Nongfu Spring Water
Horse Studio and Natasha Searston
Jamie Ellul:

Nongfu Spring is the leading bottled water manufacturer in China. Produced for high-end restaurants, bars and hotels, these bottle designs feature eight different plant and animal species from Moya Spring, at the foot of Changbai Mountain – the volcanic region bordering China and North Korea that produces the water. The illustrations by Natasha Searston pay homage to the source by depicting indigenous species. The result is a delicate and beautiful set of bottles you’d want to keep forever.

Sydney New Year’s Eve
Garbett
Rob Duncan:

Garbett have designed a very clever system for NYE in Sydney. Delightfully, the brand name was contained in the word ‘SYDNEY’ — by swapping the positions of the N and E, they were able to reveal the acronym for New Year’s Eve. Beautifully complemented with an illustration style that feels modern and uniquely Australian, Garbett’s designs have been applied all across the city to ring in the new decade. Click here to see more of the project.

Busaba
Paul Belford Ltd.
Rob Duncan:

A wonderful identity, beautifully and cleverly crafted by Paul Belford Ltd. for a Thai restaurant. It’s been years since  I did some marbling. Perfectly representing the lovely spices being blended together. The logo, represents a flower, alluding to the fact that ‘Busaba’ can mean ‘flower’ in Thai. The petals of the flower logo are heart-shaped, drawing on two of the important philosophies that inform Busaba’s culture: ‘sookjai’ and ‘namjai’. ‘Sookjai’, meaning ‘happy heart’. Very tasty!

Rail Road
Pacifica
Bob Young:

Rail Road is an exceptional project designed by Pacifica. The book is the print documentary of a film about the Portuguese surfer Nic von Rupp, directed by Gustavo Imigrante. Remarkably they have managed to create a physical piece that not only serves as a companion to the film but works as a compelling standalone book.

Super Trash
Seachange
Jamie Ellul:

I’m in love with this work by my new fave agency Seachange. Supertrash is a disruptive new player in the waste management sector. A small, family-run collection service with a big purpose; to help divert waste from landfill through circular solutions. Seachange have created an iconic globe logo that references the circular economy. Overprinting is utilised to evoke repurposing and recycling, paired with bold pattern and copy.

Imagine if all rubbish collections looked this good.

Amsterdam Sinfonietta
Studio Dumbar
Shane Keane:

Studio Dumbar’s work for Amsterdam Sinfonietta is wonderful in how it does so much with so little. Just type, colour, and scale. Oh, and it really sings when animated. Orchestras afford plenty of creative latitude to graphic designers—yet it’s rare to to see something this distinct, beautiful and off the beaten track. Encore!

The Lester Prize for Portraiture
Block
Kevin Finn:

Previously called the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture, the institution has been renamed The Lester Prize for Portraiture in honour of the founding patron Richard Lester.

This shift has resulted in a simple and dynamic identity, cleverly leveraging the universal structure of portraits but in a minimal way. Just lovely…

Resource Identity Refresh
Executive
Kevin Finn:

Such a beautifully crafted icon and identity. Clever and simple.

For a company that distributes furniture and helps with saving space, this identity program is a great example of restraint—balanced with enough character, and in the most appropriate way, while still ensuring legibility remains. I’m quite a fan of this one…

MacDonald’s Mobile Ordering Ads
Rob Duncan:

Not sure which agency did these but very clever indeed. Made me smile!