Archive for March, 2012

Retro Ads

Posted on: March 21st, 2012 by designdesign

I find it so interesting how much design has changed over the years. You can easily tell from the imagery, the font selection, and the colors used which decade something was designed in. It is also exciting to find something that is “timeless” and that no matter when it was designed, it still “works” today. Newsweek Magazine recently featured the show Mad Men on the cover of the issue. The ads featured inside all resembled the 1960′s to correspond to the issue’s theme. Some of the advertisements were originals, and others were designed to look retro. Can you tell which are originals? View all of the ads here.

 

Greetings from the Mushroom Capital of the World!

Posted on: March 16th, 2012 by designdesign

Being a design firm located in the mushroom capital of the world, we get to work closely with several large producers of mushrooms. I am especially happy about this because I LOVE mushrooms! One of our clients, To-Jo Mushrooms, came to us with a new product. They have created “microwavable mushrooms” which sautée perfectly in the microwave.. in just four minutes. They originally had someone create a label (below), but unfortunately the design had lacked the proper messaging that it needed.  We were then given the opportunity to redesign and market the mushrooms.

Since the microwavable product is sold in the produce aisle alongside fresh mushrooms, we created messaging to ensure consumers understood the use of the product.  We developed a product-line name for To-Jo to differentiate the mushroom from other To-Jo products.  To ensure clarity in the use of the product, we transformed the hierarchy from the old label prioritizing keywords, like “microwavable.” We also incorporated phrasing to reference the flavor and taste of the mushrooms.  In developing copy, we conveyed the easy preparation through highlighting the short cooking time.