Featured image for Telstra Spectrum Bag

Telstra Spectrum Bag

by Elizabeth Freeman on 01/28/2015 | 3 Minute Read

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"Telstra recently launched their flagship store of the future in George Street, Sydney and as part of the store experience they asked [Interbrand] to create an iconic carrier bag. Our goal was to bring ‘Spectrum’ (Telstra’s visual language of colour and angularity) to life in three dimensions. The idea was to create an innovative form factor that would be instantly recognisable on the high street and create wow-factor for customers in-store, all whilst being 100% recyclable and flat-packable."

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"Our research revealed that many high street fashion brands and Telstra’s competitors were not producing environmentally friendly bags since they had cord handles or matt-laminated finishes. We knew from the offset that the volume of carrier bags Telstra would require could have a negative environmental impact if we got the design wrong so we gave ourselves the constraint of using only 100% recyclable materials." 

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"We partnered with internationally renowned artist and paper engineer, Benja Harney, to bring Spectrum to life in 3D. We conducted research into the customer experience, typically packaged products, supply chain, in-store storage and employee behaviour. We discovered that two sizes would be needed – one for a mobile phone box and an accessory, and the other for larger items such as the T-Box. Interbrand identified five blue-sky creative directions before selecting one with the client for further development. Working with Benja, over 50 prototypes were developed to find a unique and ownable form that would bring some theatre to the store experience whilst ticking the practical consideration boxes too."

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"Finally, one bag presented itself as the clear winner. The Spectrum Bag takes its shape from two opposing triangles at the base and opening, creating a unique form that is highly sculptural and distinctly Telstra. Following Benja’s prototypes we handed the designs to Paper-Pak to finalise the engineering and create the final die-line. The bag comes in the four Telstra colours and features a single scored fold on each side to create more volume inside and elegantly connect all faces. The bag is currently being trialled in Sydney’s George Street flagship store but will eventually roll out to all stores across Australia."

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Designed by Interbrand

Country: Australia

City: Sydney

Senior Designer: Flicka Williams 

Creative Director: Chris Maclean 

Paper Engineer: Benja Harney 

Production: Paper-Pak