How Fish Posters Took Over the Gallery Wall at Team Meetings
It started with a snapper. Midway through a digital strategy review on a damp Tuesday, someone screen-shared a crude JPEG of a snapper lounging against a 1980s sunset. It wasn’t relevant in the slightest. But the room relaxed. And after Weeks of ROI charts and B2B funnel analysis, we decided fish posters were staying.
You’ve probably seen them by now. Mackerels with Ray-Ban sunglasses. Trout with fake inspirational quotes. Weirder still, these aquatic distractions have started to influence actual branding decks. A Wellington agency recently pitched a serious luxury rebrand for a skincare line using nothing but mock-ups featuring a very confused kingfish. They got the gig.
It’s not a meme. It’s mood design. Agencies have reached such a saturation point of sleek, tasteful presentations that any whiff of the ridiculous now reads as brave. The fish is permission. Permission to un-polish. Permission to surprise. The creative floor starts returning to instinct, not templates. And yes, there is now a Slack channel devoted solely to "herbaceous fish energy."
If this is where we’re at, I say jump in. There's a quiet clarity in using the surreal for serious work. It reminds us that good design doesn’t always feel tidy or logical at first. Sometimes, it smells faintly of brine and has cartoon eyes. And trust me, your client will remember the project where a grinning kahawai pitched to them and didn’t once say ‘digital transformation’.
You’ve probably seen them by now. Mackerels with Ray-Ban sunglasses. Trout with fake inspirational quotes. Weirder still, these aquatic distractions have started to influence actual branding decks. A Wellington agency recently pitched a serious luxury rebrand for a skincare line using nothing but mock-ups featuring a very confused kingfish. They got the gig.
It’s not a meme. It’s mood design. Agencies have reached such a saturation point of sleek, tasteful presentations that any whiff of the ridiculous now reads as brave. The fish is permission. Permission to un-polish. Permission to surprise. The creative floor starts returning to instinct, not templates. And yes, there is now a Slack channel devoted solely to "herbaceous fish energy."
If this is where we’re at, I say jump in. There's a quiet clarity in using the surreal for serious work. It reminds us that good design doesn’t always feel tidy or logical at first. Sometimes, it smells faintly of brine and has cartoon eyes. And trust me, your client will remember the project where a grinning kahawai pitched to them and didn’t once say ‘digital transformation’.