Part of
The Fabric
DESIGN, CULTURE & COMMUNITY
Good design inspires us, brings us closer together, it enriches each and every aspect of our lives. Add a connection to community and culture that’s based on the concept of ‘the local’ and creativity can become a powerful, persuasive force for change.
Many of our clients see their responsibility goes far beyond providing a bed for a night in a nameless, forgettable locale- rather it is to create a hub, a sense of place and space for the guests, employees and the broader local community to belong and create memories. What and who in that local community exemplifies, enriches and amplifies the brand? Every element of the space and local story- the people, architecture, food, the materials- in harmony with their surroundings without being tokenistic or risking appropriation. It’s a reflection, not externally-imposed or overpowering.
We know we’ve met the brief when a brand isn’t just for customers but is a platform for locals too. Local artists have their work on the wall, local providores are working with the kitchen team and likeminded local businesses are collaborating with the brand too. It’s this sense of shared purpose and a commitment to enriching the world around us that drives us creatively, professionally and personally.
The great pause of 2020 has promoted many businesses to reflect, reset and reclaim the way we work, as well as return to the all-essential why. While Abound has always been drawn to organisations with a strong connection to community and the locale, the pandemic has spearheaded deeper more meaningful conversations about their impact on the world around them. It’s emphasised our commitment to work with good people, doing great stuff in the world.
If you share our ethos get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.
While Abound has purposefully and intentionally steered away from a one-size-fits-all delivery approach in our business model, aiming for an eco-system rather than an empire, this is an ethos that encompasses and informs our client work too. We love working with brands that are renegades, disruptors in their industry, that are culturally aware and community minded, looking to do better, be better, to be different and to feel different.
After all, design is an opportunity to solve problems and uncover potential in fresh, innovative and challenging ways. We’ve worked with some of the world’s most progressive hospitality, travel, place and lifestyle brands who have rejected the status quo of their industries. The real power of these projects however is not just in their vision to reimagine what’s come before but an appreciation for their context and impact on the world around them, putting ‘local’ very much at the core.
It’s an approach we’ve put at the heart of our own ways of working. Curating the right team of global and local experts around each project – designers, writers, artists, photographers, thinkers and the doers - the right people, not the only people. Seeing our role as one of collaborator with our clients, forming a holistic, purpose-led team.
We talk a lot about creating ‘living feeling brands’ with our global clients but to do so, we believe they need to be locally relevant too. It’s that local knowledge and feel that enables that perfect creative blend of insight and imagination, instinct and play, generosity and meaning. It’s no accident that those we work with are as equally committed to the power of community as we are.
Living Feeling Brands
Acknowledgement of Country.
AboundStudio acknowledge this country's First Nations peoples and their ongoing strength in practising the world's oldest living culture. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters on which we live and work, and pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.