Considerations & Thought Process
The Residential Catalogue was my first large-scale project for Miles Nelson, and it had to set the bar high. At over 150 pages and featuring more than a thousand products, this was a chance to completely rethink what a B2B catalogue could be. Instead of another utilitarian parts book, I took inspiration from Scandinavian furniture brands, clean layouts, confident use of colour, and a design language that treated even the smallest product as part of a curated collection.
What started from nothing, product photography, layout, iconography, and production management, became a fully realised catalogue that redefined how Miles Nelson presents itself to both retail and trade customers.
1. Bringing Design Discipline to a B2B Catalogue
Most catalogues in our industry were purely functional: info-dense, no frills, built around saving print costs. I wanted ours to feel different, not just a catalogue, but something you’d actually want to flick through. By using generous white space, consistent grids, and a restrained design system, the catalogue achieved a sense of order and calm, even with a thousand products packed inside.
2. Colour as a Navigation System
I leaned into colour-coded sections to make navigation simple. But I didn’t stop at page dividers, the section colour carried through into every design detail. Icons, page accents, and feature callouts all shifted to match the section’s colour, creating a seamless visual language. This meant users could immediately orient themselves, and it added a layer of sophistication beyond the typical “rainbow tab” approach.
3. Building a Visual Language with Icons
With so many technical features to communicate, stainless steel, indoor/outdoor suitability, fire ratings, certifications, I designed an icon system that worked across every product. This system distilled complex specs into simple, recognisable marks, colour-coded to match each section. It gave the catalogue a unified rhythm while making it faster to digest for customers at all levels.
4. From Studio to Finished Product
This project was end-to-end. I directed product photography to achieve consistent angles, lighting, and quality across the range. I organised all prepress and print production, ensuring colour fidelity and stock selection were exactly right. Three months later, seeing pallets of freshly printed catalogues arrive at inwards goods was one of the most rewarding “full circle” moments of my career.
5. Setting a New Standard in the Industry
At the time, no one in our industry in New Zealand was treating catalogues with this level of design attention. Competitors leaned on cost-effective templates and function-first layouts. By introducing a more designer, Scandinavian-inspired aesthetic, the Miles Nelson catalogue stood out immediately. It wasn’t just well received, it influenced the direction of our competitors’ catalogues too. Without overstating it, I’d call this a trend-setting moment that helped shift our entire category forward.
