Shark Attack does not have a house style; such a way of working inevitably becomes limiting and a liability rather than a boon. Instead, the goal here at Shark Attack is simply design that looks superb without compromising functionality. What does this mean? Well, it means that the studio strives to create work that not only looks great, but which also performs its job in a smart, stylish, and intelligent way.

The design cliché is ‘Form Follows Function’. In other words, if something looks wonderful but doesn’t do what it's supposed to, then the designer has messed up. This normally means that the styling has been allowed to get in the way of the project’s underlying purpose. Good design employs a clear visual language, easily understood by the user, to solve the problems presented in the brief — and combines it with appropriate styling to make those solutions easy on the eye.

The 19th century designer William Morris proclaimed that one should “have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”.

Shark Attack’s starting point for any design project is that the solution should aspire to being both useful and beautiful. I mean, really, is that so much to ask?

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Printmakers Council /
Open Biennale 1999
Exhibition poster
Printmakers Council

See detailed case study