It's been a while....

Clearly, I'm not staying on top of the blogging thing as well as I had hoped. Life gets in the way sometimes. 2010 was my worst year ever. The year started out with the death of my father and just never got any better. If you've lost a parent you know how hard it is. So much harder than I ever imagined. I was lucky...Philip H. Eckert was awesome! He was my biggest fan and strongest supporter for my entire life. I can't imagine where I would be today had I not had his endless love and support. I have a great life but it is less without him.

Package Design

The food industry is an industry that is able to survive the sometimes tumultuous ebb and flow of the economy. I know this because my Father and brothers are in the frozen food business. When times are bad people turn to food for comfort and when times are good they turn to food for celebration, a win win for the food industry....and package designers. I can't claim package design as my specialty but I have done it through the years and now more than ever. Here's the evolution of a design I'm working on for a line of nuts and nut mixes. The brand is DICK STEVENS...life is nuts! Life is nuts! was my idea.

My client started out wanting a DICK STEVENS character that was Chris Farley-ish:

After playing with it a while we decided two things: we weren't sure a big fat guy was the best image for "healthy" nuts and we felt the character of DICK STEVENS was bigger than the product itself (literally and figuratively). So we decided the DICK STEVENS character needed to be secondary to the product and headed in a different direction:

This is the character we've decided on for DICK STEVENS:

And this is where we are so far on the packaging:

It's a combination of a couple of ideas. The white circle will be a clear opening so the product is visible. We're not done yet...but I think it's a good start.

Logo Design

I do a lot of logo design. For me, this is the most challenging type of design. When you so someone's logo it's your responsibility to accurately reflect the person or the product in a very clear, simple and succinct way. This is not always easy. I am forever looking through books and online admiring the work of other designers and wondering what their thought process was. At the moment I am obsessing over the nick jr. logo (cable tv). My son watches Wow Wow Wubbzy so I have become very familiar with it. The logo is in all lower case and the dot over the lower case i is connected but the dot over the lower case j is not (see below). I'm certain that a conversation took place between a designer and an executive about this and I wonder how the decision was made. These types of subtleties are interesting to me. The most interesting elements of any design are always hidden in the details.

I found an interesting article on logo design written by Paul Rand (legendary designer) in 1991. Even though the article is 18 years old, and so much has changed in how we do design, the basic principles still hold true. He said  "Design, good or bad, is a vehicle of memory. Good design adds value of some kind and, incidentally, could be sheer pleasure; it respects the viewer—his sensibilities—and rewards the entrepreneur. It is easier to remember a well designed image than one that is muddled. A well designed logo, in the end, is a reflection of the business it symbolizes. It connotes a thoughtful and purposeful enterprise, and mirrors the quality of its products and services. It is good public relations—a harbinger of good will. It says "We care."

Here's the link if you'd like to read the entire article.
http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/articles/logos_rand.htm

Olympics

I'm taking a break from my very cool new package design project to lament about Chicago not getting the Olympics. I was so sure we would get it and then to be out in the first vote...ouch! As far as I'm concerned it's the world's loss. Chicago trumps Rio any day of the week. My hat is off to the team that put together the best Olympic bid that the IOC has ever seen from the United States. Who's on board for 2020?

Inaugural Post

So, now I'm a blogger? When it was suggested that I add a blog to my website I thought "what in the world would I talk about that anybody is truly interested in hearing?" That question still looms. But being the brave soul that I am I've decided to give it a try. It makes the most sense that I write or post interesting pieces of information pertaining to design and marketing, cool links, etc, so that is what I will do...most of the time. I can't promise that I won't veer off course every now and then into other interesting areas like current events, politics (I am an admitted junkie), life and my son. I know, all the non-parents are rolling their eyes at the prospect of my writing anything about Jack. Before I had him I probably would have rolled my eyes as well. I hate to tell you, even the hippest and the coolest among us turn to mush when they have a child. But I promise there won't be any tips on diaper changing or the best way to get a 2 year old to eat his vegetables.
So, now I'm a blogger...stay tuned.