Matthew Remphrey
C001758
Owner and Executive Creative Director, Parallax Design
Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Matt Remphrey is surrounded by some of the world’s greatest wine regions—Barossa, Clare and McLaren Vale are all within an hours’ drive with Coonawarra an easy day trip away. Perhaps it was inevitable wine and drinks would become such a focus for the designer.
Established in 2001 by Matt Remphrey, Parallax’s team of strategy, brand, packaging and digital specialists help clients define and position their brands in the market, find a loyal following and increase sales. Parallax pairs curiosity with their client’s vision of success to create transformative outcomes through strategic thinking, informed design and customised digital solutions.
Studio
Parallax Design
https://www.parallaxdesign.com.au/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-remphrey-51206a15/
Portfolio
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Australia Post
Amongst the briefs a graphic designer secretly dreams about, designing a stamp ranks pretty high. The limitation of scale demands a clear idea and visual brevity. We were honoured when approached by Australia Post to create the 2023 Remembrance Day stamp collection.
The brief, precise, yet significant—design a stamp collection that depicts the red poppy (for those who served), the white poppy (for civilian casualties) and the purple poppy (for animals in war), and communicates the meaning behind their symbolism.
Our solution uses silhouetted portraits, depicting those each poppy represents, as overlapping petals. Each poppy, although abstracted, is immediately recognisable. But on closer inspection, the petals of each flower speak to the symbolism and poignancy of meaning. The black background gives each illustration maximum standout and symbolises loss and deprivation.
A truly unique and memorable project that we’re proud to share. -
Handorf Hill
When Larry Jacobs and Marc Dobson first travelled from South Africa to the Adelaide Hills, they were captivated by the landscape and patchwork of vineyards, orchards, and native vegetation. So much so, they purchased Hahndorf Hill Winery and began exploring the Austrian varietal, Grüner Veltliner, with international wine show success soon following.
After a comprehensive discovery phase, our strategy was to reposition Hahndorf Hill as Australia’s House of Grüner Veltliner and develop the brand to visually represent what originally captivated Larry and Marc in the first place.
Whilst most Adelaide Hills wine brands fight for fame with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, Hahndorf Hill’s obsession with Austrian varietals stands them apart. They just needed to claim Australia’s House of Grüner Veltliner. The trademark developed for the business is a simple manifestation of this positioning—within the simple house shape sits a vine, doubling as the letter H.
Our strategy was to reposition Hahndorf Hill as Australia's House of Grüner Veltliner and develop the brand to visually represent what originally captivated Larry and Marc in the first place—the patchwork of fields, vineyards, orchards, and native vegetation that make up the Adelaide Hills. To do this, we developed labels containing a series of abstract geometric illustrations of the Adelaide Hills from a bird’s eye view.
Not only was the brand and packaging project successful in completely reinvigorating their business. It has also seen them become famed for their beloved, Grüner Veltliner, and position Hahndorf Hill as one of Adelaide Hills' most innovative wine producers. -
LARK
When LARK approached us in 2021, the business was on a decidedly upward trajectory—triple digit growth, established the “Made of Tasmania” positioning, built an extensive Limited Release program, lifted the brand’s luxury credentials, and expanded the e-commerce platform. The business’ ambition to build the first global icon of Australian spirits loved by people all over the world, led to evolving the brand, identity and packaging.
The initial brief described the whisky category as pretty homogenous. Every player used the same tropes (casks on fire, grain, landscape, swirling liquid, etc) to sell their wares. Whisky was old, white, masculine, dark, exclusive, constrained by tradition and entirely predictable. LARK wanted to be unexpected, youthful, diverse, provocative, light/bright, inclusive, unconventional, experimental and always exploring. And they needed to capture the next generation of whisky drinkers, the explorers.
Our first task was to define who LARK was. Once we knew who LARK was, decisions on tone of voice, livery, collaborators, etc become far easier. -
Poltergeist Gin
Poltergeist Gin is the most awarded gin you’ve never heard of. In fact, it’s the only Australian Gin to ever win Double Platinum two years in a row at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
When the brand’s owner brought Poltergeist with him to its new home—the Callington Mill Distillery—he felt the packaging reflected neither the contemporary architecture of the distillery nor the quality of the gin inside the bottle.
We were briefed to rectify this and give Poltergeist the standout it deserves on a crowded supermarket shelf.
