Book for Dion Lee by Ultra

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CLIENT

Dion Lee is one of Australia’s most promising up and coming fashion designers. At just 26 years old he has seven collections, two standout shows at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, and his international debut at London Fashion Week under his belt.

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BRIEF

Dion Lee wanted to mark the launch of Line II—his second clothing line—with a book that worked as a branding and sales piece. In contrast to his directional mainline collection, Line II was to be a series of wearable essentials defined by functional hardware and cut-away silhouettes.

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APPROACH

Throughout the book we utilized repetition to communicate wearability. Models were photographed wearing the same or similar garment in succession to demonstrate the collection’s ability to be reinterpreted and recontextualized by the wearer. The die-cut bars (a simplification of the Line II branding) were an integral part of the concept, and they dictated the format and orientation of the book. They divided the publication into two sections, and served as a strong branding vehicle by forcing the reader to interact directly with Line II. The juxtaposition of images viewed through these bars also provided a sense of subversion befitting the Dion Lee aesthetic.

PRODUCTION LESSONSAside from limited budget and timeframe, the largest production challenge was the die-cut that punches through the 112-page section. The long, narrow proportion of the cuts caused the die itself to buckle and eventually explode when the pressure necessary to cut through 112 pages was applied. We had one copy of the book, with an imperfect set of cuts, for our client’s initial sales appointments. Thankfully our printer was determined to complete the job, so we revised the proportion of the cuts and they spent two weeks refining the cutting process to deliver the final publication.

Judge’s Comment
The redesign of Tom’s projects the very “green” and nature-related products of the company. It looks friendly. I enjoyed the way the designer re-appropriated the leaf shape in the apostrophe. A memorable mark. — Steff Geissbuhler