Mission Hall’s quirky work for Two Birds features memorable visual cues. From ProDesign 107 with additional images.
Two Birds take literalism to new heights, if you’ll pardon us one pun in what could be, if we allowed it, a smörgåsbord of word games based on the identity of this line production company.
Restraint was also something design agency Mission Hall had to keep in mind when it was developing design collateral for the line production firm comprised of just ‘two birds’, directors Mary Wall and Nikki Walker. We all know that there’s a very fine line between ‘clever’ and ‘trying to be’.
Wall and Walker have a wealth of New Zealand film and TV industry experience — two x 20 years, in fact, says Mission Hall’s Linda Niccol, who wears varied hats at the design firm, including director, creative and copywriter. In the first instance, says Niccol, Two Birds approached Mission Hall for the design of a corporate gift. That soon morphed into a larger project. Wall and Walker, she says, had a broad idea of the tone they wanted to convey, “something cheeky and distinctly New Zealand, but not kiwiana”, but the creative concept was up for grabs.
Michael Greenfield, the designer on the job, says the project was a “rare opportunity”.
“Mary and Nikki had put together a good brief — they had a lot of visual material as well as written. They had put together reference material, looked at the tone of the communication they wanted to achieve, and were conscious of getting the brand identity just right. They wanted to incorporate a sense of humour.”
The design direction wasn’t cut and dried from the outset. Greenfield says a number of options were presented (“…it’s always hard to know how many options to present…”), and because of a sound relationship with the client they were able to look in a few directions before divining the appropriate route. Greenfield also says, “Some really smart ideas can be lost by not visualizing how they can work”.
Niccol says the plan was to make the copy as “interesting and relevant as possible”, emphasising the individuality of the producers — “sharp, clever and experienced” — and most importantly imparting a sense of fun.
“This site is aimed at people who are very advertising savvy — these people want to be engaged and amused,” she says.
Birds will Fly
Mission Hall’s quirky work for Two Birds features memorable visual cues. From ProDesign 107 with additional images.
Two Birds take literalism to new heights, if you’ll pardon us one pun in what could be, if we allowed it, a smörgåsbord of word games based on the identity of this line production company.
Restraint was also something design agency Mission Hall had to keep in mind when it was developing design collateral for the line production firm comprised of just ‘two birds’, directors Mary Wall and Nikki Walker. We all know that there’s a very fine line between ‘clever’ and ‘trying to be’.
Wall and Walker have a wealth of New Zealand film and TV industry experience — two x 20 years, in fact, says Mission Hall’s Linda Niccol, who wears varied hats at the design firm, including director, creative and copywriter. In the first instance, says Niccol, Two Birds approached Mission Hall for the design of a corporate gift. That soon morphed into a larger project. Wall and Walker, she says, had a broad idea of the tone they wanted to convey, “something cheeky and distinctly New Zealand, but not kiwiana”, but the creative concept was up for grabs.
Michael Greenfield, the designer on the job, says the project was a “rare opportunity”.
“Mary and Nikki had put together a good brief — they had a lot of visual material as well as written. They had put together reference material, looked at the tone of the communication they wanted to achieve, and were conscious of getting the brand identity just right. They wanted to incorporate a sense of humour.”
The design direction wasn’t cut and dried from the outset. Greenfield says a number of options were presented (“…it’s always hard to know how many options to present…”), and because of a sound relationship with the client they were able to look in a few directions before divining the appropriate route. Greenfield also says, “Some really smart ideas can be lost by not visualizing how they can work”.
Niccol says the plan was to make the copy as “interesting and relevant as possible”, emphasising the individuality of the producers — “sharp, clever and experienced” — and most importantly imparting a sense of fun.
“This site is aimed at people who are very advertising savvy — these people want to be engaged and amused,” she says.