one of the twenty-something brainiacs who came up with it, says the long term goal is to "replace all plastic and foams and mitigate their environmental consequences." Here at Oblong we'd love to see him succeed, and quickly.