paq works

Pull up inna the party feeling blessed, lifted and gifted. We teamed up with the talented Koffee & Spotify UK to develop the branding and AR posters for her album release party. Pree the vibes. Gratitude is a must!

OFF-AIR 2022 marked the 35th anniversary of Air Max 1 as well as Nike's 50th Anniversary; our client OFFSPRING wanted to champion these momentous occasions with a party celebrating the OG, Air Max 1. They tasked us with gathering Gen Z insights and using that to shape the creative and production of the party. The aim was to empower their community and bring the OGs and Gen Z together in a shared connection to Air Max. Through conversations with young OFFSPRING community members and our network, and internal brainstorms, we identified that Gen Z were seeking an active part in OFFSPRING events, and a move away from being online to feeling engaged in real life in spaces where they can express themselves to the max. Going beyond throwing a party, these insights were the platform for us to rework what OFFSPRING does best: connect people through sneakers. Our direction was clear, we were going to take the community ‘Off Air’ in celebration of Air Max. The main body of the event was built off our bespoke ‘Off Licence’ OFFSPRING pop-up, solely featuring works from community members young and old. From aisle to aisle, we created a space for us to showcase the greatness of the OFFSPRING Community that we’re proud to be a part of. We combined this with a panel talk where members spoke on their favourite Air Max memories and what it means to them. We closed out the activation with a DJ line up curated by No Signal, bringing the energy for our basement party beneath the pop-up. On the ground, we crafted a social media blackout for the event, instead of streaming the party in real time Offspring went silent to let its community make noise together. Our message was simple: you just had to be there. Love to the whole team and the Offspring community for creating an amazing event.

Nike approached us to lead their Air Max 95 x Future Movement campaign centred on the Air Max 95 Sketch Future with activations via the SNKRS app, a retail installation and a workshop at Nike Town London. Going beyond the surface, we wanted to champion Olivia Twist - the collaborative designer - and other Black Mark Makers making magic from the mundane and leaving legacies for their community and beyond. To shine a light on Olivia's collaboration on the iconic silhouette, we honed in on her use of the sharpie as an accessible medium. Simple, accessible and powerful. This was our vision for the campaign. We tapped into our daily experiences of making marks - drawing on bus windows or etching our names into trees - to create our campaign idea, 'Everyone and Anywhere'. Celebrating the societal impact of Mark Makers by spotlighting physical mark-making and marks made themselves to capture the opportunity, power and impression of leaving a positive mark. We brought Olivia Twist together with other Nike NBHD Mark Makers Kam-BU and Kia Commodore for a hero film that championed their efforts in their respective communities. The design direction incorporated each mark maker's handwriting to create a one-of-one Air Max 95 ‘Make Your Mark’ identity, supported by a bespoke colour palette and campaign visual toolkit. This lived across the campaign, from the retail installation to Olivia Twist’s NikeTown London workshop. Drawing dreams into reality with Nike and their mark makers for Black History Season was an insightful and inspiring process. From ideation to building the visual identity, permanent marks were made.

Riffs & Runs Noteable Session Empowering artists to create is at the heart of Spotify, and one of their ways of doing this is their Noteable sessions - bringing artists together to create and collaborate. This sentiment was at the forefront when they approached us to document a bespoke Noteable session dedicated to their R&B playlist Riffs & Runs. Bringing together British and American R&B with a curated selection of writers, producers and musicians, the aim was to show the connective power of R&B. Over 2 days, the camp had Rodney Jerkins, Tiana Major9, Mahalia, Savannah Jada, Bellah, Tamera, FLO, ThankGod4Cody, Ayanna, Jin Jin all down at the studio. A mixture of generations in R&B under one roof. R&B is community. R&B is conversation. R&B is creation. These three touchpoints were at the core of our approach. We created a stripped-back treatment, mixing a fly on the wall and an intimate camera approach to highlight the personal and collaborative nature of music production. Our team spent the days with the artists, fully immersed in the process and that translated into a visually honest and authentic narrative. Snippets of conversations, playback of worked and reworked sounds, creative rushes and pondering moments - we pieced together little moments of making and the human side of the music. We identified the unseen elements that fans love access to and brought them fore. The campaign connected the artists with the fans, living externally with OOH across London as well as our portraits serving as the Riffs & Runs playlist cover for a couple of months. More than a project, we created an authentic way for Spotify to champion R&B in both the UK & America.

Spotify approached us to rebrand and activate the No Cap playlist. Featuring UK and US rap, they wanted to increase the listening audience and create an always-on presence. To do this, we interrogated what fans valued the most from artists, their tastes, and their digital footprint. We found that the number of young people who enjoy listening to hip-hop/rap has increased significantly in the last five years. We also noticed they connected with their favourite artists through viral clips from long-form videos that feel relatable and authentic. Building from this, the theme of access became our central focus with the vision of a series that revealed the personality of artists on the playlist in a fun and unexpected way. We created an artist-led content series that bridged the gap between UK and US artists through trivia questions on cultural nuances from both sides of the Atlantic infused with a ‘Queen’s Guard character’ who broke the fourth wall to draw organic and humorous reactions from the artists. Series 1 was shot in London and LA, featuring M Huncho & D Block Europe, Blue Face and Coi Leray. From the green room set to the visual language of wristbands and holographic certification stickers, our design decisions brought the ‘all access’ theme to life within the content series and the revamped playlist identity. Our campaign was flexible and long-lasting, living online with the content series and on Spotify's platform as the current playlist cover. Immense work from the team.

UK Rap has become a global genre influencing fashion, lifestyle, and youth culture. Looking to celebrate this growth, Spotify approached us to revamp their Rap UK playlist with a new visual identity and activate it with a Day 1s Club campaign. Originating from the US Rap Caviar playlist, Spotify’s goal was for us to tailor a distinct UK version. We delved into the nuanced history — sounds, accents, and identities - within UK rap, drawing out how the genre embodies a melting pot of diverse perspectives. We built from this, aiming to invigorate the Rap UK playlist through a communal experience with Spotify at the heart of it. Drawing from personal experiences, we captured the essence of being a Day 1 UK rap fan in dual perspectives: the thrill of discovering an artist early on and the enduring joy of loving their work through time. There are levels to it: you just had to be there to get it, but when you get it, you get it. This was our Day 1 campaign framework: LEVELS. A timeless celebration of the collective journey between artists and fans. LEVELS anchored our Day 1 Club microsite and Rap UK rebrand. Our design focused on elevation as a central theme — via a stacked logo symbolising the levels within UK Rap fandom. The website UX was an immersive experience incorporating an original score, photography and bespoke copywriting. Each "floor" on the microsite was named after UK Rap terms and ranked by Spotify data, connecting the platform with the lived culture. Our team tailored the Day 1 sentiment to each artist’s music, evoking an authentic response across the site. We ensured Spotify Rap UK stood out online and offline, a uniquely UK campaign curated by PAQ.

The Nike Air Max Plus, a staple of London sneaker culture, has always embodied audacious style. Nike and NBHD partner Offspring approached us to activate the launch of the new AM+ colourway, aiming to captivate a new generation by disrupting the everyday. We delved into the AM+'s history, examining its design and significance in London. We found that the AM+ stands as a stylistic game-changer in any setting. This sentiment became our thread throughout the project, starting from us identifying Offspring Community members who have a similar unorthodox spirit to authentically bring the AM+ to life. Our position was clear: the AM+ was where style and freedom converge, making sparks fly. Our campaign celebrated this freestyle spirit through a collaboration between Nike, Offspring, and our in-house music and design platform 'Rap in Paper’. Brought to life through a shopfront performance and rap cypher delivered directly to the Offspring community in the heart of London. Rising British rappers Fimiguerreo and Kibo were our featured artists from the Offspring ecosystem. Our design team incorporated thermal energy, lava, and heat transfer to create a wrap design matching the AM+ fire. Bold and without warning, the activation went off in Soho, drawing street-wide attention to the AM+. From the shopfront to the Travs Presents cypher, the spirit of freestyle flowed through as we engaged the Offspring community in diverse expressions. We placed the OG sneaker with those who live and breathe it, crafting an energetic campaign that reflected paq's deep connection to the Offspring community and the AM+.

Spotify approached us to rebrand their flagship Canadian Hip-Hop playlist, Northern Bars, with a visual identity true to contemporary Canadian music and culture. We tapped into the contemporary Canadian zeitgeist and found a cultural melting pot filled with artists of varying identities and digital textures, creating a fluid and ever-changing sound. With this in mind, the team visualised Northern Bars as a cultural mosaic of artists who are proud of where they are coming from - locally and within the diaspora - and know where they are going. Our creative framework, ‘No Borders’, placed the playlist as a bridge between the music and a global audience. The design team incorporated passport and stamp iconography into a metallic postal graphic with a central focal point to fit the rotating playlist cover artists. This put the artist at the heart of the playlist, pushing the music worldwide. Love to the team.

We activated the Lunar Roam for Nike at Offspring’s new flagship Kings Cross store. Not every trainer is about hype. We took the Lunar Roam as a vehicle for being present in your surroundings: a juxtaposition of stillness and motion. Inspired by the trainers' NASA heritage, the design team incorporated obscure metallic objects with interactive furniture pieces to curate an immersive experience. This was a moment of rest & reflection for the whole community. Peace and quiet. From the paq the team to the Offspring community.

We welcomed Kids of Immigrants to London with a weekend of activations to celebrate their partnership with Nike & Dover Street Market. Kicking things off, we curated a community-centred event at Dover Street Market London that included a panel & mixer catered by Suyaman. Hosted by Kazeem Kuteyi, the panel discussed the growth of Kids of Immigrants with its founders, Daniel Buezo, Weleh & Ireti Zaccheus, who shared experiences on the journey so far. Inspired by the Kids of Immigrants collective heritage, string seeding bags were created as a gift for the 4 new colourways of Air Max '86. Custom live poppy and sunflower seed sachets accompanied the gifting, allowing attendees to grow their own. A wholesome activation rounded off with a party at Soho House. A time was had.