Design Matters

Let’s start things out first by introducing ourselves.

We are the design team at Catalyst Exhibits, a full service exhibit management company. Design is a big part of everything we do here at Catalyst Exhibits.  We’ve long recognized the close connection between graphics and environments. Today, more than ever, graphics are an INTEGRAL part of the exhibit environment and the tradeshow strategy. As the designers, we are here to solve our clients’ problems. We are a highly skilled team that approaches design from several directions:

• Facilitation:  We work with our clients in an efficient manner, making sure we don’t create excess work if not needed.

• Modification: We take existing graphic design assets and alter them as needed to fit large scale environments and specialty applications.

• Creation: Basically, we can do it all. We are at your service when it comes to creative needs.

Within this blog, we hope to share our own personal views and opinions, demonstrate how form can meet function in design, and showcase some of the leading edges of design in the modern day creative world.

With that said, it’s time to get to the good stuff!

Putting the [Funk] Back into Function

As designers, we know what works and what doesn’t. We’ve come across many new products and packaging that tried to implement good design while also meeting functionality requirements – many of them fell short. Designing is a challenge. We are constantly discovering new and better ways to create products and improve the way we use design. While some designers try to push the envelope of the modern era or take designing to a new level, others are “going green” and bringing design back to the basics by focusing on simplicity. Any way you look at it, design is always changing, and it is our job to keep up with it. As we mentioned before, our main task is meeting the goals of our clients. Even if we may not always agree on design styles, we must come together as a team to create a well-designed and functioning end product.  We’re putting that funk back into function.

Below are some products and packaging that we feel meet the needs of both form and function. The designers and agencies that took part in creating these pieces worked hard on researching, improving and innovating design as we know it. Please enjoy looking at what inspires us to do great work.

“The Baja BBQ Firepack is charcoal packaging that lights instantly and burns away in the grille, making the barbeque experience simple, clean and chemical free. Made from 100% recycled biodegradable paper pulp, the package contains 2 lbs of natural lump charcoal and features an integrated chimney that creates perfect hot coals in 15-20 minutes without the aid of chemicals or lighter fluid.” Manufactured by Lazzari/ Design Annex

LED Watch is simple, clear and elegant. Designed by the Japanese Hiranao Tsuboi and prized at the Tokyo Design Week 2008, this digital gem is perfectly functional and will soon be on the production line, according to the Japanese studio.

The “plate chalice-carrier” clip to enjoy an aperitif or a standing dinner with freedom of movement and practicality, effective ingredients for a contemporary conviviality, less formal and more relaxed. Simple but acute solution by the young and creative Jacek Ryn and Paulina Krauza, the Polish duo from the Razy2 studio.

Colorado-based Newton Running is using packaging that is very simple and cost effective yet at the same time the packaging is highly functional and very chic. Using molded paperboard packaging in the shape of their shoes Newton has created something unique in their packaging. The packaging not only reduces waste by eliminating the need for interior tissue paper and other material commonly used in shoe packaging, but it also provides a shell that is easy to stack and transport.

Designed by Miguel Rebolledo, Francisca Muñoz, Pamela Armstrong, Oscar Espinosa with collaboration of graphic agency SinMiedo, Yum Nam! is a package for butter designed to replace the butter knife.

Magic Mouse — with its low-profile design and seamless top shell — is so sleek and dramatically different, it brings a whole new feel to the way you get around on your Mac. The new Magic Mouse, a single button mouse (with a software-controlled right click option) and a touch sensitive top surface that allows you to touch the mouse to pinch, scroll, and drag, just like a trackpad. The mouse uses two AA batteries and lasts four months on one change.

Designed by fuseproject’s Yves Behar for San Francisco client Haasprojekt, the one-piece-construction container for Perfume09 is made of low-durometer polyurethane with a glass inset. The bottle’s red foam packaging is thematically and visually related to the original spacescent bottle, which was intended as a large, sculptural vessel for the oil. In this miniature version, the flacon sits comfortably in the hand or on a surface, thanks to a flat spot. “No spray function is true to the travel notion,” noted Aurilio, who also appreciated that the cap doesn’t disconnect from the bottle. “There’s a sense of preciousness to it, and everything is well-executed down to the tiniest details.”

One of the greenest ways to do packaging is to incorporate it into the product. Example: lite2go by knoend, San Francisco-based designers who effectively created a functional lighting system while practically eliminating any waste that would ordinarily come with unwrapping or opening the packaging. Open the box, and you have your lampshade, leaving just a cardboard band and some hemp twine for recycling or composting. It even comes with a 7 watt compact fluorescent light bulb.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 2:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.