What's Up: October

Fall is here! The leaves are starting to change and we're getting pumped for our annual BIG halloween dim sum outing. Be on the lookout on our Facebook page for our costumes for this year. But in the meantime, check out the great things our team has found in this month's What's Up!

 

5 Gum “Focus”
When Barbara brought in this new gum packaging, we had one of those slap your on forehead moments.  Of course!  Gum in a re-sealable package.  Why didn’t anyone think of this sooner???

 

Tejava
We rarely see Barbara without an ice tea in hand, so it’s no surprise she spotted this new bottle from Tejava.  They made the switch from a glass to plastic, and were so successful enough that we considered it an upgrade!  Their brand equity was also well protected through this transition.  Good job!



Kiinde-Kozii
This package caught Jason’s eye because it stood out from its competition.  Considering Jason is our newest BIG daddy, that is quite an accomplishment.  Our team especially liked how the product information was presented.  The consumer was able find out what they needed to know, while the design was still clean and well branded.

 

Which Wich
Ying checked out this new sandwich franchise in San Jose, and enjoyed it enough to check out their website.  Their well branded website mirrored the consumer experience in-store, right down to the individual “ordering bags.”  We heard they are coming to Fremont and can’t wait to check them out.  Fieldtrip!




Orville popcorn
Ying shared two different product lines from Orville Redenbacher, an iconic brand that has been around for years.  Our team was not impressed with the new logo, with the floating clip art like image of Orville.  And we don’t think they are communicating the right message with a heart made out of butter on their “SmartPop” line.  A brand with this much equity deserves much better treatment.

 

BIG Tic Tacs
It’s BIG and unique and well designed. . . so of course we like it!  Did we mention that it’s BIG??? 
This new package from Tic Tac jumped out to Barbara in the check out aisle, which is not easy to do with all that competition.  Although now we have enough Tic Tacs at the office to last us until spring.

What's Up: August

Summer is coming to an end, but that means one great thing – fall is on it's way. We love the nice cool breezes, falling leaves and, most of all, the baked goods that it seems to bring with it! To all of those who came and saw us at the Fremont Art and Wine Festival – thank you, thank you, thank you! You can check out photos and see what a great time we had on our Facebook page.  Now, onto our What's Up....August edition:

Del Monte Refresh
Jason shared Del Monte’s new label for their canned produced.  We all agreed that the farmer’s market look gave the consumer a fresh and more appealing impression of the produce.

Absolute SF
Absolut Vodka chose our city by the bay for their limited edition series.  The bright colors caught Barbara’s eye, and the flavors sealed the deal.  The clever messaging did a great job of capturing the personality of our unique city.  Now, where’s that club soda from last month?


 

Tea of a Kind
Tea of a Kind got Cyndi’s attention because their bottles were just pretty and sparkly.  An added bonus was the unique way the tea is stored in the cap.  Twist the cap and the flavored tea infuses with the water to create a fresh brew.
 



Lindt
Hello My Name Is…CHOCOLATE!  Ying shared this new line of chocolate bars by Lindt.  We loved the fun, clever messaging and quality printing.  It was not easy to let these out of the meeting without trying them!

Kellogg’s
For the first time in Kellogg’s history, they are offering retro-inspired packaging. The launch is part of a program celebrating Froot Loops 50th anniversary. Ying discovered these fun throwback designs and we think they’re G-R-R-REAT!

Cottonelle brand refresh
Whoa, that’s a lot of TP!  But John lugged these quantity packs in to show us this redesign from the purple package to the white package.  We all agreed that the new design was very generic and could be mistaken for a store brand.  Exactly what you don’t want in a package for a national brand. 

PopChips
PopChips new very very bright packaging made it impossible for Barbara to walk by without taking a closer look.  That’s when she found that one of them was also co-branded or sponsored with a celebrity endorsement.  Very unusual, but we think they did a great job of maximizing the partnership.   

What's Up: July

It's that time of the month again...and we're here to show you "What's Up!" We've rounded up some products that our team has found in the marketplace and are stoked to share them with you. Keep us in mind when you're out doing your shopping as well; if you see something cool – snap a photo of it and share it with us on our Facebook page!

Coffee concentrate
Chava shared a great find in this coffee concentrate by local company, Milton and Small. We loved that the bottle shape and print style gave it a vintage look. The clever messaging was an added bonus to the success of this package.

Spitz
Spitz brand of sunflower seeds is the first of its kind to feature a re-sealable package, which attracted Ed as a huge selling point. How did this take so long?

Coke-sharing can
Coca-Cola always has amazing marketing strategies, and they have once again impressed our tea. Jason came across these cans with a twist, designed especially for sharing with a friend.

Wine boxes
Trader Joes’ Block Wine has a great package design that stood out among the other boxed wines on the shelf. Well designed in just one color, and their clever use of content, helped them fall right into Cyndi’s shopping cart.

Glade spray
Ying found this line of Glade air freshener with a unique flower petal design spray bottle.  Who wouldn’t want a product that looks AND smells pretty?

Hansen's club soda in small cans
Most of us have thrown out the half full bottle of soda water after it has gone flat.  These small serving cans offer a great solution to that problem, and we also thought they looked super cute!  Success in design and function?  You know we love that!

What's Up: June

Happy June! Summer is officially upon us, and we're enjoying the sunshine and lighter evenings. It also means two of our favorite things: art and wine! Want to join BIG at the 2013 Art & Wine Festival (Aug 3 & 4)? Mandatory training for all NEW volunteers will be held Thurs 7/18 or Tues 7/30 at 6pm. If you're interested – make sure to visit our Facebook page and leave a comment for more info. We'd love to see you there!

 

Boombotix Rex:
Check out this innovative new product made right here in the Bay Area.  Barbara recently sponsored Boombotix Rex on their Kickstarter program and we can totally see why. This rugged little speaker is water resistant and shatter proof, and comes with a “No matter what!” warranty.  The exterior packaging mirrors the speakers unique shape, and has a satin feel.  Well done, Boombotix!

Lagranja 360 Wine:
Chava found the Lagranja 360 brand of Spanish wine at Trader Joes.  We found their use of imagery on the label engaging, and had fun trying to guess the messaging behind them. (What’s black and white and read all over?)  And from what Chava says, it’s a great wine for the price.

Campbell’s Go:
Ed came across Campbell’s new ‘Go’ soup pouches both online and at his local market.  This convenient, single serving product uses minimal materials, can be opened without a can opener and goes right into the microwave.  The idea behind the design was to use various faces and speech bubbles to give the product a fun personality.  What do you guys think?  Are the faces fun or creepy??  

Wavy Lays:
Brands we know and love are always updating their look. Barbara immediately spotted the new Lay’s refresh for Wavy chips, but not because she liked it.  The hierarchy of the product name outweighed the brand, overall making the product look like a generic.  Sorry Wavy Lay’s, but we found this refresh to already be stale.

Kiyu Taro snacks:
Do you crave certain flavors when the weather changes?  Kiyu Taro snacks seem to think so.  We like how the product images are integrated in these watercolor inspired designs.   The bright single packages stand out against the natural look of the exterior carton.  Good find, Ying!

What's Up: May

Why hello May, you sure did creep up on us. Summer is fast approaching, and we're all looking forward to the warmer temps and vacations! Check out what our team found for this month's what's up meeting:

Cyndi noticed that Tazo Tea has had a total brand make over. The team felt that the change might be too drastic, since it will be competing on a shelf full of lesser known brands. Tazo is one of the few brands with significant equity in the tea industry, and we felt they should have better protected it What do you think? Would you recognize the new packaging?

Gillette continuously develops cool new looks for their ever-changing line of products. John felt this was a good example of packing that is successful without being expensive. Nicely done!

Jason came across this package design for Goal Zero’s portable speakers. We felt that the structure design and printing were well done for an off-brand product. Again proving that successful packaging just has to be smart, not expensive. Good find!

Check out this package for Aura Tea that John found! We LOVED how their logo was mimicked in the structural design for the TranquiliT package. The result is a beautiful, clean design that is sure to stand out in a very competitive market.

Retro always seems to be in style! Check out the Mike & Ike throwbacks Barb discovered in the candy aisle. The vintage look held its own on a shelf packed current designs for sweet treats…but only while supplies lasted. Not sure it will last long here in the studio either!

Lasting brand equity lives in products like Liquore Strega. Chava remembers this bottle always being a part of family celebrations, and the brand is connected to great memories throughout his lifetime. We are sure Chava is not alone in his fondness for this brand. The logo, bottle and art have had minimal changes since the origin of the product in 1860.

What's Up: April Fools Edition

When it comes to packaging, we know that bad things can happen when you don't use BIG. You could end up with eighteen different fonts, incredibly wasteful packaging, or marketing with more messages than the evening news. In the spirit of this April Fool's Day, we thought this month it would be fun to share What's WRONG.

John found this eco-friendly banana packaging. And not to mention, the use of cellophane wrap gives the customer a full view of the product. An example of good packaging? Now that's bananas!

Chava knows his hair care products (although we are pretty sure this one has never touched a hair on his head.) But we all agree that the illustration of a gorilla with post nasal drip totally sells style!

Ed loves type, but even he would say this is too much of a good thing! John found this plant fertilizer with too much to say and too many ways to say it. How many typefaces do you count?

Barbara snagged these mesh hair nets for obvious reasons. We're not sure what we love most - the modern photography or the quantity callout. It all meshes so well doesn't it?

January 2013 What's Up

Happy New Year! We are pumped for 2013 and can't wait to see what exciting things it brings. We all had a great BIG holiday break and enjoyed times with friends and family. We hope that you did too! Let's get this year kicked off with our first What's Up of 2013:

Java Tea Co
Barbara is a BIG tea lover, and she found a small west coast tea company called Java Tea Co.  By supporting their small company through the Kickstarter Program, she received three different teas packaged in hand-labeled tins.  We loved the logo, packaging, and amazing smell delivered with these teas.
 

 AU
Chava recently went to Mexico and shared some great items with us.  Among them was this beautiful package design for AU Olive Oil.  AU is the symbol for the element gold in the periodic table, and the package itself resembles a brick of gold.  This is to convey the value and pureness of the product.  “AUsome” share, Chava!

 
Old Spice
We are all familiar with the iconic Old Spice buoy bottle.  Yes, it might seem dated, but vintage brands have been on the comeback trail for a while now.  Old Spice has some great marketing strategies that are getting noticed by the younger target markets.  From ridiculous commercials to tag lines such as “If your Grandfather hadn’t worn it you wouldn’t exist,” we are all enjoying their latest campaigns.


 

Argo Tea
Did we mention that Barbara LOVES tea?  And she’s making us all fans!  This Argo Tea was very colorful and eye catching on the retail shelf.  We liked that it was packaged in glass bottles, which gave the impression of a higher end product than those in plastic bottles.   We liked the icons and images used in the design, and the flavors are unique and piqued our interest to try them all.  Well done, Argo! 

Moonstruck
John shared the packaging design of an Oregon based chocolatier, Moonstruck Chocolate Co.   We were impressed by how much fun and whimsy they achieved in their mostly one color designs.  And we loved how the illustration continues around all four sides of the package.  It takes a really special design to make us hesitate before we devour the chocolate inside, and this one did.