A REBRAND: SMART LIVING STEAM MOP

We recently had the opportunity to rebrand the "Deluxe Steam Mop" for our client Ocean Sales Ltd. Our responsibilities included renaming the product, a new look for the brand and subsequent packaging.

Our goal was to tap into what today's home owner wants in a cleaning product by leveraging the natural and sincere virtues of their mop product.

We began the creative brainstorming phase with the belief that we all want a tool that goes beyond eliminating our tangible, dirty footprints. The steam mop uses only a responsible amount of water and steam to clean the home and kill germs, eliminate the need for potentially harmful chemicals. Combined with an ergonomic, clean design - the mop became a vehicle for living smarter, not harder.

The phrase "Smart Living" allowed the brand to philosophical take the next step beyond an efficient cleaning tool. Aesthetically, we tried to make the brand as accessible as the product itself through a fresher, cleaner and brighter look.

To view other images and review the team members, please visit the PORTFOLIO section of our website at freeagencycreative.com

VANCOUVER CANUCKS YEAR-BOOK AD FOR PARKLANE HOMES

We were recently approached by Parklane Homes to create an ad for the back of the 2009-2010 Yearbook for the Vancouver Canucks. We had a lot of fun collaborating with Marketing Manager, Yosh Kasahara and the rest of the team at Parklane on the conceptual approach for the ad.
We needed to create a piece that celebrated their solid 30 year anniversary and articulated their belief in dedication, passion and innovation.
Creatively, our goal was to focus on the fact that the ad would be appearing on the back of the Canucks Yearbook. How could we create a connection between the dedication of Parklane Homes and the dedication of the passionate Canuck fan?

In the end, we chose to create this connection through the belief that "greatness" begins at "Humble Beginnings". Qualities such as dedication, passion and innovation are essential whether your stopping a tennis ball in front of your house or building a Master Plan Community.

Once we nailed our concept, the key image became the shot of a young kid staring down the camera dressed in the standard uniform of the "backyard goalie". Finding the props and outfitting our model became a very personal trip back in time with both client and designer adding their own personal touches to the outfit. To get the shots, we worked with Colin Goldie who sourced the location and all the necessary. Highlights included over-sided baseball glove, rusted hand-me-down hockey net and foam pads stolen from a mattress. I believe that more foam was found in the actual back alley where we shot the scene.


~tyukawa

New Site Launch: Kozai Modern Organic

We've recently completed the new website for Kozai Modern Organic. They make the most beautiful hardwood furniture and lighting that I've ever seen. After taking one look at their product line(s) - we decided to create a quiet interface that respectfully allowed the furniture to shine thru.



A lot of credit has to go to the talented Ryan Ilg who was responsible for building the site. The base of the site is in Flash but don't let the swishiness fool you. We spent a lot of time making sure the site successfully met corporate criteria such as Flash generated ULR's and a sustainable database driven by XML.

Thanks so much to Ron and Hideki, the wonderfully creative partnership at Kozai for all their support and creative input during the project.

Have a peak if you wish

See related Kozai post

~tyukawa

Red Card Sports Bar + Eatery

We're excited to announce the completion of the positioning and brand identity development of the new sports bar concept for the Solterra Group. Red Card Sports Bar + Eatery will reside within the Moda Hotel building on Smithe and Richards and will offer some great Italian food and imported beers.

Here’s just a teaser of the identity and brand language which is meant to capture the spirit of getting a Red Card.

Stay tune for the opening later this Fall 09.

Kozai Modern Organic

Over the last month and a half, we've had the pleasure of working with a Vancouver-based furniture and lighting company called Kozai Modern Organic. Their offering consists of stunning hardwood and lighting pieces designed and hand-crafted by Japanese artisans.

We're launching a new website for them within the next 2-3 weeks, but feel compelled to give a sneak peak from their impressive collection ranging from Freeform Hardwood tables to atmospheric light pieces.

Stay tuned for the launch of the new website at the end of this month

Hanabi Hanging Light:
Issa Chair:

Takumi Table Light:

Issa Dining Table:

Bunaco Light:

A REBRAND 2: Ocean Sales Website

Free Agency Creative is pleased to announce the recent launch of the new website for Ocean Sales Ltd. This Canadian company focuses on developing innovative, quality products that improve your life.

Aesthetically, we saw the launch of the new site as an opportunity to make a very bold statement within our rebrand campaign. The website provided a sizable canvas to continue our quest in modernizing the aesthetic of the brand through fresh colour, elegant type and open space.


The catalyst that propelled the overall strategic approach of the site was:
LIVE BETTER, WE'LL SHOW YOU HOW. Therefore the site was designed to continually deliver and facilitate new ways of improving your life through the product offering of Ocean Sales. Areas such as the LIVE BETTER section, allows visitors to continually access advice, tips and other useful articles/media.


The essence and lifestyle of the brand was further strengthened by the introduction of new photography. The main initiative of the shots were to define the different lifestyle categories within the Ocean Sales product offering. Visual unity among all products was facilitated with a few days of shooting in a studio. We'd like to thank Jonathan Cruz and his team for making the shoots so fun and enjoyable.



We'd like to thank the team at Domain 7 who produced and built a technically sound yet user-friendly website - including a client-managed E-commerce system (yikes).

View the new site

Related Post - A REBRAND: Ocean Sales Inc.

The Wiser System

During the Spring term in the Langara College CS Communication and Ideation Design Program, I had the privilege of teaching a new course called - Independent Project. A class similar to that of Emily Carr's Senior Core Studio in which students were given the opportunity to choose their own topic/problem. They were to research its respective narrative and re-invent it for the better. As always, the students rose to the challenge and produced some promising results. I wanted to take the opportunity to share a certain project produced by Eugene Huh for its relevancy in our everyday lives.

From day one, Eugene wanted to help citizens make more rational, sustainable, decisions when buying products. His project was called "The Wiser System" and his goal was to influence consumers right at their particular point-of-purchase. Inspired by the Nutritional Facts labels on food products, he created a system that highlights a product's impact in three key areas: Environment, Social Welfare (community) and Personal Health.

To help convey his concept, he created a simply charming video reel using stop-motion animation and paper cutouts. Quite the fitting execution.



He also created 2 more reels in order to contextualize the real world application of the system on an iPhone (note: they're still in early stages - but his human sound effects are great).





A special thanks goes to Selma Zafar, Lisa Hemingway, Dean Ponto and Cindy Sheldan for their expert advice and encouragement to Eugene over the course of the term.

If you'd like to learn more from Eugene, feel free to contact him at eugene_huh@yahoo.com

~tyukawa