PACKAGING
In addition to several packaging projects that came about as part of my normal responsibilities, there are also two entire packaging systems or families that are included here.
Umpqua Packaging Family
[Umpqua Feather Merchants]
With the incorporation of the new Umpqua identity/logo came the assignment of redesigning the entire packaging system for the company's wide array of products. I began the process with an exploratory phase during which I researched other retailers I admire as well as our competition and then presented mood boards and examples to the management team here to get their reactions. This was followed by a round in which I designed and presented several general design approaches that conveyed brand characteristics (green, premium, grunge, classic, etc.).
The process then began to narrow the packaging design system down to where it is today. It is a bold and clean packaging system that stands out in the fly fishing and outdoor retail arena ... a world super-saturated with vibrant colors and textures, undisciplined typography and a lack of brand continuity.
Brookstone Packaging System
[Brookstone]
After a run of more than a dozen years, the existing Brookstone packaging system had become outdated and did not echo the brand characteristics of the retailer's innovative spirit, endeavors and aspirations. An outside firm was brought on to redesign the packaging system, but could not seem to deliver what the senior officers and other management desired. At that point, they asked me to take over the lead role in the packaging redesign project.
It is a complicated product assortment with multiple levels of product complexity, four distinct merchandising worlds or families, and several packaging types. Ultimately I came up with a clean, contemporary design system that retained several key aspects (e.g. four main colors used to organize product placement in the four-wall retail environment) of the brand but in a sophisticated, elegant way that matches Brookstone's innovative and contemporary brand image.
Once the system was approved, I documented the system in a brand packaging manual and then taught the system to the entire creative, product development and merchandising organizations.
Potionarium Label Series
[ljw Design]
One of the more recent freelance (and pro bono) projects involved creating several labels for a newfound friend in need of some marketing and design help. The process was incredibly fun and involved a lot of mutual and individual brainstorming and collaboration. The goals were to design labels for a series of tonics and potions which (1) capture the spirit or essence of each product and what it is supposed to treat or address, (2) separate and distinguish Potionarium's products from other products, and (3) create a family of labels that be effective both individually and as a group.