Our Amazing Friend, Catherine

One of our many talented friends is photographer Catherine Kiernan. Here is a link to a beautiful wedding she shot last Saturday.

There are many things that make Catherine stand out as a great photographer. One is that Catherine has a real talent for capturing that elusive spark that makes us all so unique - which is so difficult in still photography. Another is that even when I am not able to exactly convey what I'm looking for in a shot - be it my family's holiday card or an Element's project - she has never failed to get me what I want. She has relevant and insightful suggestions that add to the end result. As an art director, she is such a pleasure to collaborate with.

I could go on, but I'll let her work speak for itself.

*Note: we're changing our masthead on our blog today (taken from our first postcard of our 2009 series) and Catherine snapped the image of me putting on Addie's coat above. It's even better than I imagined. Thank you, Catherine!

We Have to Try This

Guy ties a disposable camera to a public bench with a note encouraging strangers to take pictures. He comes back that night and the camera is still there and all the photos had been taken. Here's the link to all the images. As soon as spring is sprung, we're going to try this on a bench in New Haven. Fun!

Please Excuse Us ...

... while we help one of our client's with a trade show emergency!

"Wine is bottled poetry". ~Robert Louis Stevenson

As spotted on The Dieline today, a very nice wine bottle design by Mash. The MollyDooker website isn't bad either.

Don't Mess with my Juice

About a year ago, my friend Debbie Millman's agency, Sterling Brands in NYC, had redesigned the Tropicana orange juice packaging you see above.


Then, in January, PepsiCo Americas Beverages introduced an entirely new Tropicana orange juice package (shown above). The negative online response to the new packaging following the launch (of which I was part) was - simply put - overwhelming.

Arnell Group, who was responsible for the redesign (and who also recently redesigned the Pepsi logo and packaging which also received much controversary), broke the cardinal rule of packaging re-design and paid the price. They deviated completely from the core essential elements of the Tropicana brand and made the product unrecognizable to their most loyal consumers.

It's the old "don't mess with my Quaker Oats" rule I learned from Milton Glaser. What would breakfast be if they got rid of the Quaker Oats man and round paper packaging? Is it the same product? If you have a successful, established brand, think very carefully about what you change and why you are changing it. Think about how will your customers find you on the shelf. Ask yourself if your customers will wonder if (gasp) you changed the recipe or flavor of their favorite food. It feels to me when I look at the design as though none of these questions must have been taken seriously into consideration when Arnell redesigned Tropicana.

The second reason - which is just as important - they enraged their customers is that the package design is just plain bad. It's generic looking - and who wants to pay a premium price for a generic looking juice? (I'd like to add a personal note here that Arnell is an advertising agency, so why were they asked to redesign packaging in the first place? Humm).

Tropicana's most loyal consumers responded so loudly that on Monday, PepsiCo announced they would be reverting back to the previous design as a direct result of the public outcry. Good call.

Read on for the full story of yet one more example of the power of design.

And here is another interesting article on the OJ debacle on Fast Company's site.

To conclude, a quote by a fellow design colleague, Mark Alt, via Facebook this morning put it best: "Revenge is a tall glass of OJ served cold."

I'll toast to that.

Footnote: Quaker Oats is owned by Pepsico. Let's hope they're not next.

Note to Self

Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain

Need a new way to stimulate your creative process? Try some of the exercises in this book. It's like caffeine for the creative part of your brain.

From the back cover: "The exercises are brief, fun and are meant to evoke creative, thought-provoking responses. Get your brain moving by engaging in an exercise at the start of your day or stop and do one whenever you need a creative jolt."

I'm going to check out this book the next time I'm at Borders, just because of the chapter title of page 23: I actually have a need for a hacksaw at my studio.

The Heart Nebula

Astronomy picture of the day: The Heart Nebula

Last Chance, Cupid

For all those friends and loved ones you forgot to mail a card to, Kate Spade offers some surprisingly decent, not-at-all-cheesy Valentine's Day e-cards designed by actual designers. Thanks, Kate Spade!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Waiting for me when I got home. Big hearts for my husband, Scott, who still surprises me.

What's that Font??

At long last - an iPhone app to help identify troublesome, mysterious fonts.

Simply take a photo of the font in question with the iPhone's built in camera, and the app provides a list of possible matching fonts. You can then either e-mail a link to a MyFonts page with more info on that font, or open it up in the iPhone’s built-in Safari web browser.

Buy the app now!

Thanks, TracieDesigns for letting us know about this ingenious new tool via your status!

Quiz: What Type of Creative Are You?

Take this fun quick quiz to find out. I'm a "hands on" creative type. What type are you?

From the Bookshelf: The Substance of Style

Whenever I take a walk through Target (or any other major retailer, but Target in particular) as I did last week, I'm always surprised at the stylish merchandise I see. I usually think, "Just a few years ago, would there have been so many styles of staplers (or file systems, or cleaning products, etc)?"

That experience, combined Elements' recent trend spotting ventures pleasantly reminded me of a book I read a few years back called The Substance of Style by design expert Virginia Postrel. Postrel, a Princeton grad, is a contributing editor for the Atlantic Monthly, has written two books and is currently working a book on glamour for The Free Press.


Read the following exerpt from Postrel's website...

"From airport terminals decorated like Starbucks to the popularity of hair dye among teenage boys, one thing is clear: we have entered the Age of Aesthetics. Sensory appeals are everywhere, and they are intensifying, radically changing how Americans live and work.

In this penetrating, keenly observed book, Virginia Postrel shows that the 'look and feel' of people, places, and things are more important than we think. Aesthetic pleasure taps deep human instincts and is essential for creativity and growth. Drawing from fields as diverse as fashion, real estate, politics, design, and economics, Postrel deftly chronicles our culture’s aesthetic imperative and argues persuasively that it is a vital component of a healthy, forward-looking society."

As a design + marketing firm greatly concerned with the look and feel - and messaging - of, well, just about everything, this is a great reference and source of inspiration.

Postrel also authors a blog on a variety of topics. Pick up a copy of The Substance of Style at your local independent bookstore.

Summer Camp!

Why do we have to stop going to summer camp when we grow up?

I've decided to turn my attention to summer vacation planning in hopes of tricking my mind into feeling warmer. While researching, I ran across the Squam Art Workshops Lakeside Arts Retreat in lovely Holderness, New Hampshire. (I like the sound of "lakeside" and "arts" in the same title - that got my attention immediately!).

Here's a little summer camp for creative adults tucked into the breathtakingly beautiful, natural and oh-so-quiet (I imagine) shores of Squam Lake .

Ahhh, sounds perfect, doesn't it?


Here is how SAW describes their program:

If you are looking for an experience that will provide you with the time, space, and inspiration to recharge your creative spirit, this might be just the ticket. Join us for an event that is designed to foster a safe and nurturing environment where you can explore a range of mediums. There are a whole range of classes to choose from that include: painting, printmaking, journaling, doll making, writing, knitting, sewing, photography, crochet, sculpture, felting and some classes that combine several of those elements into one workshop.

In addition, the region surrounding Squam Lake offers a host of activities including swimming, hiking, and boating. There are also numerous antique shops, second-hand stores, and general stores, as well as restaurants and picturesque towns, to explore.

And check out their tempting list of courses! Pack my duffle, baby. Mama's going back to camp!

Just in Time

For Valentine's Day, check out these sweet, handmade works of art from Petite Press. They are all beautifully designed and have all those fussy little details I love so much. I ordered a bunch of Valentine's from Petite Press and cannot wait to delivery them to my loved ones. Nothing says love (to a graphic designer, anyway) like a handmade, quality, letterpressed card.

I Lego NYC

Genius!

What to do on a "Stay-at-home-during-blizzard-with-sick-child" Day. Now, where did we put those darn legos? I can get started on a "I Lego New Haven" version. So creative!

Tags Galore!

Behold the awesomeness of outer space: TagGalaxy, a crazy new site that categorizes Flickr photos by topic with a navigation that mimics Google Earth.


Enter a tag or select one one the right hand side. More specific descriptions of the initial tag appear - click on those until you eventually are rewarded with thousands of photos and a link to their photographer's Flickr site.

This would be a great resource when looking for inspiration for a new project, imagery for a mood board or in my case today, wallpaper for my desktop.