Material Archive

European Tour: Ladurée, Paris & London

If it's not wildly obvious already, I am obsessed with Ladurée. Why? Where to begin... it represents everything I love: amazing pasteries & chocolates, beautiful branding & packaging and an authentic legacy of doing it exceptionally well for 150 years.

While In London and Paris – I sought out almost every location to sample something new I hadn't tried before. My new favourite item is pictured above with the rose petal – it's called the rose & raspberry Ladurée Saint-Honorés and is every bit as delicious as it is pretty.

Of course, I shipped home all of my empty boxes so that they could assume their rightful positions on my packaging wall.

 

Alexander McQueen : Savage Beauty

With an absolutely eerie and haunting cover of McQueen morphing from portrait to skull, Savage Beauty is a must own for any lover of fashion – a beautiful book.

Renard Gillard Brie de Meaux

In love with this little fox illo.

From Leslieville Cheese.

 

Vintage Postage

 

 

All found here.

Nice job Talbots

 

 

 

Wow Talbots – way to go to make me pay attention to you.

Prada Spring/Summer 2011 Video Campaign

Love the clothes, the colour, the girl, the song.

Making of Bergdorf Goodman's 2010 Holiday Windows

 

Debbie Millman's "Look Both Ways"

 

Just finished reading Debbie Millman's "Look Both Ways" – a collection of essays that surprised me by their intensely personal connection to the author. A quick read that took me a couple of hours one lazy afternoon, the book covers a series of reflections Debbie has about certain brands or even city landmarks that she has come across in her life. In the book she recounts how profoundly humans connect to stories and ideas that brands represent and how we can create entire worlds around these things, places or concepts. Essentially, this idea, is the cornerstone of all branding and advertising and she punctuates this repeatedly by giving examples of her strong ties to the ideas specific brands embody.

All told the book is engaging because the voice of the author is sincere and authentic and the presentation of the text as handwritten pages is charming.

That said, I was disappointed that after her long successful career, that she felt the need to end the series by saying that anyone that pursues our line of work (commercial art / advertising / branding) has somewhat sold out just because it's a secure living. I think I would have reframed the path she was heading with this idea (because she clearly states she is looking for the next professional chapter/challenge in her life) and simply stated that humans cannot do one thing for their entire lives and expect to be satisfied. Sure, that's how things are structured so you can climb the ladder, build credibility and make more money – granted. But humans, in my humble opinion, are only truly happy when there is a steady and consistent opportunity to grow and learn something new. After 20+ years in any business, a person could get restless – sure. Does this mean one should suddenly discount their career choice and abandon it? Or should they just acknowledge that maybe it's time for a change?

Our industry gets so much flack for not being real, or artistic or worthy of respect. Sure, if you want to judge an entire industry by the lowest common denominator, you can label it crap pretty easily. But given that Debbie chose not only to devote her professional life and career to it, but also create a book with countless stories about the strong connection of her love for various brands – surely there is something of value there to her that transcends merely selling buying and stuff? As I see it, her questioning of her next professional step causes her to undermine the whole point she is making in the book.

Branding and advertising is modern day story telling. Yes, it's littered with bullshit and crap, but there is also work out there that changes not just what people buy – but how they think, act and treat one another. The transformational power of brands is big, real and can be awe inspiring and can change the world. So why call yourself (and the rest of us) a sell-out? Was Tibor a sell-out? I wish people in our industry would stop apologizing for what they do and own it – celebrate it.  We work hard and sometimes, we get projects and clients that provide the most marvelous opportunities to change perceptions.

Understanding human desire and motivation is fascinating and it drives and inspires me daily to create new ways of communicating. Whether it's for potato chips, phones, handbags or oatmeal, landmine awareness or protecting freedom of speech – there is value in all of it. No regrets over here.

Dentsu: Paint Sound Sculptures: Making of Canon Pixma’s Campaign

And now a thought from Milton Glaser:

 
I think about this all the time.

Don't mess with Chanel's brand standards

 


Because I so often have to write brand tip sheets like this – I especially appreciate Chanel's take on it – so bitchy. Love it. And no, they have not sent this to me...yet. ;) Of course, I'd be honored to get a verbal lashing from Karl – what branding fashionista wouldn't?

Hot Dog!

"Designed by Bangkok based Subconscious: "TrueCoffee, the coffee shop that serves coffee and bakery with hi-speed Internet in cozy and modern atmosphere, expanded their food range to a quick bite like hot dog. They wanted hot dog packaging that would attract teenagers. We reinterpreted the word ‘hot dog’ and created a lovely dachshund character. Its unique characteristic was that it’s hot all the time." Via the Dieline

Pierre Marcolini, will you be my Valentine?

 

Given that we are talking about Valentine's Day, it seems like a logical next step to discuss chocolate. Clearly, I already talk about chocolate quite a lot on this site (given that I eat the glorious stuff every single day), so I thought I would post about a brand that is exceptional – for this particular "special" day in February.

When you hear Pierre Marcolini speak about his brand, (there is a great little movie on his site), you quickly understand that making chocolate is not just a job to this man – it is his passion, his vocation and he is on a mission. One only need look a the few images above to see that he is rather serious and really cares about elevating the art of creating and experiencing chocolate to a new level.

For my part, anyone that understands that chocolate can and should be branded like fine jewelry – knows that connoisseurs never eat it because they are hungry or snacky, but because they want to experience and savour something truly pleasurable that is special and punctuates a moment. ♥

Barcelona Diaries: San Nicasio Crisps

Potato chips are one of those snacks that everyone loves, but, generally would never dare eat directly from the bag in public. For example, you could walk down the street drinking a trendy Starbucks Mocha Chip Frapuccino, which packs a whopping 590 calories and 22 grams of fat per 24 ounce serving, and no one would necessarily judge you as being low-classy or sloth-like. But, if you did the same with a bag of chips, you would likely be on the receiving end of a series of judgmental looks – even though a small bag is less than half of the calories of the aforementioned Starbucks. Because of this unfair stigma, most people reserve chip snacking to the privacy of their own couch or lost in a sea of other snacks on a table at a picnic, where the focus is diluted.

As a fan of all things potato, I believe the approach to chip bag design needs a re-think to remove this frumpy image – this is where the lovely photo above comes in. While dining at Inopia in Barcelona this week, I spied these remarkably charming chip bags on the restaurant's shelves and my instant thought was: "that is so beautiful – I must have it." Usually, that type of enthusiasm is reserved only for brands like Ladurée and Fauchon, not fried food snacks.

Spanish based San Nicasio has elevated the humble chip to a thing of artisanal beauty, touting their use of Himalayan pink salt and extra virgin olive oil. Who doesn't love the idea of pink salt? And don't even get me started on how much better olive oil fried anything tastes. Every time I had patatas bravas during my trip, I nearly lost mind mind wondering why everyone doesn't fry in olive oil all the time.

Anyhow, I digress. Like any other product, packaging is critical in creating desire and instilling pride of purchase and so I say, it's time for chips to have an identity makeover. Wouldn't you feel good about showing up to a party with "beautiful" chips that taste amazing and have pink salt? This design–crazy lady certainly would!

Aubin & Wills Branding

The packaging and typography of Aubin & Wills wares is quite lovely don't 'cha think? Check out the fox with a top hat – bloody charming.

   

Nice package: Mini Giants

Nice design by Camilla Lillieskold for children's online retailer Mini Giants. Illustrations by Nila Aye. Via LovelyPackage.

It's all about self-initiated projects

This book looks like an inspiration in the right direction for any designers looking to market their own ideas outside of their agency jobs.