3-Minute Read

Five short questions with the current movers and shakers of food, drink and design. We spoke to the Creative Director of United Creatives, Chris Edmunds, the brilliant mind behind the exquisitely crafted Pale Fox label.

1. How did you get into graphic design? 

I went to art school for five years followed by an internship at a large national graphic design agency in Amsterdam. I couldn’t sew for fashion or do woodwork for 3D design and so I majored in graphic design with a leaning towards image-making with a camera.

Influenced by Dutch design, I have gone on to work on projects that range from drinks label design to the art direction of city centres.

I run a small design agency called United Creates and we work for everyone from start-ups to global brands with projects here in the UK as well as in Australia, the US and Japan.

(Dodd's Gin, pictured above, is an example of United Creative's work)

2. What are the main steps in your design process? 

Firstly, we focus on getting inside a client’s head and understanding their business, which is then followed with a phase of ideation. Once we are locked onto a strong idea the gears then turn into creation, refinement and finally mechanical artwork so that our designs can be reproduced.

We also work hard to call bullshit on ourselves.

3. Can you talk us through your inspiration for the Pale Fox design?

We were inspired by the vintage cut and scalloped-edged paper drinks coasters of Italy and the continent. These fancy and beautifully crafted multi-ply paper drinks mats are miniature works of art in our opinion and we wanted to echo that but in a label.

Once provided with some inspiration and together with the name of the Pale Fox this was all echoed in the design.

4. How did you go about turning that inspiration into a physical product?

In a nutshell, years of practice. 

We have a close working relationship with our printers and in-depth knowledge of what can be done with a variety of print methods, in the case of Pale Fox, flexo printing, hot foil stamping and contoured embossing. 

5. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time when not designing? 

My main interests centre around travel and visual culture. For the past five years I have been touring India, Bhutan and the Himalayas riding motorbikes into remote areas. My next stop post-pandemic will be Japan.

You can find more of Chris and United Creatives on their website here and their Instagram here.