Studio

Seesaw

posted on 15th March 2010

1/10: See Saw 2/10: See Saw 3/10: See Saw 4/10: See Saw 5/10: See Saw 6/10: See Saw 7/10: See Saw 8/10: See Saw 9/10: See Saw 10/10: See Saw
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Tell us about your business.
Well the pitch generally reads .... Seesaw is a close-knit collective of hard working creative people who understand the impact of brand and design on business. And we love what we do - creating beautiful things for brands through the art of design, words and listening to our clients needs.
As somewhat pretentious as it may sound, our tag line is 'a balanced perspective'. We believe that does really encapsulate Seesaw. We balance business and design and while we work damn hard we have a great time doing it. 
Tell us a bit about you.
Together with my business partner Matthew McKenzie, I graduated RMIT Communication Design in 2002. Prior to that I completed a rather pointless Science Degree at Monash. Yes, I have a lot of HECs debt.
Professionally I worked as a designer in the fashion industry before we started Seesaw in 2004. Personally I have a slight obsession with vintage furniture, love music, red wine, coffee and a good market.
How big is your team, who are they and what do they do?
Our team consists of my business partner Matt and myself who are the Creative Directors. Jessie and Warren are our Middle Weight Designers and Andrew is our Junior.
In-house we also have Andy a 3D Artist/Architect, Steve our Writer/Marketer and two studio dogs Louis and Klaus.   
Has the creative industry in Australia changed much since you first started?
I think the industry appears a little more collaborative and open since we started but that may be a sign of us getting older and wiser.
The creative industry in Melbourne still remains extremely supportive, diverse and inspiring. 
Tell us about your space.
Our space is an old, converted printing warehouse in West Melbourne. We are still in the process of making it our own but it is great studio with high ceilings, a secret garden, custom made form-ply desking and currently a Shepard Fairey/OBEY installation wall. 
As it is right behind Festival Hall it is a pretty amazing location when good bands are playing. Not so awesome when teen popstars are playing. You take the good with the bad.
What projects inspire you?
We love branding work and working with like minded clients. Our favourite jobs tend to those from the hospitality, fashion, entertainment and architecture sectors. 
As our work is quite varied it is constantly inspiring. In a typical Seesaw week we may pump out a few corporate brochures, start a branding project, design prop graphics for television, develop a website, create a 3D visualisation or art direct a photo shoot. It keeps things interesting.
We also love those 'impossible' jobs, the ones that excite you because they are just so unfamiliar and daunting. We love a challenge, figuring out solutions, working with new mediums and collaborating with creative friends.
What were the key moments in your studio's history?
I think we see our key moments as our studio spaces. The first was a very cool but very mouse ridden studio in Collingwood, the second was somewhat nicer and less pest ridden in North Melbourne and now we are here in West Melbourne. They all seem to rather apt reflections of our business at that stage. 
As we are a small studio, key moments are also when we have the opportunity to expand the team by employing new staff. 
Are you doing any side projects or collaborations?
At the moment we are too busy for many side projects. We all do a spot of design for friends outside of Seesaw and I am currently helping my husband organise a photography exhibition.
Matt and Warren are doing a wood working course together, Andrew takes pretty amazing photos and I am about to learn the art of furniture upholstery. Fun times.
What was your biggest failure?
I only lasted 11 days on 'dry' February. Rather pathetic.
In regards to Seesaw, I think any small business runs into problems and difficulties along the way. We are extremely fortunate that we haven't had too many epic failures. Knock on wood.
What are you most proud of?
We are proud to have a great professional family and a studio culture that maintains a strong focus on producing work that doesn't neccessarily have a house style but satisfies the creative brief.
What's music is playing in the studio right now?
As I answer this it is Night Train by James Brown. Before that was Arcade Fire. The play lists here are pretty diverse and generally rather random. 
What was the last book you read?
It is quite design nerd, but it was actually a series of branding books. Before that was Hot Water Music by Charles Bukowski.

We are Seesaw, a close-knit collective of hard working creative people who understand the impact of brand and design on business. And we love what we do - creating beautiful things for brands through the art of design, words and listening to our clients needs.

Seesaw

268 Rosslyn Street
West Melbourne VIC 3003
Australia
+61 3 9329 8409

http://www.seesawdesign.com.au


Interview With Seesaw


Tell us about your business.

Well the pitch generally reads .... Seesaw is a close-knit collective of hard working creative people who understand the impact of brand and design on business. And we love what we do - creating beautiful things for brands through the art of design, words and listening to our clients needs.

As somewhat pretentious as it may sound, our tag line is 'a balanced perspective'. We believe that does really encapsulate Seesaw. We balance business and design and while we work damn hard we have a great time doing it. 

Tell us a bit about you.

Together with my business partner Matthew McKenzie, I graduated RMIT Communication Design in 2002. Prior to that I completed a rather pointless Science Degree at Monash. Yes, I have a lot of HECs debt.

Professionally I worked as a designer in the fashion industry before we started Seesaw in 2004. Personally I have a slight obsession with vintage furniture, love music, red wine, coffee and a good market.
 

How big is your team, who are they and what do they do?

Our team consists of my business partner Matt and myself who are the Creative Directors. Jessie and Warren are our Middle Weight Designers and Andrew is our Junior.

In-house we also have Andy a 3D Artist/Architect, Steve our Writer/Marketer and two studio dogs Louis and Klaus.   

Has the creative industry in Australia changed much since you first started?

 I think the industry appears a little more collaborative and open since we started but that may be a sign of us getting older and wiser.
The creative industry in Melbourne still remains extremely supportive, diverse and inspiring. 

Tell us about your space.

Our space is an old, converted printing warehouse in West Melbourne. We are still in the process of making it our own but it is great studio with high ceilings, a secret garden, custom made form-ply desking and currently a Shepard Fairey/OBEY installation wall. 

As it is right behind Festival Hall it is a pretty amazing location when good bands are playing. Not so awesome when teen popstars are playing. You take the good with the bad.

What projects inspire you?

We love branding work and working with like minded clients. Our favourite jobs tend to those from the hospitality, fashion, entertainment and architecture sectors. 

As our work is quite varied it is constantly inspiring. In a typical Seesaw week we may pump out a few corporate brochures, start a branding project, design prop graphics for television, develop a website, create a 3D visualisation or art direct a photo shoot. It keeps things interesting.

We also love those 'impossible' jobs, the ones that excite you because they are just so unfamiliar and daunting. We love a challenge, figuring out solutions, working with new mediums and collaborating with creative friends.

What were the key moments in your studio's history?

I think we see our key moments as our studio spaces. The first was a very cool but very mouse ridden studio in Collingwood, the second was somewhat nicer and less pest ridden in North Melbourne and now we are here in West Melbourne. They all seem to rather apt reflections of our business at that stage. 

As we are a small studio, key moments are also when we have the opportunity to expand the team by employing new staff. 

Are you doing any side projects or collaborations?

At the moment we are too busy for many side projects. We all do a spot of design for friends outside of Seesaw and I am currently helping my husband organise a photography exhibition.

Matt and Warren are doing a wood working course together, Andrew takes pretty amazing photos and I am about to learn the art of furniture upholstery. Fun times.

What was your biggest failure?

I only lasted 11 days on 'dry' February. Rather pathetic.

In regards to Seesaw, I think any small business runs into problems and difficulties along the way. We are extremely fortunate that we haven't had too many epic failures. Knock on wood.

What are you most proud of?


We are proud to have a great professional family and a studio culture that maintains a strong focus on producing work that doesn't necessarily have a house style but satisfies the creative brief.

What's music is playing in the studio right now?

As I answer this it is Night Train by James Brown. Before that was Arcade Fire. The play lists here are pretty diverse and generally rather random. 

What was the last book you read?

It is quite design nerd, but it was actually a series of branding books. Before that was Hot Water Music by Charles Bukowski.

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