Secret Projects
Last year we had a blast doing some secret projects - and I say secret because we forgot to share most of them!
We love doing custom work to produce something truly special for someone’s home, their organisation or their shop, so we thought we’d do a bit of a wrap-up of special projects from last year to share them.
#1 Logo Design —
One project that we worked on that was particularly meaningful for me was with the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Diabetes Education Team. Two of my immediate family members have diabetes and it’s an ever evolving learning process on how to manage it. The team in Brisbane do incredible work helping people with diabetes and it was an honour to design a special logo for their team of Credentialled Diabetes Educators.
Did you know the pancreas looks like a Weedy Sea Dragon? Neither did we! But that’s why we were approached for a special sea dragon design for their uniforms which would be both disarming to patients and a great way to break the ice on a serious topic.
Here is the lovely Royal Brisbane Diabetes
team wearing their new shirts!
#2 Product development & Artwork —
Another project that we worked on which we are thrilled to share is a line of Australian keychains for WHSmith airport shops that correspond to local wildlife in the area. It was a dream project for us as airports are hubs for souvenirs, most of which are heavy on plastic and made overseas. Kudos to WHSmith for reinventing their souvenir line to represent Australian made products. Providing alternative Aussie souvenir options to the mass produced ones is why we started Outer Island. We had so much fun working on the paintings that became wooden keychains and you can find both the keychains and our tea towels available in the Perth and Melbourne shops this month.
The range at the shops include a koala, kookaburra and galah while the Perth shops have a special quokka and black swan keychains and Melbourne shops have a special fairy penguin keychain.
#3 CUSTOM ARTWORK —
In October we participated in the Australian Design Centre’s Object 150 program in which artists are invited to create special custom works. We were thrilled to create this flying pelican wall hanging which is stylistically a bit different than our other wall hangings and more painterly. I loved doing the subtle shading on the pelican’s wings in particular.
Thank you to the Australian Design Centre for inviting us and for supporting artists, makers, creators and designers last year!
#4 Artwork Submission
This next one is a proposal we made for the Woolworth’s building facade as part of a call out from the City of Sydney for artwork to be displayed on temporary scaffolding during construction on the city’s iconic building near Town Hall. We didn’t get awarded the project, but we were so excited to propose a design which combines plants and animals both common in Sydney and those that are vanishing from the city like Superb Fairy-wrens. The artwork itself was hand drawn then completed in Illustrator so it could be scaled up to the size of a building (so big!)
We loved creating this artwork as a reflection on the amazing creatures that call Sydney home. Our goal was to make something fun that people could enjoy and hopefully connect them with the exciting wildlife that lives in their own city.
#5 Custom artwork
Another very fun project that we worked on was a commission from marine scientists to another marine scientist at the University of Wollongong. The group provided photos of coral gobies which adorable small fish that live exclusively in corals. They form a symbiotic relationship and the coral and goby protect each other from harm - quite amazing!
We also learned from the scientists about bearded coral gobies, a species we had never heard of before that also live in corals and are just as adorable as coral gobies, but with tiny ‘beards’
#6 Commissioned Illustrations
Another fun project that we did over lockdown even though it made us very hungry (!) was illustrating the WA Good Food Guide. We created a series of illustrations to represent the categories of Best Sandwich, Best Burger, Best Coffee, Best Noodles and Best Bakery. It was the first time I used an iPad to create artwork and it was an absolute blast and huge learning curve.
I went to art school for traditional illustration (think paper portfolios) and have never created artwork digitally before, but with an iPad and the apple pencil it's incredible in that it responds to the pressure of your hand just like real drawing or painting. The drawings were all done on paper with pencil, but coloured digitally.
#7 Prop design
Coming soon…
This last one is a special sneak preview for one of the most exciting projects we have ever worked on. Without revealing too much, our work was selected by Tourism Australia to be included in a TV ad airing later this year! More to come...
#8 Birding News
Pinch us because we were interviewed in not one, but two publications for birding in Sydney in 2021, The Guardian and Sweaty City for our sister brand, Sydney Bird Club. The bird club has been on hiatus due to COVID, especially as it was a labour of love, but the wheels have been turning in our heads and we're excited to announce a rebrand later this year.
Amy and I are passionate birders and love translating what we see outside into artwork and designs to live inside people's homes. It brings us such joy to be inspired as creatives out in the bush or coast.
#9 Custom Tree Toppers
Lastly, we ended the year with a couple of custom tree toppers for customers looking for a special topper for their Christmas tree. We did a pelican and an ibis, both which were so fun to create and make unique and festive tree tops for the holidays.
If you’re ever interested in something custom or looking to create something unique for your business or organisation, we love working with new customers and clients on creating those special products and artworks, so get in touch!
Cheers,
Stephanie + Amy