Clean design, clean floors!

We are thrilled to have been chosen to work with Neato. It was our job to improve the communication and identity of their current packaging. BIG loves makeovers!

Our design team worked together to "clean up" this vacuum packaging to prepare it for club stores. Not only did we freshen up the package with design improvements, but we also reworked the copy to speak to the consumer in a friendly and inviting tone.

Beyond the package, we also provided pallet designs, their sales presentation, sampling for pallet testing and tray printing. The result? An automatic vacuum cleaner that will be swept off the shelves!

Neato has been a true pleasure to work with, and together we have been able to make so many improvements on their product. Not to mention, our office is now a much cleaner place thanks to our office Neato. No more "5 second rule" here – our floors are CLEAN!

April What's Up

I bet you thought you were going to have to wait until May before you saw the April What's Up meeting goodies? We've been SO BUSY working on our new website (it's coming soon, we promise!) and trying to prepare for the Art and Wine Festival this year. The festival will be on August 4th and 5th so mark your calendars. Stay tuned for a post about that as well. Now, back to What's Up!

Barbara shared the package refresh for Honey Maid Graham Crackers. An updated logo, outer package refresh and new interior product packaging made for a lot of changes. We felt that the changes were well executed and effective. Too bad Barb didn't bring in some marshmallows and chocolate too!

These Kind Fruit & Nut bars caught Barbara’s eye on the shelf because of their bright color palette
and showing of the actual product. The transparent package works well with the design layout,
and may make the consumer more confident in their purchasing choice.

 

 Ed brought in a few pieces from his offset-type printing collection. It was fun to see
how far we’ve come in the design world in such a short time.

BIG is thankful.

Aside from the obvious things, like our health, our wonderful clients and our amazing team of creatives, BIG has a lot of things to be thankful for this holiday. We polled our entire team and asked what they were grateful for. Here's what we learned:

Barbara is thankful for Bigalow and the fact that he's a close talker but NOT a close licker. He spends his time in the office dropping cuddle bombs, but keeps his tongue to himself. Barbara, we're thankful for that too!

Chava is very thankful that his co-workers do not speak Spanish. He swears that he's busy telling his mother that we are the best co-workers he's ever been given the chance to work with...we'd like to believe him. Gracias Chava (that's about all we know)!

Cyndi is thankful that you don't have to be big to work at BIG. Despite her size, Cyndi fills some big shoes here. We're thankful for Cyndi!

Ed is thankful for the Speed Channel. When he's not on the racetrack, or chasing his two boys around, he can likely be found watching his favorite channel on TV. Unless it's M-F from 8-5, then he's keeping his own projects on track. Thanks, Ed!

John is quite thankful that building codes require doorways to be 6'8". Otherwise, he'd be walking around with a concussion, which would make for very interesting creative brainstorms around here! Thanks, John!   

Jason is thankful for his morning Cheerios. Breakfast is the most important part of the day, and he makes sure to have it. However, he enjoys his breakfast out of a cup with no milk...because he's Jason. Thanks, Jason!

Marit is thankful for getting crafty. When she's not at her desk, she's probably at home cooking up something in the kitchen or completing a craft project at her dining room table. We find it of no coincidence that she shares the same initials and a love for New England like Martha Stewart herself. Thanks, Marit!

What's gray and white with green around the middle?

Our amazing new business cards.

Needless to say, we are quite pleased with them. It was quite a bit of work (with some trial-and-error), but when they arrived it was like Christmas morning. The design team ripped open their card boxes with such excitement. And here they are:

Printed 2/2 on 130# Dull TopKote with edge painting

Thick as a credit card with edge painting...yum!

Thank you to the Big Team!

It's been a hectic couple of months around the BIG studio. Each morning, the team meets to go over the day's agenda. On more days than not, that agenda was a bit cumbersome to say the least, but we got through it! All the deadlines were met right on time, so what better way to reward the staff than with gift cards to Swatch?

After a team lunch at Falafal's Drive In, we headed over to the Swatch store and picked out some new wrist wear. It was hard for everyone to make their selections, but we did it! Now, there will be no excuses for being late to the next meeting.

Thank you team BIG for your hard work and dedication!

A window of opportunity

We hit up Lowe's to get some paint swatches for the office, after all--with a new logo comes a new workspace! As we fanned the swatches out on our work table to find the best match, John made a very good point: "Why doesn't Pantone have a die cut window in their swatch books?" It sure would be a great feature that many designers would deem useful.

We'll be sharing the progress of the office rebrand as we make it! There's a lot in store, so stay tuned!

Marit is getting marital status!

At Big, we love celebrations. Any excuse to go out for a lunch that involves John and Ed in grass skirts sushi, flaming onion volcanoes and cupcakes!  Marit is off to Maine to get married, so we wanted to wish her off Big style. Barb and Cyndi were unable to find foam lobster hats, so they took the Hawaiian theme and ran with it. The team worked hard to keep it all a surprise, and it worked– she didn't suspect a thing!

The Big team

Onion volcano. We all managed to keep our eyebrows. Phew!

Chava and Marit admire each other's hats

Sorry Marit, you have to share with everyone

The oh-so-appropriate "Snowball" cupcakes

John and Ed with the bride to be

A BIG congratulations to Marit and Dave. Oh heck, we can't resist it...hooray for The Snowballs! You can check out more photos on our Facebook page.

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!

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!