Collette Swindells visits a fresh face on the Melbourne café circuit.

A fresh face has appeared on the Melbourne café circuit, and with it, another notch on the belt for fledgling design team Projects of Imagination.

Although not initially trained in architecture or interior design, studio partners Dion Hall and Nick Cox have used their respective histories in Fine Arts and Graphic Design to establish new ground between the traditional boundaries of art and design disciplines, and an inspiring look for city coffee-stop Small World Foods.

Looking internationally, and drawing on their collective experiences over the last ten years at 3 Deep Design and Fabio Ongarato, Hall and Cox say they are on a mission to challenge the status quo.

“We felt the idea of segregating disciplines in this country is possibly a little dated, and misses out on a lot of opportunity,” Hall says.

“So we started not only to do this fundamentally between ourselves, but also looked towards greater collaborations with artists, designers, whom we felt were fitting for each project.”

And over the last three years, as their partnership and vision has really taken form, they have definitely worked on in an interesting mix of projects including exhibition installations, interior design, graphic design and brand strategy.

To date their clients have included some of the most established names in Melbourne hospitality, including Frank Van Haandel and Stephen Boyle, and their considered experiential approach is gaining steady recognition.

And with neither a Bentwood chair nor an exposed lightbulb in sight, Small World Foods is set to send waves into the industry.

Projects of Imagination
projectsofimagination.com

Small World Foods
smallworldfoods.com.au