newkid Reminds Us To Keep it Utilitarian With ‘Tools for Non-Standard Living’

Published

August 2, 2024

Filed under

Home & Garden Packaging, Office & Art Supply Packaging

Standard Equipment, a Toronto-based homewares and furniture company, collaborates with newkid to establish a unique brand identity. The brand combines utilitarian influences with playful design, inspired the founder’s background in toy design.

Standard Equipment is an up-and-coming homewares and furniture company from Toronto, Canada, with a unique approach to design that combines utilitarian influences with a sense of fun inspired by the founder’s background in toy design.

newkid was brought in to establish the brand strategy, visual & verbal identity, and website, building on the foundation of the products themselves. As algorithms have driven an increasing standardization of taste and lifestyle, we saw an opportunity to flip the idea of standardization in the company name on its head, to position Standard Equipment as the creators of “Tools for Non-Standard Living.” The visual and verbal identity found their inspiration in the practicality and process of industrial manufacturing; a world of technical descriptions and seals of quality.

The goal was to create a brand that fit seamlessly into that pragmatic style, while threading moments of wit and personality into the details; from pops of color in the website navigation, to snappy product copy that leans into the ‘non-standard’ side of the brand.
– newkid

Andrew Gibbs

Andrew Gibbs has been called an “innovator in the world of design” as the founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of Dieline, founded in 2007. Andrew started Dieline Awards in 2009 to formally recognize the world’s best consumer product packaging design. The awards competition was recognized as a “global phenomenon” in its first year. In 2010, he founded Dieline Conference, an annual conference for creative professionals in the packaging design and branding industry. He now serves as Creative Director and Programming Partner for HOW Design Live, one of the largest annual gatherings of creatives in the world. In 2014, he became a faculty member at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA teaching Packaging Design. Andrew was previously named the Editor-in-Chief of HOW Design Magazine in 2015, making him the youngest editor of a design magazine ever. In 2018, Andrew became a Climate Reality Leader after training under Al Gore at the 2018 Climate Reality Corps. He joined A Plastic Planet, a U.K. based non-profit that is dedicated to dramatically reducing the amount of single use plastic used in the packaging industry. Andrew speaks and consults worldwide on the topics of packaging design and sustainable packaging.