Redphone

Redphone Inc. is a multidisciplinary agency that has been around for 15 years, quietly building great things. Specialising in brand strategy, brand identity development and packaging design, an agile team of innovators, strategists, planners, taskmasters, design aficionados and production gurus has been built to keep pace with the evolving branding needs of clients and deliver compelling brand stories in various categories, from spirits, beer and cannabis to renewable energy, healthcare, hospitality and beyond – for each brand tailored to the respective opportunity.

Interview with Redphone Inc.

Red Dot: What does design mean to you?
Redphone Inc.: Design should not be confused with art. Design has boundaries; it needs to answer a specific need. Of course, design requires ample creativity, but it also requires strategic thinking and a defined process. It is a real balance of form and function.

To what extent do you think new technologies are changing design?
Short answer: immensely. The internet proliferated a digital world that’s bursting with new art, new designers, and new ideas. It’s changed everything, allowing access and exposure to so much more. It allows us to search, find and share creative work. Software development has helped strengthen the industry. It’s faster, easier, and more affordable to execute and explore ideas than ever before, which has opened the door to a new level of design.

Was your award-winning work inspired by current social issues?
While our work for Heavy was not directly inspired by current social issues, it serves as a channel for expression and awareness of these issues. Public art and placemaking are vital to urban growth. They provide artists and designers with opportunities to express and showcase their work, which is often created in response to the community in which it resides. It is important to create space for citizens to come together, reflect and be inspired. Our work helps to engage key audiences in a broad range of conversations.

Which target group would you like to address with your award-winning work?
Architects and artists were a huge inspiration behind this brand. They are a key decision maker – and a key client for Heavy going forward. We evaluated the opportunity and designed the brand to ensure it communicated clear competencies with a sense of confidence.

Please describe the concept of creativity against the background of your award-winning work.
For us, creativity was an obvious connection point with the team at Heavy. We were able to leverage their work to inspire ours. In the end, we delivered a flexible identity system that helps the company communicate a clear value proposition and showcase a compelling portfolio to back it up. From the logotype to identifiers right through to copy development, we had to strike a balance between creativity and technical proficiency.