Ulric + Arly Housewares

Creative Agency: Wyne Enterprises
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Ulric + Arly
Location: San Francisco, USA
Packaging Contents: Napkins, Placemats, Tea Towels
Packaging Materials: Paper

Ulric + Arly is a Barbadian textile and clothing design studio. Designed by visual artist Mark King, Ulric + Arly’s housewares collection consists of limited edition napkins, placemats, and tea towels made from 100% cotton. With geometric and wrought iron elements, this series is inspired by King’s grandfathers, Ulric, a diligent educator, and Arly, a charismatic blacksmith. Each piece is individually hand printed and handmade.

In developing the logo, I spent a long time studying iron work. I wanted a rugged, industrial feel to balance out the fine detail of the art. But, I couldn’t go too far. The identity also had to be elegant enough to compliment Mark’s patterns. The resulting logo is custom typography, with a unique, deep-wedge serif that I’ve never seen before. The triangular shape of the serifs is echoed in letters like U and C, where the curves become angles, giving the type strength and personality. I finished by adding a spur to the stroke ends of letters like L and C.

Because the patterns on the textiles are so stunning, I felt my job as a designer was to create minimalist packaging that puts the focus on the pieces. My primary goal was clarity, making it easy for someone to know at a glance what is contained in each of the packages. Symmetry is an important part of the elegance of these pieces. If a design had too much negative space, I added botanical illustrations to restore the balance found in the patterns. The illustrations feature plants found in Barbados.

What’s Unique?
The packaging is elegant and restrained, featuring a logo inspired by the art on the textiles and illustrations of botanicals local to Barbados, where the textiles were made.