Extras / Mance Design Identity

A visit to the Mance Design workspace is an invigorating experience. Unlike the relative calm and contained atmosphere of a graphic design studio such as our own, the Mance team surround themselves with an eclectic cacophony of objects and sounds.

The energy is tangible, and it drives a business that produces highly original and iconic lighting solutions. When we commenced the process of redesigning the Mance identity, capturing this creative spirit was central to the brief. Our initial presentation delivered 3 directions where the unique personality of the business was a primary focus. The favoured approach featured an assemblage of suitably eclectic objects which impart the identity system with a distinctive and original character.

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The Hedgehog is Mance Design’s signature piece, shown here in red flocking (original design by Geoffrey Mance and John Howland). The recontextualising of rustic materials is characteristic of the studio's work.

Each Hedghog is a unique, hand-crafted object reflecting both the individual nature of the materials and the idiosyncratic assembly process.

A selection of the many objects used by the team in their day-to-day lives as industrial designers, sculptors, artists and engineers. Translating these disparate elements into reduced iconic forms was the first step in the development process.

The photogram technique was selected for its obvious association with lighting design. Objects are placed on photographic paper and exposed to light. The unique 'shadow' that remains is an outline with varying degrees of detail depending on the opacity of

Following hours of experimentation in darkroom, the prints were then catalogued, scanned and cleaned up in photoshop.

This bold typographic approach was deemed too industrial and not sufficiently refined, particularly for Mance’s residential clients.

A handwritten signature was proposed to evoke the personalised nature of Mance’s work. These things are rarely resolved at the first attempt...

The final mark.