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The one about the candlestick

As ALL Creative launches into our 15th year, I have been reflecting on how things have changed in the way we work and what learnings there have been.

It all started in October 2010 when I tentatively launched A’Court Limited (ALL) and was immediately approached to help a Swiss skincare manufacturer realise their new brand ambitions.

There was a great product, a possible name, but not much else, and we were charged with bringing Medenas’ first own brand to market.

My then creative partner Andy A’Court – a true lateral thinker – and I, worked to bring the brand to life.

It seems even only 15 years ago we were less reliant on the joys of Google and image search; Andy would always run to his bookshelf to find inspiration or seek an image that reflected the idea he had in mind.

This not only had the benefit of getting him away from the screen – something it seems designers often struggle to do these days – but also allowed time for quiet contemplation.

So, when it came to realising this luxurious skincare range, infused with the wild flowers of Switzerland, inspiration came not from a book but from his wife Sue’s ornamented shelves.

A lovely, ornate candlestick.

The candlestick portrays a natural scene of bird and flower, and it was this representation of nature, its beauty and bloom forever captured in lightness, that absolutely reflected the promise of ‘Vetia Floris,’ the brand name we helped define.

ALL Creative Branding – A creative agency with depth of international experience delivering clear strategic thinking & powerful brand design

A new luxe-organic skincare segment was born, and Vetia Mare – taking the best of marine ingredients – followed.

I often recall this moment of inspiration, especially since Andy gifted me the candlestick years later.

It proudly sits on my bookshelf and reminds me not only of those early days but of the often forgotten need to look beyond what the computer holds for us.

The idea of building connections, spending time to really interrogate the product and its benefits, and thinking laterally.

There is a much bigger world beyond the limitations of AI and what a Google search can deliver.

Listening to a recent episode of BBC’s @The Artificial Human (really worth it), I hear that AI is in danger of ‘model collapse’. As it increasingly learns only from other AI data, outputs are likely to get blander and blander unless humans stay in the loop. Hurrah – creatives, it’s not quite over yet!

I am marking ALL Creative’s 15th year by encouraging time out, to switch off the tech more than just now and again, and to muse and ponder for longer.

This might sound counterintuitive in a world of tighter client budgets and the need for greater efficiency, but as Andy A’court always said – measure twice, cut once – taking time is essential.

Thank you, Andy, for the Vetia Floris branding and for helping me get ALL Creative off the ground.

And thanks, too, to Wolfgang Meyer, one of our first clients, a man of vision and imagination.

 

Vetia Floris Luxe-Organic Skincare

Identity, packaging and launch communications by ALL Creative 2011

Red Dot packaging design award winner

#creative thinking #skincare packaging #lateral thinking #candlestick #healthandbeauty

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