October What's Up

Why hello October, you are here already? The holiday season has officially begun! We're all getting very excited for Halloween and can't wait to share our costumes with you. Like last year, we'll be heading out to a team lunch to show them off. But don't worry, we'll show them off on Facebook as well. Make sure you like our page so that you don't miss out!

 

2012 Nike Women’s Campaign
John shared the 2012 Nike Women’s Campaign, which features first-person outlooks on how sports and fitness has shaped women’s bodies and attitudes. We loved the visual impact of the ads, which communicated both strength and beauty.  They matched the visuals with content that also packs a punch.  Well done!

 

Tout Sweet

Chava recently visited Tout Sweet, a patisserie in San Francisco.  The shop’s clean, vibrant design is upstaged only by the amazing treats behind the glass.  Tout Sweet has creatively designed to-go boxes and bags featuring the compound formula for sugar, which is super nerdy cool. Since SOMEONE (named Chava, but we won’t point fingers) didn’t bring us any samples, we think a field trip is in order!  

 

Boom Chicka Pop

Get your sunglasses! These bags of BOOM CHICKA POP are screaming to be grabbed off the shelves.  Barbara saw them from several aisles away!  Once you’ve adjusted your eyes to the bold and bright packaging design, you can check out the clever messaging on the bag.  We were glad we gave them a closer look.
 

June What's Up

It's that time of the month again! The BIG team got together over lunch and shared packaging that caught their eye, whether it be good or bad. Here's our top three picks to share with you. If you're out and about and see great packaging – snap a photo and share it with us on Facebook!

Stride’s Tropical Trance gum had Ying fixated on the dizzying black and white package.  The color choice made this gum stand out among so many colorful packs of gum on the shelf.

Check out these coke cans printed in the iconic ‘coke bottle’ shape.  We love the clean look and feel of this packaging.  Chava explained the printing and shaping process of the aluminum and shared that the vending display was beautiful and very impactful in store.  Chava brought us a Coke and a smile!

We are BIG fans of the Olympics, and it’s always a major event in the design world.  Unfortunately, we feel that the 2012 designs were not medal worthy.  The mascot, the event icons, and even the ticket design were disappointing; and we found the final art to be very childlike and the concept un-relatable.

The shoemaker's children got new kicks!

It's out with the old, and in with the newer, better, and BIGger! The BIG team has been hard at work and we are thrilled to reveal our new website. Check it out – meet the team and see our latest work.

A BIG thank you to our entire team, who would likely compare the entire experience to birthing a 15 pound baby. Breach. With no epidural. Everyone worked their butts off, but the end result...it was well worth it.

BIG ideas start here!

As we continue to work on our rebrand, we're always finding things that need updated. Our pencils are always a BIG hit in meetings. It's pretty awesome to see them on desks and bookshelves throughout the years when we are meeting with clients.

After several different versions and a couple rounds of matching of paint swatches, and maybe a few revisions...they've arrived! So when you consider your next project, consider BIG and one of these babies might find their way to your office!

Spring forward on Sunday!

BIG reminder. On Sunday, March 11---move those clocks forward an hour! Otherwise, you might be late to work on Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone. Enjoy that extra sunshine.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We've definitely got a big bunch of sweet tooths around the office! In a recent poll, we found that our team would much rather get candy than flowers (although Chava was on the fence on this one!). And can you believe that John doesn't like chocolate?

BIG's mug shot.

So what kind of day are you having?

We decided to get some new mugs made for the office (mostly because we're a bit to excited about our new Keurig!). We've got quite a few laying around featuring our old logo, but decided to get more creative with this one to reflect the personality of BIG. We were allowed printing on both sides of the mug, so we wanted to take full advantage of all the real estate.

Will you be enjoying a BIG hot cup of brew or a BIG cold brewski?

BIG gives back.

We all know it's better to give than to receive. Every year,  Big Design chooses a charity and makes a donation. This year, we've added some Angels to our list through The Salvation Army Angel Giving Tree. Our team is also adopting Angels on their own, giving them an opportunity to personally contribute. If you would like to help us reach our goal during this holiday season, you can adopt an Angel too! It's easy and it will definitely give you that warm fuzzy feeling – and who doesn't love that?!

Last year, we adopted a family! This year, we're raising
the bar to touch the lives of as many Angels as we can!

1. Go to our group page and adopt your Angel. You can choose one that best fits your budget or your shopping desire! Maybe you want to visit your inner-child and toy shop or relive your teenage years with a little wardrobe spree. Some children only have 1 item on their list, while others have a few. Select the Angel that's right for you!

2. You will get an email with your Angel's wants and needs. Keep in mind, you don't have to buy EVERYTHING on the list!

3. You can purchase gifts online at JCPenney and have them sent directly to the Angel with FREE SHIPPING through December 9th. Simply enter the validation code from your email to get the discount (the code is specific to your Angel) .

4. If you'd rather shop elsewhere, that's okay! You can purchase your gifts and ship them yourself or drop them off at BIG by December 15th. Make sure they are unwrapped and have your Angel's ID number attached so that we get them to the proper individual.

Important Dates are as follows:

• 12/9 is the last day to adopt, and last day to shop and ship online through JCPenney
• 12/13 is the last day to purchase a JCPenney gift card online
• 12/14 is the last day to drop off your gifts to BIG
• 12/16 is the last day to physically drop off to the Salvation Army locations

As a thank you for "tipping your cup," we'll send you a shiny new BIG mug! This mug is a Limited Edition, so when they're gone...they're gone!

BIG supports the Second Harvest Food Bank

During the holidays and every day, Second Harvest is deserving of our support.

Barbara and Cyndi gather donations for those in need

Donate foods.
The Food Bank needs nutritious, non-perishable foods:
Meals in a can (stew, chili, soup)
Tuna and canned meat
Peanut butter
Canned foods with pop-top lids
Low-sugar cereals
100% fruit juices in single serving boxes
Canned fruit packed in juice
Canned vegetables (low salt)

The Food Bank needs nutritious, non-perishable, single-serving foods for use in programs for children.
Pop-Top Tuna
100% Fruit Rolls
Raisins
Graham Crackers
Unsweetened Applesauce
Cheese and Crackers
Fruit Cups
Low-sugar Cereal Bowls
Pretzels
100% Fruit Juice Boxes
Granola Bars (without peanuts)

Please avoid donating items packaged in glass. If you have glass items in your donation, please package them in protective boxes to prevent breakage.

We request that you do not donate bulk quantities of rice, flour, or sugar. Although we appreciate and can utilize every donation we receive, the Food Bank does not have the repackaging facilities needed to properly distribute such items.

Donate funds
95¢ of every $1 donated goes directly toward programs that feed hungry people.

Donate Items
Besides food, funds, and time, Second Harvest welcomes other donations that help to defray general business and operational costs. Donating items means donated dollars can purchase more food to feed our neighbors in need!

Examples of item donations:
Technology (computer hardware and software)
Vehicles
Appliances
Shipping and packing supplies
Office and break room supplies
Janitorial supplies
Vehicle, warehouse, and maintenance equipment

Cyndi's niece joined us on Saturday. Thank you, Samantha!

Let us know if you would like to join us in volunteering next time!

BIG boo!

For those of you who don't know, we take Halloween VERY SERIOUSLY around here. So seriously, that if you were to be...let's say, on vacation in Chicago, we'd make sure to put you into an orange dinosaur costume in the team photo JUST so you wouldn't miss out on our fun. That's how much we enjoy it!

But the fun and games don't stop there. We've got this jar of candy filled to the brim of sugary goodness that Barbara put together. If you can guess how many pieces are in it, we'll send you a BIG t-shirt! It's not "The Price is Right" style, so the person closest to the correct amount is the winner. Post your guesses on our Facebook page or on this post. Voting ends tomorrow at noon, so start counting!

How many pieces of candy are in the jar?

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!

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?