Bockingford
The renaissance

Bockingford is a long-established English brand of premium, artist-quality sketch and watercolour pads. Popular for decades in New Zealand, their target audience spans many generations and a range of artistic abilities, from the budding student to the serious artist. 

Whilst the existing cover designs conveyed a feeling of quality, they were dated and increasingly irrelevant to younger artists entering the market. In fact, the existing pencil sketches and watercolour illustrations had been in use for decades! It was time for a renaissance.

Croxley engaged Curious Design to bring their products firmly into the new century, while maintaining the integrity (and the loyal customer base) of this much-loved brand. Inspired by our experiences as designers and art school students ourselves, we knew that one thing was common to all buyers of Bockingford products: an understanding and appreciation of the fundamental principles of drawing and painting. From this inspiration came the ‘big idea’: to reference objects from art history that have always been, and will always continue to be, used in the teaching of art and drawing.

By referencing old masters’ paintings and also art school experiences, we selected four key objects that represent the basic principles of drawing and painting colour, light and shade: objects that all artists are familiar with. The result? A more intelligent way to reference the traditions of art, whilst allowing us to treat the rest of the design in a more contemporary way – creating the perfect balance between the traditional and the modern.