Ckaos Admin - Friday, May 10, 2013
Who says you have to be a kid to love jelly! The raspberry and lemon verbena leaves in our May Kitschen Ckaos recipe add a respectably grown up touch to this much-loved dessert. Enjoy!
Raspberry and Lemon Verbena Jelly
Makes 1 jelly
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup water
¼ cup picked lemon verbena leaves
500g frozen raspberries
1 ½ tablespoons gelatine
½ cup boiling water, extra
juice of ½ lemon
thickened or runny cream, to serve
fresh raspberries, to serve
1. Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and sitr over heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and add lemon verbena leaves and raspberries. Remove from heat and allow to stand for 20 minutes. Puree mixture in a blender or food processor and then strain to remove the pips and leaves.
2. Sprinkle gelatine over boiling water and using a fork, whisk to dissolve. Combine dissolved gelatine and strained fruit puree. Pour the jelly mixture into a lightly oiled 3 cup (750ml) jelly mould and chill until set.
3. To unmould, dip the mould up to the rim briefly in hot water, then place a plate upside down over the mould. Invert, giving a good shake and lift off the mould. Serve with runny cream and fresh raspberries.
4. Take a photo of your jelly and post it on our facebook page. The best photo at the end of the year will win a special Ckaos hamper of goodies, (If lemon verbena leaves are unavailable – omit 20 minute stand time and add the juice of ½ a lemon to stained fruit puree).
CKAOS IN THE KITSCHEN
Here’s a peek behind the scenes at our Kitschen Ckaos photo shoot. Finding and selecting props is as much fun as preparing the food. Although Eleni's love for all thing's kitsch certainly made this an easier process!
OUR WINDOW CONVERSATIONS
April 27 marked world communication design day so here at Ckaos we decided to jump on board and do a little communicating of our own.
We love the beauty of the block arcade opposite our studio, and not just because inside is our favourite chocolate shop in the whole world. We thought we would use design to communicate with our neighbours across Elizabeth st.
Check out some of the pictures below to see our communication attempts. We've been having a great conversation with they guys across the road at Get Started. Our windows also got a mention at the recent agIdeas design conference. We're a chatty lot at Ckaos!
HEAD, HEART AND SOUL
It’s time to meet the head, heart and soul of our team here at Ckaos.
We are proud to continue our Soul series, introducing what drives each of our passionate creative team.
Jenna is our resident Hobartian, joining us in 2011 as a design intern.
She has decided that she loves working with us and has joined the
studio team permanently.
Want to find out more? Click on the images below:
Ckaos has also joined the growing world of Pinterest! Follow us to keep up to date with our beautifully creative world.
Ckaos Admin - Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Ckaos Admin - Thursday, April 04, 2013
We know just what you need after your Easter chocolate indulgence… more sugar! We can’t promise that our April Kitschen Ckaos recipe is healthy, but we can promise that it’s green. This impressive-looking strawberry and mint meringue roulade is easy to make and is sure to impress your guests. You could even experiment with different fruits or colours for the cream. Make sure you visit our Facebook page and let us know how you go. We’d love to see what combinations you can come up with.
Strawberry and Mint Meringue Roulade - Serves 4
5 egg whites1 cup caster sugar
¾ cup thickened cream
1 tablespoon caster sugar, extra
½ teaspoon peppermint essence
green food colouring
250g punnet strawberries, hulled and chopped
1. Line a 25cm x 30cm Swiss roll pan with baking paper. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until the mixture is thick and sugar has dissolved. Spoon evenly into the line pan.
2. Bake at 180°C for 12-15 minutes or until firm to touch. Cool in pan, then turn meringue onto a sheet of clean baking paper. Carefully remove the baking paper off meringue.
3. Beat cream, sugar, essence and a few drops of food colouring with an electric mixer in a medium bowl until whipped. Spread mint cream over the meringue base. Top with strawberries. Roll up from the short end, as for a Swiss roll, to enclose filling. Refrigerate until firm.
4. Take a photo of your roulade and post it on our Facebook page. The best photo at the end of the year will win a special Ckaos hamper of goodies.
CKAOS IN THE KITSCHEN
Here’s a peek behind the scenes at our Kitschen Ckaos photo shoot. Our beautiful hand model is Kirsty Sands, our food stylist from egg + spoon design and our talented photographer, bringing our creations to life is Steffen Pedersen.
PROJECT CKAOS
Kerrie, Emma, Jenna and Laura from the studio recently attended a talk by Debbie Millman as part of the Portable.tv series of events.
There are very few designers who are more experienced in the world of branding and visual communication than Debbie Millman. Based out of New York, Debbie has shaped the way in which design is conceived and executed throughout her 25-year career. She is the author of five acclaimed books including Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits and continues to shape the American design landscape through her work as head of the American Institute of Graphic Designers (AIGA), professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and President of Design for Sterling Brands. Debbie explored the thought process and action behind good design, approaching it from both a practical and anthropological angle. Laura particularly enjoyed the example of the Morton Salt girl, who was the first brand character metaphor to convey a story so that consumers could remember the brand and could relate to it.
HEAD, HEART AND SOUL
It’s time to meet the head, heart and soul of our team here at Ckaos.We are proud to launch our Soul series, introducing what drives each of our passionate creative team.
First up is Laura, our 2010 intern who has now joined the studio team permanently. Check out some of Laura’s favourite things.
Want to find out more? Click on the images below:
Ckaos has also joined the growing world of Pinterest! Follow us to keep up to date with our beautifully creative world.
Ckaos Admin - Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Mmm, chocolate. Mmm, cherry. Mmm, choc cherry. Our delicious treat for February from our Kitschen Ckaos 2013 desk calendar is not to be missed. You could even choose to shape them into little hearts for Valentine’s Day or put them on a heart-shaped plate like in our photo. Sweet!
Choc Cherry Pinwheel Biscuits Makes 25-30
Ingredients
100g butter, chopped
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 egg
¾ cup self-raising flour
¾ cup plain flour
100g dark chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons dark cherry jam
50g fresh black cherries, pitted and finely chopped
Method
1. Beat butter, icing sugar and egg in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Stir in sifted flours. Knead on a floured surface until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Combine chocolate, jam and cherries in a small bowl. Roll dough between sheets of baking paper to make a 25cm x 40cm rectangle. Remove top sheet of paper and spread filling over dough, leaving a 1cm border along one of the longest sides.
3. Using bottom sheet of paper as a guide, roll up dough tightly from the long side to the bordered long side to enclose the filling. Wrap roll in paper and chill for 30 minutes.
4. Remove paper, cut roll into 5mm slices. Place about 2cm apart on baking paper lined trays. Bake at 180°C for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Stand for 5 minutes before placing on wire racks to cool.
5. Take a photo of your delicious biscuits and post it on our facebook page. The best photo at the end of the year will win a special Ckaos hamper of goodies.
CKAOS IN THE KITSCHEN
Here’s a peek behind the scenes at our Kitschen Ckaos photo shoot. Part of a successful shoot is having the right props. Fortunately Eleni was able to supply a range of kitsch items that were perfect for our calendar.
PROJECT CKAOS
Last November we brought you Emma's latest design from Project Ckaos, our attempt to capture the essence of Ckaos in a visual format. We liked it so much we turned it into a wall hanging for studio... and some wrapping paper!
We’ve also hung some colourful lanterns in our hallway…
SUMMER BLOOM
Here’s our latest bunch of blooms from Whitemoss Florist.
Ckaos Admin - Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Wait no longer. January’s recipe for Kitschen Ckaos is here at last! Each month the 2013 Ckaos desk calendar features a delicious image from our ‘kitschen’, with the recipe detailed here in our blog. We are therefore pleased to reveal how to make our delicious treat for January… Enjoy!
Pineapple and Almond Cake Serves 8-10
Ingredients
250g butter, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
rind of 1 lemon
4 eggs
200g almond meal
1/4 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 ripe small pineapple, peeled, cored and finely sliced
Method
1. Beat butter, sugar and rind with an electric mixer in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in almond meal, flour and cinnamon. Spread mixture into a greased 24cm x 4cm-deep round cake tin and top evenly with pineapple.
2. Bake at 160°C for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
CKAOS IN THE KITSCHEN
Here’s a peek behind the scenes at our Kitschen Ckaos photo shoot. Food stylist Kirsty Sands was hard at work baking, while photographer Steffen Pedersen busily snapped away to capture the moment.
PROJECT CKAOS
Kerrie created this latest image as part of Project Ckaos, our attempt to capture the essence of our business in a visual format. Kerrie was inspired by Andy Warhol to play around with CMYK colours to create this interesting effect.
THE GREAT PYRAMID OF TOOTGAROOK
Christopher enjoyed building this pyramid at Tootgarook beach. Not as much as his boys, Nicholas and Otis, enjoyed destroying it – with a little help from Heidi’s boys.
Ckaos Admin - Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Ckaos Admin - Friday, November 02, 2012
At Ckaos, we’re frequently
asked to come up with brand names for our clients. With the Melbourne
Spring Racing Carnival in full swing, we started to think about a more
specific area of branding – horse branding. No, not the hot iron kind of
branding. The giving-a-horse-a-name sort.
Racehorses are big business. And as far as a horse goes, its name is its
brand. Who could forget past Melbourne Cup winners, What a Nuisance,
Tawriffic, Merriwee or Windbag (was he powered by another source?) There
are some unusual horse names this year too… Maluckyday, Zabeelionaire,
Niwot and Spechenka to name a few.
However, coming up with a name for a
racehorse is not quite like naming a product. There are a very strict
set of rules that must be followed. The name must not:
- be more than 18 characters
- be the same as a person with the exception of historical figures
- include punctuation except for apostrophes
- be too difficult to pronounce
- be repeated for 17 years after the birth of a horse with the same name
- be offensive
- be entirely made up of a number e.g. Three, Fifth
- use racing references that could cause confusion e.g. Finishing Post
Thank goodness these rules don’t apply to brand names. We’re not even sure 'Ckaos' would have passed.
PROJECT CKAOS
Here are the next images to come out of Project Ckaos - our attempt to
capture the essence of our business in a visual format. Emma created
this pattern using an isometric grid and opacities of CMYK. She built it
up with basic colours, which created secondary colours when overlaid.
The more the sections overlapped, the more new colours and shapes
emerged.
MALI MANIA
Jenna enjoyed the Mali Exhibition recently at the Melbourne Zoo. As part
of the zoo's 150th anniversary celebrations, 50 artist-designed Mali
elephants were exhibited in the city. These gorgeous elephants were then
auctioned at the zoo to raise money for conservation work.
HELLO CAMERON
We would like to officially welcome Cameron Sharp to Ckaos as our
Strategy and Activation Manager. Over the last few months Cameron has
been instrumental in working with a number of our clients on some great
activation projects and is proving himself to be an invaluable member of
the team.
BIRTHDAY FESTIVAL
Our intern Jenna celebrated her birthday recently with a festival of
activities. Here she is in the studio with some of the spring flowers we
created to adorn our walls and showing off one of her favourite
presents. No prizes for guessing which animal she's obsessed with.
CKAOS IN-STORE
Ckaos recently designed the collateral for King Island Dairy's in-store
promotion where shoppers could purchase cheese to receive a free Brie
Baker. Yum!
LUNA PARK
Eleni snapped these cute pics on a recent trip to Luna Park, Sydney. She also enjoyed a spectacular Sydney sunrise.
SHOOT FOR THE STARS
Eleni and Heidi went to Brisbane with Emily from Visual Playground to shoot footage of Professor Ian Frazer for a DVD for the PA Research Foundation (clearly Heidi enjoyed the catering).
ANNUAL REPORT SEASON
We have almost come to the end of annual report season - one of the
busiest times in our studio. Here are John and Kerrie carefully checking
the Emmy Monash Annual Report before going to print.
Christopher Karamihos - Thursday, October 04, 2012
What does your favourite typeface reveal about you? Are you a Times New Roman kind of person or strictly loyal to Arial? Do you like to use Chalkboard for a casual flavour or Copper Black when you feel like having a bit of a shout? Here are the favourite typefaces of the Ckaos team (as well as a bit of amateur psychological analysis). Let us know what your favourite typeface is and we’ll analyse you too – if you dare!
John likes:
Why? He just does. And he doesn’t appear to be alone. This typeface was developed in 1957 with the aim of being clear and versatile. It has become one of the most popular in the world. We doubt you’d be able to make it through a day without seeing it somewhere on a book, sign, advertisement, letter etc. What this tells us about John… he is a traditional, no-nonsense man who says what he thinks.
Eleni likes:
Why? She used to draw this typeface freehand as a child and it has remained a favourite of hers over the years. This typeface was invented by Giambattista Bodoni who was the most prolific Italian typecutter of the 18th century. He even worked for a time in the Vatican, typecutting the exotic languages for which Catholic literature was printed. What this tells us about Eleni… she is in touch with her inner child.
Laura likes:
Why? Because she just enjoyed using this font family for a university project. She says her typeface preference changes frequently and she thinks this is reflective of the ever-evolving process of the individual designer. What this tells us about Laura… she enjoys living in the moment.
Jenna likes:
Why? Because it comes with an extensive collection of weights and is a clean, modern sans serif with sharp lines that can have great impact when used properly. She also likes Garamond as it is a little more classic. The distinct serifs and variation between stroke weight help to give this font so much character. It is gentle and soft in appearance, feminine like. What this tells us about Jenna… she is a classic beauty who makes an impact wherever she goes.
Kerrie likes:
Why? She admits it’s boring but still thinks it’s lovely. A classic that almost always works. The Myriad typeface is best known for replacing Apple Garamond as Apple’s corporate font in 2002. What this tells us about Kerrie… she appreciates things in life that have a practical purpose and are not just there to look good.
Cameron likes:
Why? Because it is round. This typeface was designed in 1991 as a digital typeface. It is said to use much less ink, saving money on printer ink. The downside is that it is also said to use more paper due to its wide letters. You just can’t win! What this tells us about Cameron… he is a modern man with a soft heart.
Emma likes:
Why? Because it is a classic serif and its letterforms are beautiful shapes. Despite this being one of her favourites she does think the world would be boring if designers always used their favourite fonts. Your taste in fonts changes in the same way as your taste in fashion. What this tells us about Emma… she likes to move with the times.
Christopher likes:
Why? Because it looks very old reminding him of times when text was first printed via a press. He likes how it is a combination of handwritten and machine. This typeface was designed by Manfred Klein Fonteria which is based a very early English script. What this tells us about Christopher… he is an old fashioned kind of guy (or he's stuck in the past)!
Heidi likes:
Why? Well, she chose it to annoy the rest of the Ckaos team who all despise this font. She thinks it’s been cruelly discriminated against over the years and in her eyes is simple, fun and easy to read. Comic Sans was released in 1994, described as a casual script designed to imitate comic book lettering for use in informal documents. It has become a controversial typeface and there’s a long-running campaign in the USA called ‘Ban Comic Sans.’ There’s even a website for it www.bancomicsans.com What this tells us about Heidi… she is a troublemaker.
PROJECT CKAOS
Here is the next poster to come out of Project Ckaos - our attempt to capture the essence of our business in a visual format. Jenna has focused on the solutions component of what Ckaos stands for. She has attempted to visualise the characteristics of the right and left side of the human brain – the analytical and linear, as well as the creative and passionate. Feeling a particular connection to the right side of the brain, Jenna believes that this piece is a true representation of the sometimes chaotic and colourful mind of a designer; and how the two sides fuse together to creative successful design solutions.
KERRIE'S ROAD TRIP
Kerrie and her her husband Jason road tripped the Northern Territory in a campervan for 10 days last month. Here are some of their happy snaps.
OCTOBER'S FLOWERS
Here's our latest bunch of flowers from Whitemoss Florist.
Christopher Karamihos - Friday, September 07, 2012
