Under The Hood… Lisa Loosemore
DA and Adobe have partnered up our live online event series Under the Hood, the next instalment is fast approaching on Thursday the 2nd of July.
We spoke to the presenters to learn more about their design career, process, the project they will be sharing and their hopes for the future of Aotearoa design.
Today we hear from Lisa Loosemore, Senior Designer, Culture and Theory
With thanks to our event partners Adobe.
Can you tell us a little bit about who you are, what your background is, and how you first got started in the industry?
I’m from the UK, graduated from Falmouth University in 2012. I moved straight to London and was then incredibly lucky to end up working at Jones Knowles Ritchie. I learnt so much there, an invaluable experience working under some great mentors. After roughly 6 years in London, I had a real itch to travel. I wanted to see the world and gain experience outside the UK design bubble. So I left London in 2018 and moved to Sydney. I spent an incredible year freelancing, hopping between some awesome studios, working with some fab designers before stumbling across Culture&Theory’s Instagram feed… I moved to New Zealand 2 months later, and the rest is history!
What does your typical working day involve?
8.30am triple shot latte, check emails, little browse on BrandNew for any new identities to interrogate. Then we kick the day off at 9am when the whole agency gets together and we discuss what’s on: whos doing what, when and then we rip into daily check-ins, catch ups, client presentations, cracking on with concept development.. all the good stuff.
What insight can you give us to your design process?
I think it’s important to clearly understand the category you’re working on. At C&T we ensure there is a seamless marriage between strategy and design. We define the main objectives, what we’re trying to achieve, the story we want the brand to tell… we then look beyond the category for new, fresh thinking and inspiration. If I ever find myself aimlessly searching Pinterest I get up and away from my desk, walk down the high street, listen to a podcast, dust off some books.. anything to keep my mind inspired?
What project will you be presenting in Under the Hood?
Baker Hall’s & Co packaging re-brand.
What was the most challenging part of the project and what lessons did you draw from it?
We knew we had to be bold and brave. Baker Hall’s was living in the shadow of the dominant player in the market. So this was an interesting challenge – we had to create something that didn’t add further confusion but rather pulled the brand apart from others on shelf. With salience being key to driving consideration in a crowded market, we thought beyond the category cues and the overwhelming sea of white labels to aim at a direction that was distinctive, bold and characterful.
Was there an ‘Aha’ moment in the project when things clicked and fell into place?
We uncovered a really rich quirky history, Mr Baker Hall was quite the character! So we really wanted to lean into this and luckily our client were 100% on board and went for it?
Do you have a favourite feature or shortcut in Adobe Creative cloud programs?
When I was freelancing in Aus I occasionally had to work from my I cicra 2010 macbook pro. I soon realised that my antique laptop was pre the Adobe GPU Performance, Animated Zoom feature. Without being able to seamlessly zoom in and out became incredibly frustrating. That laptop almost didn’t make it to NZ! (COMMAND/SPACE BAR-DRAG MOUSE)
What have you been working on recently?
We are currently dabbling in the financial, sport, and education sectors so lots of variety at the moment which is fab. Watch this space!
2020 has thrown us some curveballs, how have Culture & Theory adapted?
No doubt it’s been an unusual year. And I can’t stress enough how lucky I feel to be here in New Zealand. C&T were great at just ensuring business as usual. We’re a small team, so we all stuck together with regular check ins. It was daunting at times but looking back, I do miss the morning zoom meetings and weekly quizzes! It sure is good to be back in the studio again though!
Outside of work hours what creative projects and/or hobbies are you involved with?
I always help my friends out where I can when they need a creative hand. I also dabble in Brazilian Jujitsu. Never a dull day!
Instagram: @culture.and.theory
cultureandtheory.co.nz
12.30pm – 1.30pm
Online Zoom Webinar
Each designer will share the brief, how they approached it, talk us through that internal feedback loop – This is too hard! It’s not working! Why did I decide to be a designer?! – and out to the other side to client love and project success. All of these insights in a quick conversational ten-minute talk with screen sharing.
Featuring:
Lisa Loosemore, Senior Designer, Culture and Theory
Dan Newman, Creative Director, Springload
Elliot Stansfield, Senior Designer, South
