A banner can tell people where the start line is. It can also tell them something about the business that put it there. That second job is easy to overlook when there’s an event to organise, a deadline to meet and a perfectly sensible production method already available.
Fjällräven’s recent work with Miscellaneous Adventures is an interesting example. As Creative Boom reported on 5 October, Emma and Andrew Groves created five hand-sewn fabric banners for the brand’s 2026 Classic UK trekking event. Their designs drew on the local landscape, using offcuts and donated fabrics from outdoor brands. It’s a small part of a much bigger experience, but the choice of materials and method gives it something worth talking about.
At osmil, what interests us is the decision behind the work. For an outdoor brand, fabric, stitching and a connection to the landscape feel appropriate. The way the banners were made adds meaning to what they communicate. That’s our reading of the project, rather than a claim about its commercial performance, but it raises a useful question: how often do we choose a format because it’s convenient, without considering what that choice says about us?
The brief might be too small
“We need a banner” sounds like a clear brief. So does “we need a website” or “we need a sales deck”. They tell you what to produce, but leave quite a lot unanswered. Who will encounter it? What do they need to understand? What should they feel confident doing afterwards? And is the usual approach actually the best way to get there?
Once you ask those questions, the options can change. A presentation might become a shorter conversation supported by a few well-chosen slides. A website might need a working demonstration of the service rather than another polished paragraph describing it. An event might benefit from something people can handle, use or remember. The value comes from understanding the situation well enough to make a different choice when it helps.
That doesn’t mean every job needs an elaborate concept. A straightforward solution can be exactly right. But it should be straightforward because it serves the audience, with some thought behind it, rather than because nobody questioned the default.
Speed is useful. But where you use it matters.
There’s a lot to like about tools that make work quicker. Better templates, automation and AI can remove repetitive tasks, open up ideas and make it easier to keep communications current. For a busy business, those are practical advantages. We’re interested in using them wherever they improve the work.
The judgement comes in deciding what deserves the time you’ve saved. You might automate the routine updates and spend longer getting your offer clear. You might speed up production so you can test two approaches with customers. Or you might decide that one highly visible moment deserves something more considered than the standard treatment.
The Fjällräven project offers a useful reminder that the production process can be part of the message. That won’t apply to every business or every piece of communication. Hand-sewing something would be a strange recommendation for plenty of briefs. What does travel across sectors is the willingness to consider whether the method supports the promise you’re making.
Give the important moments more thought
For a growing business, it’s worth looking at the moments that most influence someone’s understanding of you. The first visit to your website, a meeting where you explain a complex service, or the proposal that helps someone decide whether to work with you. These are good places to question familiar habits and try a better approach.
Our view is that a future-facing brand needs that flexibility. It should be able to use new tools confidently and recognise when an established technique is the better fit. Staying current involves keeping your choices open, then making them deliberately. Sometimes the right answer will be faster. Sometimes it will take more care. The useful measure is whether it makes your business clearer, more convincing and easier to engage with.
Have a brand, website or presentation you’d like to approach differently? Let’s talk.
Story reference: Katy Cowan, Creative Boom, 5 October 2026. Project by Miscellaneous Adventures for Fjällräven. Analysis and recommendations are osmil’s perspective. Cover image is an AI-generated editorial illustration, not a photograph of the project.
