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Harry Bennett
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Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years


Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years
Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years
Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years
Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years
Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years
Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years
Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years
Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years
Gesture Systems’ identity for DoubleDouble takes inspiration from the internet’s bygone years

Home to the work of graphic designers Ryan Vincent and Rory Ferrante, Gesture Systems is a Fremantle-based collaborative design practice, tackling a wide spectrum of creative endeavours; from clothing apparel and 3D-design, to brand strategy and identity. Putting their creative sensibilities to the test, the duo have created the identity and packaging for Perth-based coffee roastery DoubleDouble. Responsive to each individual blend of coffee, Gesture Systems’ flexible identity system adapts the colour, typographic treatment, imagery and texture of each label depending on the blend’s name, flavour and tasting notes.

Opting for a maximalist approach, Gesture Systems’ Creative Director Ryan Vincent explains how they were fortunate that DoubleDouble Coffee were open-minded and trusted their creative process. “It came about by taking an honest look at the local market for coffee,” Vincent adds, “and seeing the potential to pick a visual direction that plenty of other brands couldn’t or wouldn’t.”

Heavily inspired by archival clip art, public domain illustration and digital imagery from the early years of the internet, the packaging has a nostalgic quality; creating a warm intensity that is difficult to not feel drawn to. “We’re both of that age where our formative design years were spent online,” Vincent tells us, recalling how their relationship to digital is stronger than towards print-based design. Sourcing archival imagery reminiscent of early web-design or word art, Vincent notes “it felt authentic to pull from these sources and assemble them into something entirely new,” opting for images that correspond with the notion of doubling up, or fitting the individual theme of each coffee blend.

Harmonising the packaging system and digital ephemera, whilst creating the structural freedom for the identity to flex, Gesture Systems’ opted for ATF’s Franklin Gothic, Art Company Mono by Regan Fred Johnson and Lineto’s Medium as their typefaces of choice. Equal parts practical and powerful, the resulting hierarchy maintains the vital role of keeping the identity in check, without losing the spirit of the brand. With each typeface playing a key role in selling the tone of DoubleDouble, Vincent explains “Art Company Mono contributes to a feeling of systematic technicality and has a nice tension with the custom type treatments,” noting that, in comparison, Medium provides a workability and sturdiness to the system. “Franklin Gothic was chosen for the identity for its bold, classic, timeless feel,” he adds, “and with so many elements in the label system, the brand identity still needed to stand out in terms of hierarchy.”

In the end, Gesture Systems’ identity and packaging design balances a pragmatic foundation with eccentric, playful headlines; translating DoubleDouble’s enthusiasm and know-how for their craft into a candid, colourful and curious graphic execution. Challenging the market, DoubleDouble’s identity truly thrives in the unconventional, the uncouth, and the weird – and is all the better for it.

Graphic Design

Gesture Systems

Typography

Franklin Gothic by Morris Fuller Benton
Art Company Mono by Regan Fred Johnson
Medium by Lineto and Robert Huber

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