DESCRIPTION:
Pip and Co. was formed by the Australian designer Andrew Ashton on April Fools’ Day 2003. Pip and Co.’s ethos is built around Ashton’s perception that “everyday people don’t fall in love with graphic design.” What they respond to instead, he opines, is “ideas, evocative images, writing that makes them laugh—the way something feels.”

VOICE:
The studio was established as a reaction to a previous venture in which Ashton felt profits and growth overshadowed creative integrity. Ashton is fond of the expression “to make an omelet you have to break a few eggs.” He explains, “In today’s risk-averse world, creative thinking seems to be compromised. In our own way we try to help clients to see that creative problem-solving is an opportunity. We help our clients admire mavericks like Warhol, Lou Reed, and John Waters by associating them with creative thinkers they may appreciate like Gene Wilder, the creators of Toy Story, and Mark Twain.” Pip and Co. thinks a great deal about the environment. “It is not about tree hugging as such,” says Ashton, “it is about presenting clients with all of the facts about alternative methods of communicating messages and ideas.”

DISTINCTIVE MARKINGS:
“We use ideas that are beautiful in their own right, writing that speaks for things as they appear, and photography that depicts everyday living as well as those aspects of culture fading from popularity,” says Ashton of his studio’s approach. Pip and Co. designers also enjoy “stumbling across found things and recasting them into our work.”

HABITAT:
The Pip and Co. office is located in Prahran, a precinct on the outskirts of Melbourne. Ashton describes Prahran as an alternative destination with an abundant cross section of humanity and experience that promises to invigorate anyone looking for stimulation. “In contrast to the modernist concrete bunker I occupied in my previous partnership,” says Ashton, “here, in our studio, there are no meeting rooms, waiting areas, parking spaces, and telephone systems. It is a place where our clients and friends can gain a true sense of a small working studio.”

SPOTTED BY:
Paul Sahre, Office of Paul Sahre, New York: “Andrew has already founded a successful design firm called Precinct, sold it, and has started Pip and Co. His work is radical in a very controlled way. Andrew cares.”

CONTACT:
+61.3.9525.0061 | www.peoplethings.com

Written by Alice Twemlow