| TUUR VAN BALEN |
Fabrique
bar at Heineken Music HallWhen KPN, the former Dutch national phone company, started operating as an internet and television provider, Fabrique helped design their services in these new domains and build a new and consistent identity. We ran workshops with part of the management, as a starting point of designing the new television service and designed the products as touch-points for this service: the set-top box, the remote control, the interface.
At Fabrique, I also helped launching a new music-service across these three media, called MusicStream. Again both the framework for the service as it's touch-points. One of the main touch-points was a physical home base in the Heineken Music Hall, one of Amsterdam's biggest indoor concert halls. I was partly responsible for the interaction between the visitors and the music service: from the way people buy music, the way they take it home to the experience of the space. Based on this, we designed music vending machines, a bar, stairs, a stage, lighting and other interior elements. Most of these have been produced, others will follow later.
UGS makes software. Software that transforms the process of innovation. From process management software to 3D modelling and manufacturing software. Despite the widespread use of their products amongst design en production companies, the brand-name has yet to become a household name. To improve the reputation of the brand, design office Fabrique in Delft was asked to design a innovative exhibition-stand on a major industry-fair in the Netherlands. The result was a radical yet simple concept, communicating the complexity of process-management through a jungle of blinking LED's.
At Fabrique, I worked on the branding of Giant bicycles for the BeNeLux market. Fabrique proved Giant BeNeLux that it is worth producing local variants of it's bikes and brand interactions instead of using the global versions. We designed the graphics and colours on several models of bikes and made the decals. The bikes, produced in Taiwan, were then finished of for a more local market in the Netherlands. We also designed some of Giant's concept stores and in-store communication, along with the catalogue. It was a really interesting experience as the whole process had to happen fast and went into production immediately.
