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The Project
In 2010, the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) invited Clear to develop the design of its annual publication for the Inspire Awards. Working with praised publisher Katarina Stübe, AIA president Karl Fender and AIA CEO David Parken, Clear set out to create a publication that showcases great architecture and produce an awards book that presented over 170 projects in a structured non-bias way. The AIA also wanted the publication to reflect the characteristics of Australian architecture and have a high production quality and superior level of finish.

Our Response

Clear developed a rigorous grid system that provided a strong foundation for the book and one that will endure the ten year lifespan of the project. Each spread presents the awarded projects with its description allowing an even balance between image, type and white space on the page. Each book uses yearly a colour palette and a graphic illustration style derived from the geometry of the AIA's logo. This allows flexibility to evolve the chapter break illustrations yearly, whilst serving the purpose of graphically representing each award category. Once complete the ten years of the Inspire annual will be a compelling tribute to Australian architecture.

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Clear has had the opportunity to work on some inspired brands and businesses
over the years. 

Our process works through a series of stages to develop, inform and finally implement
an idea. Each stage interrogates the relationship between communication and the
strategic values of an organisation. Below is a selection of finished logotypes or
'marques' in their simplest form. 

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The Project

For over 50 years The Elton Group has been working with Italian timber company, The Alpi Group to bring beautiful architectural veneers and reconstructed timber products to Australia.  Eveneer is Elton's premium timber veneer range, used by architects and designers in residential and commercial interiors.  Echolinear is the superb range of acoustic wall and ceiling panelling. Clear was briefed to develop the logo and  identity for both brands, the creative campaign for magazine and a new website.

The Solution

Reflecting the premium quality and design sensibility of the Eveneer and Echolinear brands, the logo, typography and graphic language is highly resolved, structured and elegant. The creative campaign for both brands employs product photography with sharp, clear images showing the detail and finish of the product. The Eveneer campaign uses created, stylised images of the product presented in a playful, out of context, yet elegant way.  Echolinear shows product in situ, coupled with design drawings and cut-aways – emphasising the versatility, application and quality of the reconstructed timber.

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The Project

Emerging Brisbane based women's fashion label Francis Leon is boldly, confidently pushing into the international fashion scene.

With a growing network of distributors through Europe, Asia and the US, Francis Leon was ready to emerge from its early expression and create a brand 

comfortable with and at home amongst more established local and international brands.

The Solution

Francis Leon has attitude. Confident, self aware, yet self effacing. Serious about producing beautiful clothing, yet tongue in cheek in its expression Francis Leon's style is an embodiment of the team behind the brand. As we commenced working with Francis Leon we brought the team together to immerse ourselves in the brand and their intent and to ensure we clearly understood how to articulate this young, complicated personality.  We created a brand using vibrant yellow and a bold typeface. We hosted a photo shoot for Francis Leon and art directed a clean confident photographic style for their look book. The streamed and structured identity and clean photographic style is realised through their website, their store communication, bags, tags, store cards and marketing creative. Francis Leon has been introducing herself all over the world – and with some success!

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The Project

Melbourne's Immigration Museum launched a new permanent exhibition - Identity, Yours, Mine, Ours. The exhibition challenges stereotypes and perceptions around identity and what it is to belong. The exhibition explores our preconceptions, tolerances and personal experiences of Victorians. The brief to Clear was to create the campaign and the tagline addressing the complexity of the issues without alienating audiences.

Our Response

Starting with the core communications idea - I Belong -- Do You?. Clear commissioned photographer Scottie Cameron to capture the cultural diversity of Melbourne as the basis for the campaign. Held over two days, 100 people were interviewed and photographed. Each person was asked a series of questions to which their image and answer were posted on a dedicated Facebook page for the launch of the exhibition. They were encourage to invite friends to contribute to the page and explore issues around belonging. The campaign rollout included onsite applications, avant cards, external banners and an extensive street poster campaign.

The Project

Photographer James Braund was commissioned to shoot behind the scenes at the design ideas forum TEDx in Hong Kong. The assignment spanned across seven days and during this time, James captured hundreds of images of key speakers, production sets and visitors to the conference.

The Solution

The commissioned is a collaboration between James Braund, K.W.Doggett and Clear resulting in a small book which delivers a non-linear visual narrative of the trip; a mash of images and an assault of colour that is reminiscent of any time spent in the busy and chaotic city of Hong Kong.

The final result is a limited run of loose A4 sheets of full-colour images printed on Conqueror CX22, collated and folded to create an A5 book. The pages are in no particular order and can easily be rearranged to create a completely new set of compositions as the viewer pleases. It's about as interactive as a printed book gets.

If you would like a copy, please get in touch.

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The Project

Who knew IMAX Melbourne had the 3rd largest screen in the world? 

Faced with an increasingly competitive 3D market, IMAX Melbourne needed to proactively evolve and define their offer to Melbourne's cinemas audience. Clear was briefed to create a new and inspired brand to ensure IMAX became the premier cinema experience for Melbourne movie goers. 

The Solution

The words BIG and FUN determined the brand positioning for IMAX and it provided Clear with ample opportunity to playfully execute graphic applications based on these themes. Clear developed a simple set of rules and devices that make the most of all ad placements through the use of scale, form, colour and the typeface Frankfurter. The application encompassed a new IMAX website, prescreening reminders, onsite specials, signage and print campaigns and bro-sters (half brochure, half poster), rock posters, stickers, emailers, trams, adshells. Each time emphasising that size really does matter!

The Project

Invited to work with the Molonglo Group on Canberras most luxury apartment -- NewActon South (The Apartments), Clear has created a series of marketing campaigns to engage buyers and inform the brand. Located in NewActon, South is the second stage in the precincts development. 

The Solution

The latest campaign -- Make Your Move -- positions NewActon South as a unique and premium development with apartments ready to move into now. The apartments featured are more like 'residences' in scale. The illustration approach was inspired by magazines  Esquire and the New Yorker -- using illustration to capture the dynamic of place and people. Clear engaged Melbourne based illustrator Robyn Cowcher. Her whimsical expressions captured the geometry of the architecture, fleeting moments with in a cafe and the hussle of pedestrians street scapes.

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The Project

Clear was invited to work on Nishi from very early on in the project. As part of the research of for the project we travelled with the client to Japan to work with the architects and get a sensiblity for the desired aesthetic and point of difference to make Nishi a notable, and sustainable building. The brief encompassed the design and implementation of the brand identity across a broad and complete range of sales materials. This included the development of the soft 'digital' launch at the National Gallery of Australia to the creation of the Sales Suite and Gallery.

The Solution

Everyone says they are 'green' -- so our challenge was to prove Nishi's credentials. With out being preachy Clear set out to create a brand language that was approachable, friendly, humourous and direct. From the use of the colour yellow taken from the colour of recycling bins (beyond green it is yellow), to the immediatacy of the use of 'Le Corbusier' a stencil based font, Nishi has an immediate and directly applied feel. The visual language is bold and purposeful. The design intent was informed by our brand strategy process -- and was developed to reflect the central brand thought of 'living in a way that matters'. The applications include the brand mark, 'Dereks Little Helper' the sales brochure, the sales tool, art direction of the renders and most recent ad campaign. Other applications included eDMs, tender documents, hoarding, banner ads -- oh yes the sales suite.

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The Project
Continuing on from our work on the marketing collateral Clear worked with Molonglo Group to create the Nishi Display Sales Suite and Gallery. The bried was to design a space to differentiate Nishi and provide a formal environment to prove the sustainable properties of the project and the vision of the developer. The design of the layout with in the purpose built building needed to encompass a retail area, various proof points, floor plans, scale models, a documentary about the intent.

The Solution

Working collaboratively with the Molonglo Group, Design Office, Fender Katsalidis, hungerford+edmonds and Oculus Clear set out to create a unique, interactive environment. The space is punctuated with larger than life proof points demonstrating the ecological principles, savings from living with in a thermally insulated environment, social sustainability and community. Floor plans are appplied to large leaning panels and frame the scale model space. Larger brand statements run along the gallery walls, while floorplans, renders and views create a formal backdrop to the close out area. 

Project Contributors 

Building Architects: hungerford+edmunds & Oculus

Fit-out designers: Design Office

Landscape architects: Oculus

Services & ESD: Arup

Structure: AWT

Builder: PBS Building (ACT)

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The Project

Clear won a competitive pitch to rebrand one of Australia's most respected, important and informative broadcasters – ABC Radio National. The brief was to develop an identity and visual language for Radio National to reflect a complete station refresh and on air re-positioning. The new identity would connect to a younger demographic to engage and encourage trial and consideration and further, the work needed to provide a design solution to take Radio National beyond its analogue heritage and into digital, online and mobile.

The Solution

Through collaborative Brand Immersion sessions in Sydney and Melbourne we worked with an experienced and passionate ABC team to determine the brand positioning for Radio National. This informed the on air and campaign tagline – Radio National: Your World Unfolding. The logo and identity better aligns the ABC endorsing brand with an updated Radio National marque and acknowledges and utilises the ABC Crown Device. The graphic palette developed was inspired by the Commonwealth Star of Australia – a seven sided shape where six sides represent each state and the seventh all current and future territories. The seven sided shape works as an interlocking device to reflect a diverse and networked broadcaster connecting with communities and exploring many topics and stories. Colour was used to delineate subject genres and assist with navigation online. The end result is a flexible design system easily applied across traditional, analogue and digital environments.

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The Project

Eight weeks out from World AIDS Day, YEAH approached Clear to develop a campaign to engage young Australians to help communicate the importance of safe sex and sexual health awareness and join the RedAware campaign. The brief required the creation of a new visual language, website and launch campaign. 

Our Response

With no time to waste, we immediately set out to capture the spirit of the target audience with a high energy shoot with photographer Jo Duck. The shots captured people who pledged – YEAH I’m In!

Using the clients existing database, the RedAware campaign set out to actively recruit people on World AIDS Day to join the cause through an electronic direct mailer, Facebook campaign and sign up drive at Federation Square. By days end, we had a record number of likes and pledges to the cause. 

Utilising the strong typographic language and brand colour, Clear also created a range of promotional material to get the YEAH message out to the masses. These items included tee-shirts, postcards, condom cases, trucker hats and educations kits and culminated at Groovin’ the Moo where the RedAware campaign was projected as vibrant energetic stage animations -- Oh Yeah!

Overview

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Over the past five years Clear has worked with Scienceworks developing campaign creative for their touring exhibitions. Some of these campaigns have come with very specific key art and sign off processes, allowing us to work directly with the creators of the exhibitions including Lucas Films (StarWars) and Aardman (Wallace & Gromit). Other exhibitions including Explore-A-Saurus and Scienceworks brand campaigns This much fun for Kids provided Clear an opportunity to drive the creative process and develop key exhibition identities and graphics. 

For each project we worked with the Scienceworks marketing team to plan the phases of the campaign -- awareness, opening night, special tactical messaging through to last days.

Clear often managed the roll out of the campaign informing media choices and placement.

In 2007 Clear designed and worked on the rebrand of Museum Victoria, informing the visual language of Scienceworks.

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The Project

In 2012 Melbourne Museum launched SmartBar a special evening event designed to appeal to a younger, sophisticated Melbourne audience. To be run three or four times a year, 'for one night only' SmartBar will showcase a specific gallery with live demonstrations and interactive talks by expert museum staff. Clear was briefed to develop the name, logo and visual identity, campaign idea extensible over an evolving series of events and print, social media and online creative executions.

The Solution

In creating the name 'SmartBar' we know we have been obvious, it is respectfully ironic and done in a way that is not over-doing the intent of the event. We wanted to play on the notion that a trip to the museum is good for you -- it makes you smarter! The identity and campaign use visual puns to add a fun, nonsensical flavor to the event, whilst highlighting the social, informal nature of SmartBar. Both the name and the language of SmartBar is intentionally irreverent and a little eccentric.

SmartBar -- the only bar you come out of smarter than when you went in. 

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The Project

A chance meeting with Alice Hall, retailer and entrepeneur in 2007 resulted in Clear being appointed to develop an identity for her shoe store soleDevotion. The store needed be presented confidently and provide a graphic foundation for multiple stores to grow from her initial retail presence in Greville Street. The identity and supporting elements needed to be practical, with an element of surprise and sophistication to the brands stocked.

Our Response

Exploring the name Clear developed a set of mythical characters known as the Solees -- they were inspired by the misfit qualities of The Ramones and the persuasive enigma of the single eye that sees directly to your sole. The solees became the custodians for each retail outlet, standing guard over the store and also providing a visual hook that added to the quirky and playful nature of the store. Ongoing applications of the brand allowed Clear to think creatively and source unique items, for example the shopping bag is a heavy duty onion bags, shaped to a custom size to accommodate the various sizes of shoe and boot boxes.

Clear has also undertaken extensive brand strategy sessions with soleDevotion and has assisted in defining its retail offer, outlets and development of the online presence.

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The Project

The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia is the latest of a number of touring exhibitions presented by Melbourne Museum. It follows the success of previous exhibitions including The last days of Pompeii, Titanic and Tutankhamun. The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia exhibition was developed with The British Museum and contains over 170 artefacts dating back some 3500 years. Clear was briefed to create and implement an extensive marketing campaign for the exhibition. The brief included creating a name for the exhibition, the campaign idea, campaign extensions into experiential, creating a modern visual impression of Mesopotamia and the development of creative for all channels.

The Solution

The playful logotype addresses the complexity of the word Mesopotamia by breaking down the phonetics of the word, shifting the orientation of step – Meso – Pot – Amia. The landscape was created in collaboration with Sydney based illustrators 'We Buy Your Kids' who masterfully constructed a modern take on a landscape and civilisation over 3,500 year old. We studied the master painters of the 1800's and worked closely with the Museum curatorial team to depict a civilisation built between two rivers. The illustration is layered with many of the significant achievements of the featured civilisations and provided a visual insight into a time of great innovation.

Clear worked with Museum Victoria's internal design studio to implement the visual identity across an extensive print campaign in newspapers and magazines, trams wraps, online competitions, online advertising, outdoor media, invites, emailers and catalogues, onsite displays and the TV commercial.