Our client Ozfish is an Australian-based not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping millions of Aussie recreational anglers take control of the health of rivers, lakes, estuaries and oceans in Australia. Ozfish Unlimited partners with anglers and the broader community to invest time and money into the protection and restoration of our waterways, counteracting decades of degradation.

In June 2021 the client approached us with plans of developing a standout giveaway that would work as an educational and practical piece for anglers and its use would reinforce their organisational values and goals listed above.

Furthermore, the promotional giveaway would ideally be a highly valued tool amongst the fishing community and this was to be used by Ozfish to directly incentivise new memberships, aswell as motivate existing members to renew with the organisation. The item would need to be posted to each and every new/existing membership renewal for the 2021/2022 financial year, therefore it was required to be light and mailable.

Lastly, the item would also need to be practical and durable with the ability to withstand prolonged use on a recreational anglers boat/kayak, within their fishing bag or tackle box and serve as a reminder of the organisations values to empower individuals to become responsible in their role to keep our oceans healthy.

Discussions with the client led us to understand the utmost importance of this piece and we together developed a perfectly suited item, the Ozfish Measuring Towel.

During the initial phase when we decided on a measuring towel, the client made us aware that any material to be used should be predominantly made of natural fibres and not a high pilling fabric. The main reasoning is that materials with a high pilling rate can and will end up in the water and the fishes stomach which ultimately leads to health degradation and or death (the opposite of what the client is working to achieve). The towel itself would also need to have a cooling effect when wet, this helps preserve the protective outer slime layer on a fish that’s being handled. Unbeknown to us, fish secrete a glyco-protein slime from the cells in their skin to make it harder for things like parasites to attach to them. Certain fish species may also secrete toxins in their slime layer which acts as a deterrent to predators. Therefore, this was a heavy focus in selecting the right type of material and fibres.

In the end, we agreed on constructing the measuring towel from a low pill, quick dry 230gsm cotton/polly blend. The poly blend gave the measuring towel the cooling effect that was required to protect the outer slime of the fish. The towel would allow anglers to have a better grip on the fish, reducing stress to the animal whilst also giving protection to the angler from fish spines. The towel was also thick and durable enough to wipe down the boat and/or equipment, aswell as cleaning hands after bait handling, making it welcomed by anglers and incentivising their membership renewal with Ozfish.

Furthermore, the poly/cotton blend meant this towel could be full colour dye sublimated which gave vibrant high quality print results. It also made this towel resistant to fading in a high use setting such as fishing, aswell as when coming into contact with salt water.

The dye sublimation would also allow us to print a 1 metre to scale ruler onto the fabric making it a useful tool that anglers could use to check the size of their fish in line with the legal limits and of course brag to their friends about their catch over social media! The sharp print results allowed us to make the ruler millimetre perfect with the ability to measure fish accurately, see attached photos of the mm hatch marks.

The pre-production samples underwent a strict testing phase by us in Port Phillip Bay to ensure longevity for the client. This included exposing the towels to salt water by submersion, wiping down fishing equipment and a utility tray and then airdrying in the sun.

With many of the recipients fishing from boats and kayaks, we finished the towels with a clipped cotton loop making it easy to hang onboard.

The campaign turned out to be an overwhelming success. The item we developed sent a positive message which fused perfectly with the Ozfish mission. It continues to play an active role in the health of Australia’s waterways by protecting fish whilst being handled therefore maintaining the natural order of the aquatic ecosystem, whilst the ruler on the towel serves as a reminder that smaller fish are to be returned to the ocean to reproduce and maintain healthy fish populations.

The client was also particularly impressed with the outcome as well as our commitment in landing these within 8 weeks turnaround from artwork approval!