From time to time I visit the site Lovely Package. Today I was delighted to see someone doing something different with egg packaging. Designer Si Thorpe designed the packaging for an ethically minded egg company, who specialize in organic, free range and traceable eggs. I would buy this product just for the packaging. The product design and the type are very sexy indeed.

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If you know what the difference between grilling and barbequing is, then you probably also know who Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk is. He’s the author of BBQ Secrets, Planking Secrets and BBQ Secrets Deluxe and a highly regarded competition barbeque champ. Ron and his team, the Buttshredders, made barbeque history in 2001 when they became the only Canadian team to ever win a USA-based barbeque competition in a stunning upset at the Oregon State Open Barbecque Championships.

Not too long ago Ronnie teamed up with veteran hot sauce maestro Denzel Sandberg of Denzel’s Hot Sauce to craft a line of barbeque sauces. Recognizing the need to create a brand and packaging of the same award-winning calibre as the contents, Ronnie and Denzel turned to Industrial Brand.

IDEAS

Our first move was to have lunch with Ronnie at a local Brazilian all-meat buffet. Our second was to have brunch with Ronnie and Denzel at a cajun place where we also sampled a new sauce they were playing around with (had to order an extra side of potatoes to test that out on!).

Both Ronnie and Denzel are award winning champions in their respective areas, and their sauces had already won prestigious international awards. In addition, the sauces are made of all natural ingredients with no additives or preservatives. It seemed only “natural” to brand the sauces as “Ronnie & Denzel’s Natural Champions”.

Following an intensive review of both the local and international barbeque sauce market, we determined the packaging needed to address the premium contents and price point to give consumers the reassurance that they were getting fantastic sauce value. We needed to do this without resorting to gimmickry or straying too far from a traditional bbq feel.

We achieved this while also working within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) rather stringent labeling laws and utilizing the existing bottle form factor and the client’s current labeling printer and machinery.

WORK

The result, aside from constant and immediate urges to fire up our office Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, is a brand that is uniquely Ronnie & Denzel’s, applied to a line of sauces that dramatically captures the essence of the high quality ingredients and obvious passion and talent of its creators.

The impression is of a sauce worthy of the price that doesn’t abandon the equity of Ronnie or Denzel or the essential smokey, wood-fueled tradition of meat glorification that is real southern barbeque. These are bottles that inspire you to fire up the coals (or turn on your grill).

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Is Titan HDTV the right name to launch a new line of consumer-oriented electronics products with? That was the question. The client’s intent was the name could spar with Monster Cable (Titan beats Monster in mythological lore), the industry leader. Although some of the products would certainly be marketed side-by-side with Monster’s, the name Titan did not convey any sense of the elegance or polish considered to be significant product attributes.

IDEAS

Through our Brand Discovery process we quickly came to the conclusion that our first task was the creation of a name followed immediately with an identity.

The Kanto name is derived from the word “canto”, meaning “song,” and “cantilever”, an architectural term relating to the structural support of beams. The combination of these two elements represents the elegance, inspiration and craftsmanship inherent in their products.

Designed to appeal to two distinct targets: consumers and the industry (such as retail sales reps, installers and distributors), the logomark is based on an isometric study and represents functionality, solidity, simplicity and interconnectivity. It is also evocative of a flat panel television mounted on a wall. The clean, simple wordmark is meant to convey peace of mind, elegance and confidence. The bright green and grey colours were selected for their appeal to the target audience and ability to stand out from competitive products in the retail environment.

WORK

Name and identity complete, packaging and a website for the initial lines of flat panel mounts and unique iPod speaker systems called iPort were created. For the speakers, these were to be marketed specifically to consumers, however, mounts are unique in that they are very often tacked on to larger consumer purchases of flat panel televisions. Thus, they may or may not see the brand as a differentiating factor. Regardless, the brand had to reflect quality and value, and reassure the buyer that the product is the best choice to pair with their systems. Consideration was also given to versatility with how the package might be merchandised as well as easily identified when shelved in a stockroom.

To date results have been phenomenal and the first shipments sold out quickly. The speaker lines have gained favour with high end audio retailers.

Launch website: www.kantoav.com

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Our relationship with this electronics retailer began with a simple request: come up with a unique gift card design for the 2003/4 Holiday Gift card campaign. With the national (Canada) gift card program in its infancy and a lot riding on the creation of some killer creative that would help attain ambitious sales goals, we set to work.

IDEAS

We proposed that the cards should have characters to anchor the design and appeal directly to the consumer desire to give a unique-looking card, especially when they can’t decide on an actual product. The cool factor was enhanced with the use of silver and holographic foils to catch light and call attention to the merchandised cards. In addition, our research indicated that many people who purchase gift cards do so because they are convenient to give. With that knowledge, we developed a card carrier that fits within the standard merchandising fixtures yet transforms into a gift box (much like a McDonald’s pie box!), making it an extremely convenient gift to give.

WORK

The client loved the card designs and characters so much that we based the entire national in-store holiday décor program on the designs. Sales of the cards easily met and exceeded the aggressive sales targets. The carrier/box concept has been adopted on all other cards we’ve also created, and the character concept was renewed for the 2004/5 holiday season with the addition of a new Robot character.

We also went on to create a B2B direct marketing campaign to communicate to appropriate business decision makers the benefits of Future Shop Gift Cards over other employee incentive and client gift alternatives, and drive sales of the cards. Realizing that the target in this campaign wasn’t the end user, but rather the sales manager or HR decision makers looking for the most universal and adaptable item(s) to incent and motivate, we tapped into the uncertainty most feel about what people really want. Response for this campaign exceeded expectations and that of the previous campaign by over 10%. In addition, the number of respondents opting-in for more information, thus converting to live leads, was 40% of total response.

Sharing a common washroom with a male dominated office has its challenges. Solution: Shit Box.

This neat invention made by The Brown Corporation is great for people who are in a similar position as myself, or those who are into camping, or lining up to purchase an iPhone and not wanting to lose their place by stepping out for a washroom break.

We worked with the owners of Kanto AV Systems to establish a name and brand platform from which to launch a line of flat screen tv mounts, accessories and iPod speaker systems to a consumer audience. We strove to create a fresh, friendly and clean aesthetic that inspires confidence and ultimately assists Kanto in gaining market share in the tough, competitive audio/video market.

The good news is that their first shipment of product completely sold out and is now being distributed across Canada by Plurison Inc. according to this new story on marketnews.ca. [kudos to our recent intern Matthew Shettler for some terrific contributions to this project]

While cruising the streets of London I was approached by a smart looking guy offering me the chance to grow my own jalapeno peppers at home. He handed me a small pink package, that looked a bit like a book of matches. Inside were five chilli-pepper seeds, with instructions on how to plant them. As I accepted this gift, I was told about the new healthy Mexican seafood restaurant that had just opened nearby.

Sweet! Such a simple idea – yet so effective. I wish I had the time to pay the place a visit; if their food is as good as their marketing, they’ll do well.

Our former design apprentice Steph Tekano, who now works with the talented group at Suburbia Studios in Victoria, recently designed packaging for a brand of flour-free bread called Healthy Way Bread for Dempster’s. Nice one Steph!