U-P
(est. 2004, Melbourne)

U-P are creative directors specialising in branding, graphic design, digital design and development, environment and exhibition design, art direction, and photography. Founded in 2004 by Paul Marcus Fuog and Uriah Gray, U-P delivers work across all forms of communication, with clients from a range of sectors. The studio has a focus on locating and exploring tension points between alternate states: research and speculation, programmed and spontaneous, rational and absurd. In addition to client projects, U-P undertakes studio-led projects to dive deep into the possibilities of design. These experimental inquiries explore the tangential interests of the studio and expand on ideas that surface through the studio’s client work. 

For Melbourne Now, U-P presents several posters representing various branding projects. The Experimental Design Lab is a studio at the University of Melbourne that investigates materials and process-driven design, for which U-P designed digital assets, posters, signage and a printed catalogue for end-of-year exhibitions. Landscape as Protagonist was a program curated by Molonglo that consisted of a day-long symposium and three public lectures. U-P designed the brand identity for the Landscape as Protagonist program, which was applied to posters, invitations, menus, environmental graphics and a website. The typography and format speaks to the idiosyncrasies and glorious imperfections of natural landscapes. PHOTO 2022 International Festival of Photography showcased work from over 120 global photographers in collaboration with over forty cultural institutions, museums, galleries and universities. U-P designed the brand identity for the festival across a spectrum of printed and digital applications.

Representing U-P’s studio-led projects, TechnoFossils explores the advent of the 3D printer and its impact on the material world through a collection of fictional artefacts. In Babel Bookcase you can see one of these artefacts; you can also peruse the book that documents the project, published by OOD, an experimental satellite imprint that Fuog and Gray run alongside U-P, focusing on new uses of on-demand digital manufacturing. 

Other U-P projects include branding and graphic design for Hotel Hotel in Canberra; photography and art direction at Aesop stores in Sydney and Melbourne; several design projects for Dairy Road precinct in Canberra; and branding for Schwartz Media’s The Culture podcast and architecture studio Edition Office.