Old Spike by Commission Studio, United Kingdom

Opinion by Richard Baird

Old Spike is a coffee roster, cafe and social enterprise working with the homeless, located in South East London, and situated on the site of a former workhouse, a place where people would break rocks over metal spikes for food and lodgings. With a desire to separate the roaster’s commercial and social activities Commission Studio worked to develop retail and subscription packaging that avoided the conventions of the market, and worked together a sense of the artisanal and wholesome alongside the distinctive and luxury.

There are a few of neat ideas at play here. Some are universal like the use of a block foil, high quality boards and the structural language of luxury boutique shopping bags. Some are subtle and conceptual like naming and the connection between hard manual labour and premium quality. Others are practical such as structural design that satisfies a need for strong shelf presence and a robustness for subscriptions sent out by post. There is stylistic and communicative value in the concept, the graphic and the material, but also in the concise nature of their interaction and implementation.

There is strong and pleasant balance between the graphic, which is bold, eye-catching and rooted in the legacy of the site and present day batch roasting of coffee, and a refined and modern luxury. There is a lovely story here, and the tension between the rough and robust type and mark, and the material quality of a block foil and uncoated boards works well to elevate each of the few details.

The use of a sculpted emboss makes the most of a fairly universal visual language of quality, but in its expense and rarity, its grounding in concept, and natural relationship with the graphic, finds a way to add layers, physically and figuratively.

BP&O tries to find work that employs good material thinking, a relevant and appropriate conceptual foundation to substrate, structure and finish, as well as a concise visual expression. This feels like a good example, one that delivers an aesthetic pleasure and a thoughtfulness. More work by Commission Studio on BP&O.

Design: Commission Studio. Opinion: Richard Baird. Fonts: TBC.

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