Moving at the Speed of Culture
Building a brand that is both memorable and dynamic is no easy task, that’s why we brought on the best! Re, a global brand and experience design agency, more than delivered on their promise to help shake up the world of solid surface and turn tradition on its head!
‘Re’ comes from the Latin meaning again and again. Using a process of ongoing iteration to enable their clients to adapt as new business and cultural opportunities present themselves… They believe brands are always in beta!
Give us the skinny on Re! What’s your crew all about, what sets you apart from other creative agencies?
RE
The people. It’s all about the people we hire. From the offset we are interested in hiring culturally salient people who are curious about what goes on in the world and how they can use creativity to create change. We are constantly on the lookout for the most interesting people who want to get involved in a variety of different projects. People from a diverse range of backgrounds, cultures and capabilities. This is the case across our clients too, we want to work with thought-provoking clients on interesting projects that take us off the beaten path. From interesting people come interesting ideas and that’s what we are all about!
Your team has worked with so many companies to build exciting and engaging brands, how do you all approach each project with a fresh perspective?
RE
Every business is different. Each company and project comes with its own set of challenges and ambitions. We try never to be self referential so that we can work on every project in a unique way. To do this we like to find the idiosyncratic elements that make each business interesting, we lean into these, looking at not only the company itself but the people within it. But of course to begin with, the companies that we work with wouldn’t choose to work with us if they wanted a brand that fits in. We like to make that clear from the outset: collaborate with us and you’ll get something out of the ordinary!
We’re under no illusions that solid surface isn’t as “sexy” as certain clients that knock on your door, when building the Durasein brand was this seen more as an obstacle or an exciting opportunity?
RE
Definitely an exciting opportunity! Durasein is a creative business, yet it could be easily portrayed as simply as a supply company. Durasein provides wonderful products that allow creatives to build their dreams. We were excited to find out about Durasein’s ambitions to be more creative as a business and we immensely enjoyed the opportunity to help represent them less as a corporate company and more as a creative vessel. If anything, this was our dream brief and when it came in the team were fired up from the get go – challenge accepted!
Creativity is the backbone of Re’s success, what’s something the team does internally to keep that energy flowing?
RE
We would love to say that we do a lot to keep the energy flowing, but in fact we do very little! We are formed of a collection of very curious people. If someone shares an interesting article, everyone wants to read it. We are dedicated to hiring creative people, this means that they’re already engaged and have that flowing energy, we don’t have to push them to get there. What we do is give them a base which becomes a home for the collective creative energy. The entire way through the business, everyone likes problem solving and everyone likes a challenge and that’s what makes us a creative business…also drinking lots of tea!
Aside from the stellar work that’s been accomplished while working with Durasein, what other brand collaborations have been the most unique or rewarding for you all?
RE
Working with the charity Versus Arthritis was both challenging and rewarding. We spent time living with people who have arthritis and then engaged in workshops to understand the pain, the mental anguish and the loneliness that arthritis can bring on. This may sound sad but it was actually a very rich experience — the hope that came from these workshops was very rewarding and it was great to hear people say that they felt like their voices were being heard. Our team really enjoyed feeling like they were doing something that mattered and making a real difference.
Another project we enjoyed was working with Swisscom, the leading telco in Switzerland. We helped them to update and revingorate a 13-year old brand. It’s always nice to work with a client, make a good impression and have them come back to work with you again. We then brought to life their brand considering every touchpoint from digital, product, film and spatial projects.
We also can’t wait to see what the future holds for Re. Who knows what exciting projects will come our way. Keep your eyes peeled!
Re has offices in Sydney, London, Shanghai, and soon to be in New York, would you say that there is a universal understanding of creativity or are there cultural differences that influence how creativity is perceived or achieved?
RE
It’s the same, that the understanding of creativity among our teams is universal. If you took someone from one of our studios to another across the world, they’d get along with everyone. We have had people move across offices and instantly connect with the teams. The global insights definitely help us to be a global business but the attitude and approach is the same no matter where you are. We believe creativity is universal.
Bonus Questions from Re. What would we like to see in Durasein’s future?
RE
We have a real passion for the future of D.Lab and how it influences and inspires designers everywhere. For example, it could create an augmented reality app that lets designers try new and experimental materials with unusual forms in situ. It would mean putting play at the heart of product development. And we’d love to see Durasein continue to develop new textures, colours, forms that branch out into new industries, much broader than interior and architectural design.
