BIG goes BTS!

Wow, summer is already over! For some staff members, today was the first day of school for their children. It got us to talking and reminiscing about our school days. Take part in our trip down memory lane:

Cyndi packed her PB&J in a plastic pink lunchbox with Smurfette on it. If anyone is looking for something to get her for her birthday next year....you're welcome.

John's favorite year of school was his Senior year. He enjoyed the social aspects and the lighter schedule that came with it. Hope he enjoyed that light schedule while he had it, because we all know it's not that way now!

Ed remembers his lunchbox fondly, in fact he even found a photo of it. Looks like someone changed career paths on us...

Chava admits that he liked the new school uniform each year. That MIGHT just explain why he is so adventurous when it comes to footwear. (notice his orange kicks in the photo) We often joke about giving him with the task of wearing a different pair of shoes every day and are pretty sure he could finish off 2011 without wearing the same pair twice...

Barbara loved school supplies, especially pencils and erasers that had fruity smells. Coincidentally, her first lunchbox had Strawberry Shortcake on it.

Jason's favorite part of the beginning of the school year was  shopping for new clothes and school supplies.  He didn't admit it, but we're pretty sure he was sporting a Trapper Keeper and some slap bracelets.

Marit loved getting a new box of Crayolas at the start of each year, despite her mom's frugal efforts to reuse the year before. C'mon, there's nothing like a fresh box of pointy crayons, not to mention it was fun to seek out the new colors in each box!

Because all this reminiscing brought out our inner child, we had to do an outtake of our photo. Happy Wednesday everyone, the long holiday weekend is almost near!

What's Up: August 2011

It's that time of the month again. Each month, the BIG team meets over lunch and brings two items that inspire them or simply grabbed their attention. Check back each month for 3 new items, you can also visit our Facebook album to view past What's Up meetings.
This month, we had a theme of vintage packaging and shoes. Looks like we share some common interests around the office!

If you know Chava, you know that he loves shoes! We're pretty sure he could go months without wearing the same pair of shoes twice. He brought in these UK Nike shoes to share the unique design.

Marit brought in this package from Toms to show how the company gets their buyer involved in social media. With each sale comes with a sticker and a flag for the new-shoe-wearer to place where they please and share on Facebook or Twitter with an assigned hashtag.

Marit took us back to the 80's with this can of shoulder pads. The color, type and illustration are a definite sign of the times!

John experienced a time warp when he reached into the back of his dresser drawer and pulled out a new-old pair of socks, complete with this great hang tag.

Barb was in line at the grocery store and scouted out this new product from Mentos. Apparently the "fresh maker" is now making gum. It's different, because they offer the consumer two flavors in one package. Each one opens to reveal a thought provoking quote.

Stay tuned for What's Up in September!

Too pretty to eat!

Estela is a long time friend of Big Design. Last week, she brought us a treat that is almost too beautiful to eat from her new company, Sweet Edible Art (the name really does say it all!). It's not often that food lingers in this office, if you don't believe us – drop off a box of donuts and see how long they last!

The photographs hardly do these Jello creations justice, they really are even prettier in person.

She makes them by carefully injecting other flavors into the mold. And we thought WE were artists! Contact Estala Martinez at 510.427.3489 to get more information or to order one of these fabulous desserts!

Super clients give us super powers!

Our friends over at Symantec were nice enough to send us a care package to thank us for all the hard work we've put in. Or it might have something to do with their latest sponsorship with Captain America. Either way, we won't speculate because the box was filled with all kinds of goodies: shirts, frisbees, 3D books, action figures and a game. We were very entertained...in fact productivity took a dip for about half an hour (the 3D glasses were mesmerizing!).

Thank you!

A BIG thank you!

The 2011 Fremont Art and Wine Festival was a huge success. Thank you to all of our great volunteers for keeping the lines moving and the beer/wine flowing! Once again, it was a lot of fun for the entire crew. We're already looking forward to next year and hope you are too. If you attended the festival and inquired about our shirts, stay tuned---we'll be holding a giveaway on Facebook.

In the meantime, visit out Facebook page to see more photos from the festival!

The new Big shirts have arrived!

After much anticipation from the entire crew here at Big, the t-shirts finally arrived! It was quite an exciting day in the studio, after all they are the first thing we've printed with the new logo. We'll be posting our past t-shirts here soon, but if you are familiar with the designs of the past, you know that they have been fairly graphic. This year, we decided to go bold with a statement that shows off the new Big.

 

Chava so graciously volunteered to model the new shirt for us (don't worry, he signed a model release):

And just in case your mind started to veer south for the gutter, we added this little detail on the sleeve:

Look for us at the Big Design booth (located in front of Raley's) at the Fremont Art and Wine festival. We'll be wearing these shirts while pouring wine and beer with smiles on our faces!

It's a Big blog!

Welcome to our blog! The last year has been "big" for us. We launched our social media campaign, where we share industry news and findings on Twitter and give you a peek into our studio on Facebook. It's been fun to interact with our friends, clients and fellow creatives. Now it's time to take it one step further, and perhaps allow ourselves a little more room to share with you!

We spend our days creating branding solutions for clients big and small. It's been rewarding, to say the least, to watch our clients grow over the last decade. In that time, we have focused so much on our work and clients that we kind of lost focus on ourselves. The Big team agreed unanimously that it was time for a rebrand.  For the last 11 years, the "face" of Big has looked like this:

Our design team put pencils to paper and started the process of sketching our new logo.  There were many meetings. The sketches moved to the screen and started to take shape. After that followed meetings. Many, many meetings. Then there were revisions. And more revisions. Perhaps even more revisions after that.

And then, it happened. More times than once, the development of our new logo has been compared to childbirth. If that's the case, then this is one nice looking baby don't you think?

Fremont Festival of the Arts

It's that time of year again! It's the 28th year of the Fremont Festival of the Arts aka the largest free street festival west of the Mississippi River. On August 6 & 7 from 10am to 6pm, you can find activities and entertainment for the entire family. Kick off your holiday shopping at over 700 artisan booths, put your dancing shoes on and hit up the live music at the three stages, or take your little ones to Kid City for fun and games. With so much activity, you're sure to build up an appetite. Indulge yourself with festival food or take home something from the Gourmet Marketplace to treat yourself later. Feeling thirsty? Have no fear, the festival will serve wine, margaritas and beer!

During the week, you can find Big Design in Fremont creating packaging designs and branding solutions for companies large and small. But this weekend, you'll find them pouring beer and wine for festival attendees. Big Design has been a proud sponsor of the Fremont Festival of the Arts for the last 11 years, and each year coordinates a team of volunteers to run the booth.  This festival would not be possible without all the wonderful volunteers!  The graphic design agency also creates a t-shirt each year to "brand" their booth. This year's shirt will reveal their new logo, so stop by their booth to see the new face of Big and to support the tri-city area! If you are unable to attend the event, we'll be sharing the t-shirt design on our blog so be sure to stop back by.

In the meantime, you can see pictures from past festivals on our Facebook page!

At the 2010 Festival: JD, John, Cyndi, Barb & Ed are ready to pour!