Project Overview
ThirtySeven Celsius was tasked with a two-pronged brief: Establish a luxury brand in a traditional Australian industry known for its pragmatic and simplistic values; Develop a brand identity portrayed as being a genuine information source in the sphere.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Beta Ngadiman
Jesse Somer
Justin Annesley
Michael Gasparini
Miki Hawkinson
Shannon Pawsey
Xing Zhang
Project Brief
Aumore Wool’s aim was to enter the domain of lifestyle-driven consumers who appreciate the finer things in life. They decided to take an everyday product and increase its level of quality to artisan standards in conjunction with luxury branding that can hang with the biggest fashion labels in the industry. It was time to show consumers a new way of perceiving and experiencing the previously humble wool quilt.
ThirtySeven Celsius was given the task to create a new brand story, logo icon, eCommerce website, product catalogue, brochure, packaging, factory signage, and an investor report to present to venture capitalists. Wool quilts were about to enter a completely new dimension. Aumore Wool would change consumer preconceptions about this utilitarian product by using materials and handmade skills unseen before in the manufacturing process, whilst concurrently positioning themselves as a true source of knowledge and information in the industry. Thus, the ThirtySeven Celsius campaign, ‘Handmade Touches’ was born.
Project Innovation/Need
Our first step was to bring intimacy to the brand, as its products are designed to keep people warm at night. Conspicuous consumers need to be struck in the heart to drive a call to action. We took the name Aumore – ‘Au’ for Australia, and related it to the Italian word for love, ‘Amore’, re-creating a brand symbolising Australian wool’s loving warmth.
Over half of Aumore Wool’s quilt-making processes are performed by hand, so we employed photography emphasising the genuine efforts involved in production, from farm to factory. Our copywriter interviewed farmers, wool processors, and academics. This would show the brand does not cut corners, and knows all the ins and outs of its industry.
The logo icon is in the style of a Japanese family crest, as the brand intends on having the same longevity as the oldest companies in the world. We integrated a rare Himalayan flower into the icon’s design, symbolising rare wools and cottons sourced from around the globe. The icon’s flower stamens double as sewing needles, and is surrounded by hand stitching. This is a luxury product, but it is one of limited availability due to the rare materials and skills involved.
The brand story was written to change the way people feel about quilts. This product adds another dimension to one’s lifestyle. The imagery sees quilts in a light they’ve never been shown before, focusing on the finer details of the products, and the environment they come from.
Design Challenge
For generations in Australia, wool quilts have been designed, manufactured, branded, packaged, and sold in a ubiquitous manner. This product has always had direct ties with the Australian sheep-farming ethos, and has been treated as being a simple everyday bedding item. As Aumore Wool was embarking on an ambitious route by sourcing the most premium Australian Downs wools and Egyptian cottons for its quilts and underlays – not to mention skilled artisans and high-tech German machinery, we needed to get away from the norms in this traditional industry. We had to create a luxury product that could be associated with the best fashion brands at the Paris End of Collins Street.
We needed to change consumer notions about what a wool quilt could be, and what it could stand for – re-creating an item of bedding into a status symbol you could be proud to carry down the street in its stylish bag.
Researching, writing, and photographing had to be done to such an extent, and in various different ways from the norm, that we could actually alter people’s perceptions. We needed the brand story, imagery, and factual/scientific background as a foundation to support the elevation of a quilt manufacturer to fashion symbol status.
Effectiveness
Within one month of launching the new website, a major player in the domestic wool quilt industry contacted Aumore Wool and made an offer to buy the brand outright, or to adopt it into their group of product brands. As flattering as this was to Aumore Wool, they decided to continue building their brand’s reputation and business on their own.
Significant orders are now being made by international wholesale distributors, with total annual turnover steadily increasing. Month by month Aumore Wool has experienced exponential growth, and if investor interest is a sign of things to come, this is only the beginning of their journey.
Currently, venture capitalists have been approaching the company to invest and are quite interested in becoming part of the brand. Investors are seeing something of genuine value at Aumore Wool, and this is definitely reinforced by the ‘Handmade Touches’ campaign.
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding - Retail
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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