Larry David vs. The Package

If you're still not considering the user's experience when designing your materials, you're making a big mistake.

Jar Tops: A Product Extends the Life of Other Products

Product designers face a whopping problem when trying to develop sustainable ideas. Their very industry hinges on making more stuff. And making more stuff is often unsustainable, because doing so typically consumes finite natural resources while producing environmentally-damaging waste. One way around this conundrum is to design stuff that allows us to extend the useful life of other stuff, thereby reducing such waste.

Jorre van Ast's resusable Jar Tops (designed for Royal VKB) do this quite well:



Designed to screw onto standard glass containers (mayo and mustard jars, salsa jars, jam and jelly jars, and almost any other kind of jar you buy in a supermarket), these plastic lids convert what would otherwise become waste into a variety of useful kitchen containers.

There are a lot of advantages to this product solution: the uniformity of appearance keeps the repurposed containers looking like an attractive matched set, even if different jar shapes are used. Different tops accommodate different sized jars and the variety of uses (which includes two varieties of pour spout, an oil and vinegar cap, a powder shaker lid, and a sugar pourer) pretty much guarantees anyone with a kitchen can use the full set.



I can see only a couple of minor issues that might be considered:

• The tops are made from polypropylene, which isn't the most recyclable material (commonly known as #5 plastic, the most accessible way to recycle it for most is through Preserve's Gimme 5 program). Luckily, the useful life of this product is extremely long, so that isn't too significant of an issue.
• I'd also like to see the pour spouts come with a closed lid. As they are, they can be used only to serve food products, not to store them.

North Americans can purchase a set of jar tops through Generate Design, and Europeans can get them through Royal VKB.

Selling Books: Is It the Cover or the Content?

Books—specifically, literature—walk a fine line on the shelf. Ideally (or, rather, idealistically), they are works of art born of an author's need to create. But in reality, they must sell, too. Authors and their designers forever struggle with that balance:

"Her first attempt didn't work. The bookshops were absolutely uninterested in ordering stock, and she got just 19 orders after six months of trying to sell it in. 'So at the very last minute, I redesigned the cover, and it was promptly selected for three-for-two or front-of-store promotion in two major retailers. We've sold several thousand copies so far,' Barnes writes." [From When Selling Books Means Getting the Right Look]

Graphic Design and the Dining Experience

While recently lamenting (for the umpteenth time, of course) the undying myth that graphic designers simply make pretty pictures, I happened to come across a brief little article on logo designer Louise Fili, who designs primarily for the hospitality and F&B industries.

The article touches on the power of graphic design when it comes to the dining experience, noting in particular that menu materials and presentation can directly impact the diner's opinion and actions. I figured I'd take the opportunity to expand on this a little, and point out a few ways restaurant owners can use graphic design to influence their guests' experience.



The Eyes Are Always the First to Digest
While every restaurant must turn out good food, the very first thing guests actually experience is the way a restaurant looks. This includes cleanliness, the floor plan, fabrics and textures, and so on. But it also includes the single unifying visual element of any restaurant: the logo. Think about the specific moments in which a guest - or potential guest - will see your restaurant's logo:

• When visiting your website after hearing about your restaurant for the first time
• When passing your restaurant during off hours
• When noticing your business card on a friend's desk
• When seeing your ad in a local paper

This list doesn't even touch on the many moments once a guest passes through your doors. It should be clear to you, then, why your logo should adequately and accurately represent your menu, your ambience, your service, and your values. Your logo, after all, is often the first visual clue a potential customer will see when faced with the choice of making a reservation.

The Menu Is a Tool, Not an Order Form
The point of any menu is to inform the diner of their options, of course. But smart restauranteurs use the menu to guide diners to particular choices. This requires careful consideration of size, item placement, colors, and materials.

Provide the guest with a visual path
Text formatting, colors and layout all serve to pull the eye along a specific path. You don't have to draw a large neon box around your high-margin specials, but consider where you place particular menu items to encourage ordering.

Be honest and clear
Avoid florid menu descriptions that don't actually tell the diner what they need to know. Specific ingredient details are fine, but ask yourself - does my customer come away knowing exactly what they'll get?

Reinforce the food
Menu presentation should reflect your food. If your food is simple and clean, for example, avoid elaborate menu folders or busy prints and textures.

Use Graphics to Build the Experience
Your guests want more than just good food - they want a complete experience that stays with them and brings them over and over again. Remember that list of moments when a potential customer might come across your logo? Consider, too, the moments that your guests will encounter other visual elements, and use them to build the experience:

• Menu (of course)
• Door and window signage
  
• Drink lists
  
• Table tents
• Other signage (restrooms, directional signage, etc)
• Check delivery
• Email correspondence
• Business cards
• Print ads
• Coupons and gift certificates

Every time you put a message out to the public - within your doors or without - that communication should reinforce your restaurant's identity. Everything a guest or potential guest sees should serve to enhance that experience, so they remember your distinct look, feel and flavors.

How to Find Green Vendors

My latest installment of The Sustainable Studio is now online, and this month I focus on how to implement a sustainable purchasing policy. Whatever industry you're in, the advice contained in this article will help you understand what sustainable purchasing is all about, ideas for implementing your own policy, and where to begin your sustainable vendor search.

"So just what makes a vendor sustainable? Is it as simple as finding a printer who stocks recycled paper? There are currently no strict definitions for what makes a business sustainable, unfortunately, so it is up to each of us to find a system that is both meaningful and practical. As a San Francisco-certified Green Business, I have a simple yet stringent purchasing policy in place for Roughstock Studios. I assign a single point for each of the following attributes that a potential vendor meets..." [Read the full article on Business of Design Online]

I'd love to hear your reaction to the idea of implementing such a policy, as well as any questions you might have about how to practically do so. Feel free to leave a comment either here, or on BoDo!

Marketing Resolutions for the New Year

Trying to find the perfect marketing resolution for 2008? Try any of the ideas below to strengthen and grow your business through the coming year. Some of these ideas are simple to implement, while others may require investing a bit of effort and even money. But investment is all about ROI; everything on this list offers at least one significant benefit for organizations of any size.

Words of warning! Not all of these techniques may be right for your business, and almost all of them will be far more effective if you hire the right professional to help. And while that may sound like just a little bit of a pitch, it's also very true.


Brand Builders:

1. Create or update your logo
   Benefit: Creates an immediate visual connection with prospects and customers. Sums you up at a glance.
   
2. Create or update your identity collateral
   Benefit: Sends the message that you're a legitimate, professional business. Unifies your brand image.
3. Define your core values
   Benefit: Focuses your business, aids in decision making and strategic planning, and provides customers a point of connection.
4. Write a blog
   Benefit: Develops a consistent voice for your company.
5. Issue a press release
   Benefit: Enhances reputation, increases company exposure to the public.
6. Update your packaging
   Benefit: Creates a cohesive look and association with your company. Can also increase sales.
7. Create a marketing budget and feed that kitty
   Benefit: Enables you to actually afford to market your business, saves headaches when it comes time to implement your marketing plans.
   

Relationship Builders

8. Start an email newsletter
   Benefit: Keeps your business front-of-mind, educates prospects and customers about your company and offerings, opens the lines of communication between your business and your audience.
   
9. Network off-line
   Benefit: Creates real-world connections with prospects.
10. Network online (in forums, user groups, and on blogs)
    Benefit: Increases public awareness. Builds online connections and resources.
    
11. Conduct a survey with a prize drawing
    Benefit: Opens the lines of communication with your audience, solicits useful information for strategic planning, builds goodwill.
12. Offer something useful (product sample, e-book, white paper, etc.) for free
    Benefit: Builds goodwill, creates demand, engages prospects.
13. Write your policies down—all of them (if you don't have specific policies, create them)
    Benefit: Minimizes mistakes, creates a clear framework for customers to work within.
    

Sales Builders

14. Build/update your website
    Benefit: Too many to list! Strengthens reputation, builds legitimacy, informs prospects, offers customer support, increases sales (particularly with shopping cart functionality).
15. Conduct a highly targeted direct mail campaign
    Benefit: Reaches only those who are prequalified to buy from you.
16. Exhibit at a trade show
    Benefit: Puts you in direct contact with those who want your product or service; personalizes the business.
    
17. Solicit referrals from current customers
    Benefit: Leverages your current customers, automatically establishes trust with prospects.
18. Explore a new demographic
    Benefit: Expands your market reach.
19. Run a print ad in a consumer or trade publication
    Benefit: Reach a large audience in one shot.
20. Design an easy-to-use product catalog or service brochure
    Benefit: Informs prospects and encourages direct sales.

Do you have ideas of your own that can be added to this list? Post them in the comments below and I'll add them as they come.

How to wrap five eggs (or Christmas presents)

When I was first introduced to How to Wrap Five Eggs, an incredible picture book of Japanese packaging, almost two decades ago I couldn't afford a copy of the out-of-print book. Instead, I got my hands on How to Wrap Five More Eggs (now also out of print and not affordable).

I've just pulled the book off my shelf after being reminded of it by the furoshiki instructions posted the other day.

You should see some the stuff in here, it's beautiful:







The idea of packaging something in a reusable container is a brilliant one. It's at once luxurious and—provided the package is produced thoughtfully—sustainable. I can think of several products in the contemporary marketplace that do this...I'll have to pull together some images and do a post dedicated to them.

Wine Packaging: Increasing sales by increasing creativity

From Portfolio:

"To make their products stand out, many winemakers are taking clever, daring, and sometimes even radical approaches to labeling. They’re putting as much attention into what’s on the bottle as what’s in it, turning to labels that shout 'Buy me!' or, in some cases, 'Touch me!...'

...Though winemakers must take on the expense—and time—involved in designing such labels, they often cost only slightly more than conventional stickers. (One winemaker said they’re cheaper than the better-quality labels he uses on his more expensive wines.) Even the Mollydooker Velvet Glove Shiraz label costs just $1.43, close to the $1.20 price of the cork. Many winemakers, though, are simply using playful labels that don’t add any extra expense."

[via Megan at HOW Blog]

Furoshiki: Wrapping packages with a single piece of cloth

Pretty cool bit from Japan's Ministry of Environment:

Design Interlude: Anniversary CD

We went to visit The Captain's grandfolks for Thanksgiving this year. Despite taking 27 hours to get there (um, it was supposed to take six—thanks, United), it was a great time. They were celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. Holy crap! So we brought them this:



Despite my original attempts at sweet illustrations of birds in trees, The Captain insisted on something more "abstract" (he doesn't go in for sweet too much). So I went with something a little more '40s. I kept it simple, since the grandfolks don't even really know what CDs are (if I could have put it on vinyl, I would have).

If you're interested in what was popular in 1947, the playlist is as follows:

1. All of Me—Frankie Lane
2. Anniversary Song—Al Johnson
3. Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)—Tex Williams*
4. Linda—Ray Noble and His Orchestra
5. Ballerina—Vaughn Monroe
6. Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens—Louis Jordon and His Tympani Five
   
7. I've Got a Crush On You—Frank Sinatra
8. Near You—Francis Craig and His Orchestra
9. Heartaches—Ted Weems Orchestra
10. Chi-Baba Chi-Baba—Perry Como
11. Across the Way From Alamo—The Mills Brothers

*I used to play this song constantly when I was DJing the honky tonk; it's a great western swing number, made famous again as the opening tune to the film Thank You For Smoking.

Free Recycled Packaging Rubber Stamp Art (Updated)

If you're a retailer who ships your products in reused or recycled packaging, then this one's for you. A fellow member of the Co-op America Business Network recently asked about rubber stamp art that they could use to inform their customers about their packaging materials.

I whipped up this template you can use to get your own custom rubber stamp made for this purpose.

The following artwork should be acceptable for most stamp makers (the line widths in this image should meet minimum requirements of 2 mm), but if your stamp maker feels the line thickness is not big enough, contact me and I'll see what I can do. Also, note which file format your printer requires and select the appropriate one (if neither will work for you, again let me know and I'll see what I can do).

Instructions for 300 dpi jpeg:
1. Click on the image below (it'll open in a new window).
2. Right-click (PC) or control-click (Mac) on the larger image and choose "Save Image As."
3. Send image to your local rubber stamp maker via ftp or email.
4. Stamp away!


Instructions for 600 dpi tiff:
1. Click on the image below (it should start downloading to your default downloads folder immediately).
2. Send image to your local rubber stamp maker via ftp or email.
3. Stamp away!


If you do end up using this to create a stamp, please consider emailing me a photo of the finished stamp in action!

Fine Print
© 2007 Roughstock Studios. You may not alter or sell this artwork, nor anything made using this artwork, without express permission and compensation. Artwork may be distributed free of charge but must include this "Fine Print" section, and must include a link to www.roughstockstudios.com. I and Roughstock Studios cannot accept responsibility for any printing/production issues that may arise from the use of this artwork.

Packaging Ideas: Wild Bunch

These are juice bottles from Wild Bunch:



Although these are sexy, I'm not one for overpackaging. And I can't help but feel this kind of stopper is overpackaging (what advantages does it really offer the consumer?).

But imagine if this was a wine bottle—a recorkable wine bottle. Now that would be something.

12/14/07 update: I received an email from Mike at Wild Bunch, who explains that this is not a retail package. It's used to stock their on-premise Organic Shot Bar, and both the bottle and stopper are reusable. Changes everything, don't it?! Turns out this is an ingenius little device, great branding and environmentally preferable to boot.

I still think it would be great on a wine bottle (with built-in vacuum pull?).

Photography Is Cool Again

After discovering the latest evidence that anyone can and should do everything, I'm tempted to rail about the rise of the cultural creatives. For now, though, I'll hold my tongue and simply show you this:



It's the White Stripes' latest promotional item, and it's a doozy. Hot, ain't she? Meg has one, too, but it's the Diana model. These cameras are fun as hell, take phenomenally wicked shots, and are pretty much what's made toy cameras a cult phenomenon right now.

Funny how it took technology to convince the general public that artistic creation was an accessible, worthwhile pursuit and now everyone's creating with obsolete technology.

De Caboteur Français Étrange de Stella Artois

I took high school Spanish, so forgive me. But these coasters that Stella Artois sent to me as part of a fancy promotional package (seriously, these things came through customs), are quite, well, magnifique.




I like that they aren't overdone; nothing fancy, just a little flare here and there. And you gotta love a client who appreciates white space.

Only one question remains: will Stella's elaborate marketing campaign (have you explored that site link yet?!) really elevate the beer's reputation from the Pabst of Belgium to high end import lager?

Plastic Shopping Bags Made Less Evil?

Designers love to be clever. So it's no surprise that the following shopping bags have gotten a makeover. The ubiquitous red "THANK YOU" is gone, and in its place are some functionally-dependent designs that call attention to the otherwise bland container full of Stuff.




And just as the trend becomes popular, it evolves. It's refreshing to see the evolution of this particular area of design focus on calling attention to something socially relevant, as opposed to simply continuing the race to acquire more crap:



[via Nice Fucking Graphics]

Truth in Advertising

Don't write any checks your product can't cash.

So Much for a Greener Apple

Steve Jobs is killin' me. After a rather lengthy and well-publicized attempt at demonstrating Apple's environmental policies, the computer giant goes and releases the iPhone all bundled up in superfluous packaging. This is a perfect example of not walking the talk.

To wit:

• An external box that measures approximately 2-3 times the size of the internal components;
  
• A box inside a box (is that second box actually doing anything that the first box couldn't?);
• An internal box made from two separate same-sized components (a bottom and a removable top);
• A phone set inside a plastic tray resting on top of...
  
• A set of manuals contained within a folded sleeve resting on top of a...
• Plastic tray holding phone components.

I will certainly concede that the overall look is sleek and sexy, but it's screamingly obvious to me that Apple's graphic design team suffers from overdesigneritis. Designers should be asking themselves what we can do to reduce the amount of raw materials used, the energy required to produce and ship our packaging, and the amount of waste now headed to landfills across the country, not what can we do to increase those things?

I get that Apple is known for their sleek and sexy packaging. But this kind of look actually lends itself to the less is more aesthetic, so reducing the amount of packaging "stuff" would actually reinforce that look.

I also get that Apple is trying to create an experience out of the opening of the package, as if it were a Christmas gift. But this can be done without multiple layers of materials and unnecessary trays. Self-contained boxes with multiple folds (think a self-mailing envelope) produce this effect, for example.

Finally, I can't speak to whether or not Apple is using recyclable materials in its plastic and paper packaging, so if anyone who has purchased an iPhone would like to let me know, please do.