Eastern luxury.

Client: Vertu  
Project: Venus Concept Exploration
Services: Consumer/Market insights, Persona exploration, Product strategy, Concept design, Concept development 

Vertu is a long established British luxury brand. Well known for its use of unique and elegant materials, the company has taken mobile telephony in an entirely new direction. With each phone carefully handcrafted in the UK, customers can select from a wide range of personalisation options to fully express their individuality.

This type of British craftsmanship is highly valued worldwide, particularly in the Far East. Curventa were tasked with creating expressive devices for this new generation of Asian luxury consumer. The result is ‘Project Venus’  -  an exploration in how premium luxury can adapt to and celebrate cultural differences.  

East meets west

Our experience in the luxury fragrance market, having worked alongside boutique fashion houses, gave us the confidence to explore eccentric concept routes. The resulting three concept outcomes showcase how modern materials and processes express Chinese culture yet retain the precision and craftsmanship British design is known for. 

Our approach

During our extensive research programme we gained insights into how this new generation of Asian luxury consumer wished to express themselves. With China having such a culturally rich and varied past, it was important to understand how we should approach themes like symbolism, respect and success, and then the synergies these had with British design appeal.   

British craftsmanship

At Curventa we believe in a traditional approach to front-end design. Design exploration is carried out by hand using sketching and quick foam models. This gives us the freedom to explore and evolve designs as we progress through the process. With an in-house workshop, we can then iterate quickly as the concepts go through a cycle of validation and refinement.    

With a product such as Venus, the design had to exude quality whether in the hand or laid on a surface. This meant we had to keenly understand proportion, how designs fit in the user’s hand, how forms behave during use and how weight can provide an extra element of quality. 

Working across 30 SKU’s we developed a range that celebrates the traditions of Chinese culture yet features that much sought after British precision.