“It’s not a shop. It’s a deli of design.” That’s become the usual meet and greet for inquisitive folk stepping into this Sydney branding agency Tork Design.

Passers-by are excused the confusion. In an old Art Deco shopfront, designer/director Stuart Torkington has flipped the norm of a design studio on its head, eschewing the tucked-away office suite and clean lines for something more personal.

Stocked floor to ceiling with the relics of Sydney’s food scene, the window display is a tribute from east to west. Packaging and souvenirs. Not for sale.

If your favourite inner-city restaurant sold it, maybe it was click-dragged into existence by Stu. For those artefacts repurposed as a design object on the mantelpiece, high chance they were born here.

 

 

Think: the “Mar-Tinny” canned cocktail from Continental Deli in Newtown, or Bondi’s playful Lox in a Box bagel branding. Then there is unmistakable Philter beer can in all of its 1980s blue-and-white familiarity out of Marrickville. The Chargrill Charlies packaging from, well, all suburbs everywhere.

If you’re given the chance to duck into Tork Design, the notion of a “design deli” won’t be the only repartee to come from Stu’s mouth. As confusing as the shopfront might be to general public, if you’re here to talk conceptualisation, this must be the place. “Welcome to the shop.”

 

“Seriously though,” Stu says as he throws up the blinds on the display, “I love the idea of not hiding your design presence away. In the same way I expect my clients to get behind these ideas, I should be repping their brands too. I want to do that.

“I guess this shopfront is proof of that shared passion.”

The signature style of the studio output leans heavily into memorabilia and classic beauty, while the nostalgia in every piece shows both continuity and individuality. Timeless lettering and vintage typefaces are a constant anchor.

“I enjoy the fact that good design has become as important to subcultures as it is to wider culture as it is to cuisine,” Stu says.

“What brings it all together is digging into what lies beneath. Yes, these are commercial ideas, but where is the art behind it? That comes in colour, in memories, in sentimentality.

“Working on the art behind my clients’ brands, I tap into that sense of nostalgia and I want my portfolio of work to read like a photo album – old memories, familiarity and fondness – softly telling a story.”

During the lockdowns of COVID, businesses were scrambling for new ideas and more of Sydney was working remotely. Stu had already spent enough years working from home, opting instead to take the lease on this studio on the cusp of Bondi.

At the same time, every hospitality venue was pivoting to combat empty seats, with many restaurants reinventing themselves with ideas that caught on. With online ordering and take-home meals the new norm, even for high-end offerings, those who weathered the storm found themselves working both in, and on, the business.

Fast forward to 2022, many food venues are back to their core offerings, but diners continue to align themselves with these ventures on their own shelves, with at-home experiences, and through unique keepsakes.

“We were in shared survival mode and we all grew together,” Stu says.

“Now, so many ideas that were once a nice little add-on to a brand experience are now part of the initial design brief, or even the concept itself.

“That’s an exciting thing for a designer.”

www.torkdesign.com.au