Our most recent projects and thoughts on business, branding, and the state of design.
Brody, Saville, even Bubbles — All British designers whose work pushed established norms and helped define graphic movements in the late 70’s and early 80’s. At least within the pages of history, they each became synonymous with a certain look…
Context is important when we look back at the history of branding and design. In the 1960’s and early 70’s, American Corporate identity was heavily influenced by the Swiss International Style, the wordmark having largely replaced pictorial representation of companies…
When I first read Beatrice Warde’s 1930 lecture on printing, “The Crystal Goblet” (in Helen Armstrongs’ crucial Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field, 2009), I thought, fuck that shit. Mind you, I was just a few years removed from…
In America, the occupational title of the art director preceded that of the graphic designer. While the lines between roles have been blurred today, the importance of advertising in editorial created a more specific need for the Art Director in…
Kenneth Hine, a professor at Syracuse University, kept a bibliography of the most important books on design, cleverly titled, “Hine Sight.” He sold perfect-bound versions of it at the copy center, and I believe even offered course credit to anybody…
In the early 2000’s, Art Chantry was experiencing somewhat of a revival in popularity, partially due to the release of his recent monograph. In retrospect, the overwhelming response in awards can be seen as expected, after almost a decade of…
Introducing 4 ways brands can shift their marketing approach to keep up with Private Label success Branded packaged goods have dominated retail for almost a century, while private-label products have been seen as the lower-quality value option for thrifty shoppers…
Historically, one area private label fell short was design. Shoppers didn’t believe the store brand packaging reflect high-quality products. But the Revolution is being led with strong design. Shoprite just debuted “bowl & basket,” its new food and beverage private…
Retailers, no matter how big or small, are starting to realize the impact they are expected to have in their communities. For example, Family Dollar partnered with local Boys and Girls Clubs of America to produce a custom SKU of…
If bundling private label products with your brand drives traffic or increases basket size, the retailer will be interested. Bass Pro Shops, the national outdoor and sporting goods chain, has been partnering with national brands for years. Every catalog they…
A planning process seems obvious, but how many of your clients actually have one? Between your authors? None. When we think of planning, we think of long hours, battles between brand and shopper teams, so many great ideas on the…
The traditional 64-page, full color printed Annual Report stands at an interesting junction. On one hand, the Annual Report is an excellent device to inform company shareholders of their intelligent investment. On the other, it often takes more than 64 glossy pages to convince investors, institutional or individual, that their hard-earned dollars were put to good use — especially when corporate earnings don’t exactly beat analysts’ expectations. Certainly, company profits could be spent more wisely than printing these 64 pages, thousands of times.
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