During the exciting 3 day agIdeas conference, Design Studios across Melbourne opened up their doors to allow people to come chill with them for an evening and talk design over pizza and beers. I was lucky enough to get into Qube Konstrukt. Situated in the smalls of a dimly lit alleyway in Richmond, I snuck a quick cigarette in before being completely blown away the force of 8 bouncing personalities. I was greeted swiftly by the vibrant Adam Gardiner, the founder of Qube and then became quickly acquainted with the production manager and the rest of the designers. The warehouse is pretty small with huge 3D jobs like giant toys all over the place, a huge modern kitchen as the centrepeice and a section filled with sexy Macs and unfortunately a few dinosaur PCs. Immediately a sense of fun was captured after 1 whole minute. Even though many studios possess comfortable 'in my own loungeroom' qualities, this place seemed a little further above the rest!
Qube was established in 2002 by Adam and his wife Janine in the warehouse space in Richmond which at the time they both used as their home. Both coming from different design backgrounds, they realised that when collaborating they found a sense of excitement in creating work outside of what they may have achieved individually. And with this idea of exploration through collaboration, Qube has since seen the studio grow and become more enriched by each new member. They have been involved with a diverse range of clients and have produced some of the most impressive work that constantly exceeds their clients expectations. They encompass campaign, print and publication design, illustration, identity and brand development, environmental graphics, also online, interactive and broadcast design.
How do they get work?
So the night flies by, and all but myself and my friend Trystan and the Qube crew are left. One of the boys pulls out a few more beers, Simon finishes up a game of pinball and Adam drags up the window and lights up a cigarette. At this point everyone is comfortable and it feels like we are hanging out with our oldest and bestest group of friends, and still my questions fly.
At the beginning (like most designers) there's alot of door knocking. A little freelance, then a lot of freelance, free jobs, and a few things for friends. When Adam and Janine first began Qube, they actually knew a few people from previous experience but still had to get more work. Sometimes finding a bad job done by somebody else, and going to the business owner and convincing them they could do a better job. Sometimes this worked, and sometimes it didn't. After a while there was alot of small jobs coming in and the occasional big job and once establishing a distinctive style and reputation, businesses began approaching them. Now after 7 years, Qube have worked with clients such as Toyota, Coca Cola, Channel V, K-Swiss Clothing, The London Underground, Saatchi & Saatchi, L'Oreal, Fashion Magazine, Riot Magazine and MTV Asia and MTV Australia. At present they are designing two clothing lines with MTV which will be launched globally.
Here's a little look at the siiick stuff they do. Go on man. Get inspired!
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