The aesthetical Do's of Halloween

It's Halloween!!
Being a crazy American, Halloween is really engrained into my being. I was raised in the tradition of dressing up in horrifying costumes every year and trick-or-treating around the neighborhood of central Ohio. Being a horror film lover and enjoying the creepy feeling of being frightened senseless, this was one of the absolute best days of the year. Back then, we could actually trick-or-treat at night when it was pitch black outside, and I can't imagine it any other way (today, the fun ends when it becomes dark). As a matter of fact, I was so affected by the planning and suspense of halloween that I dream about trick-or-treating about once a month! (Just call me a nerd.)

Every year I dumped my enormous bag of candy on the living room floor and analysed all of the varieties, grouping them into categories of best brands and worse/no-name brands (these were the ones that mom got if she asked for me to share with her ; ). Of course one remembers the house that generously gives out the best bars, and blacklists the homes that dared to give you the cheapest of the cheap, without chocolate contents and without a proper wrapper that invested in appropriate Halloween attire. This was very important to complete the ring of scary experiences!

Yes, in the United States basically every edible, sweet brand re-clothes its packaging during this time of year. Of course you expect American confectionary brands to go the halloween route, but did you know that even crackers, ice cream, potato chips, cereals, and beverages also make the spooky change?

From a European design and branding standpoint, the thought of a Halloween-themed attire probably sounds very tacky and tasteless. But I, American, really wanted to dig a bit deeper in this area. Are there tasteful AND non-tacky applications for this holiday? The answer is...NO! One of the two parameters seems to be a requisite. But, hey, with Halloween comes the possibility to explore your tacky inner self, to break away from the clean and streamlined sophistication we try to surround ourselves with daily. Let yourself go!

With that, let me present my few findings. First up are my 4 best packaging finds, before moving on to 4 best product finds.

Halloween packaging aesthetic #1: Jones Soda - A creepy treat by the folks at Jones
I adore these cans of soda! Humorous design and fun flavour names like Buried Pomegranate, Lemon Drop Dead, Spooookiwi, Candy Corn, Blood Orange and Dread Apple) make me howl!
www.jonessoda.com

Halloween packaging aesthetic #2: Crate & Barrel Halloween cocoa
Crate & Barrel's attractive can with two servings of cocoa powder mystically turns orange when mixing with milk. This is on my aesthetic list, although not a huge ball of fun.
www.crateandbarrel.com/family
Halloween packaging aesthetic #3: Kit Kat Ghoulish Collection
This is a finely executed package for a major brand which changes disguise in the good spirit of halloween. I love the vampire sinking his teeth around the logotype (he seems to be biting very gently, as if holding a delicate egg in his mouth, in respect of the Kit Kat brand's free space!), as well as the relatively clean look. Kit Kat is one of the bars that I sorted into the 'best' pile when I was young, but with text and images now on the chocolate bar itself, Kit Kat's trick-or-treat version ends up in a brand-name category by itself.
Halloween packaging aesthetic #4: Joby & Marty's Amazing All Natural Chocolate
Talk about kitch! Joby & Marty's is a leader in kitchy (read: tacky) holiday-inspired packages that just wanna have fun. With this bar in hand, you may just as well admit that you believe in UFOs and dream of quitting your job to run a comic book store.
www.jobyandmartys.com
Is it worth the investment for a new halloween package design, production, and distribution for such a short timeframe? When it comes to major candy brands in the US, kids will never forget the brands that made the effort to impress them with their halloween humor. And with halloween being the leading candy holiday (with sales of $2.1 billion dollars in 2005, according to Bankrate.com, http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/thumb/20011024a.asp), that memory will turn out to be very important during an individual's lifetime.

Now let's take a step away from packaging. Being a halloween fanatic who has served jello formed in a brain mold to my guests, I was just 'dying' to find if there were any non-food spooky products that could be considered aesthetic. Here are my four best:

Halloween product aesthetic #1: Vans 'Bat Trails'
The classic slip-on has never been afraid of expressing its feelings. Here in a new halloween design called 'Bat Trails'.
www.shop.vans.com
Halloween product aesthetic #2: Coffin Couches' eco-friendly coffin sofa
We at Identity Works stand for eco-friendly products....and here we have a truly unusual peice! The company Coffin Couches produces sofas made of recycled coffins. The coffins have been used once for showings and may have had minor nicks in the finish, but have never been underground, obviously! Rather than letting the costly and luxurious boxes end up in a landfill, the company came up with the idea of making furniture. Gotta love it!
http://coffincouches.com/

Halloween product aesthetic #3: Marc Jacobs Sidney timepiece
It's true, Marc Jacobs stands behind this watch, perfect for this time of year.
Sidney # MBM 5016
www.marcjacobs.com
Halloween product aesthetic #4: Skeleton hand salad spoons
These boney utensils help you 'sink your teeth into' a good salad.
www.whatonearthcatalog.com

Please don't hesitate if you are able to challenge these packaging or product best-ofs! And don't forget, the frightful day comes and goes quickly, so enjoy it while you can, kids!

Article by Gail Baker

'Heading' for the best - the balance of form & function in a helmet

Let's talk about amazing products which throw your expectations out the window and give you a new point in which to benchmark future products. Yes, we are talking about a helmet! And if you never thought about or wanted a helmet before, now you will. Ruby (Les Ateliers Ruby) based in France, declares itself as 'the leading brand for exceptional accessories committed to keeping you on the move', a product for 'everyday heros and heroines.' And let us just say that the letters in the word EXCEPTIONAL should definitely be uppercase. Ruby creates the Rolls-Royce of helmets, with high craftsmanship down to every luxurious detail, from the nappa lambskin lining to the gorgeous ruby red packaging. All I can say is, 'fantastic!'

The company was initially formed by Jerome Coste, who combined his passion for skateboarding and motorcycling with his interest in digging deeper into brand identity. With additional influences such as Steve McQueen and science fiction, the combination makes for a product clearly placed on the peak of Identity Works brand pyramid, where there is just no substitute for the product (contact us if you would like more information about the brand pyramid and how to make it to the top). With a motivation of making uncompromising choices because life is just too precious (due to Coste's own life experiences through his daredevil sporting days), it is clear that Ruby has succeeded in combining form and function in a superior way.
To attract the collector and connoisseur (for those who want something even more than a perfect balance of form and function from the base assortment), a limited edition series will be interpreted by artists , and the first one out is by HNT (Honet), a former Parisian graffiti artist and current graphic artist who has taken his personal style and translated it into a playful and contemporary helmet that I would love to have on my shelf in the living room just as much (or more) as on my head!
The dealer in Sweden is Grand Pa (Södermannagatan 21), otherwise you can check out the collection at numerous locations when in California or New York.

Links:
Ruby: www.ateliersruby.com
Honet: www.monsieurlagent.com/works.php
(Note: Ruby images are from the Ruby website above)

Article by Gail Baker

Babies to Consumers

I gave birth to a little son two weeks ago, and with work still relatively fresh in my mind, I am already beginning to wonder about how my child will be affected by products and marketing early on. I guess these thoughts, although probably a bit premature, are better than sitting around watching Oprah all day during my maternity leave!

Today, companies are targeting children as well as young adults who still have positive childhood memories lingering. It isn't hard to find major marks on toys where we adults would not have expected them when we were children. When I was young, I wanted everything to be free from all graphics, markings and names. Our moms perhaps picked out and bought items for us, and we may not have thought that so bizarre. Does this option even exist any longer?

Today's kids are born into a world totally bombarded with messages. The statistic of how many choices we are forced to make per day is staggeringly high (and increasing by the minute). Every minute our brains take in massive amounts of information and we then make decisions- Am I interested? Is this worth another second of my time? Do I look twice? Delete? Save in short term memory? Long term memory? Because kids today are born into a much more intense world than we adults were, they are faster at making these decisions, however unaware he or she may be of this decision-making process.

Mom? Picking out something for the kids? Highly unlikely and probably unacceptable! Kids today know exactly what they want, and they don't want someone else doing their picking and choosing.

And of course, when generations grow up, smart companies know how to maximize the interest of the young adult through connection of positive childhood memories. Generation X'ers and Y'ers for instance, were targeted by Mazda through the connection to Transformers, the robot conversion toys which will soon celebrate its 25th anniversary. Mazda hoped to pick up on positive memories of this target market by tying in the toy with the car. See this link on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGA17R6sU3A



Interested in reading more about this topic? There are numerous excellent books that can be purchased from Amazon.com. Here is one recommendation:


Article by Gail Baker

GIORGIO DELUCA = GOOD TASTE

On our New York trip in May, Helena Stendahl Hägg and I had the privilege of meeting and discussing branding philosophy with Giorgio Deluca, co-founder of the exclusive and amazing Dean & Deluca indoor marketplace. Grounded in the Soho area in the 70's, Dean & Deluca's loyalty and dedication to top quality global foods has grown to selected locations around the world.

A short walk from our hotel at the Soho Grand, we rounded the corner and took the industrial elevator to the top floor to find ourselves in an open, enormous, relaxed atmosphere known as Mr. Deluca's home in the heart of Tribeca. The kitchen was the obvious gathering place to have a discussion about how important branding was to the Dean & Deluca story. A fresh cup of herbal tea with shortbread biscuits, and opera playing in the foreground rather than background, we were ready to begin.

Actually, we cannot really call our experience a 'discussion'. We should rather call it a fabulous 'one-man show' by a creator who has so much to say and share that there is no time to ask questions.

For Mr. Deluca, or Giorgio as we were allowed to call him, the word branding seems to burn on his tongue. Fire lies on every spoken word. “There is a reality behind the brand that the customer associates. We built up our world and made the names Dean & Deluca stand for this world. We just became associated with quality. We were passionate people. But passion isn't enough. You need to edit that...challenge that passion...shape and mold it. It boils down to intelligence. We were about taste - good taste. We could easily see ourselves as a department store even early on.”

The first store in Soho created a following almost immediately. Giorgio explains that Soho during the grounding period was known as 'Hell's one hundred acres.' The cast iron facades were neglected in the area. Artists were sprouting, and according to Giorgio, this was due to the fact that painters realised that the size of the canvas was the determining factor for the selling price of the piece. Hence, artists needed enormous space to create, and they found these in the abandoned warehouse areas of Soho, behind blackout shades to hide their co-existence. Giorgio reflects, “Imagine! The idea of living in such a real place, with such history! Not bourgeois...they hated the bourgeois because of all of the lies. In 1973 I set up a cheese store in Soho because that's where the artists gathered, drank wine with cheese, and talked art.”

Reflecting on the early days, Giorgio says, “Passion is not enough. You must be married to sensory perception. I had enormous passion that couldn't go anywhere. I was screwed up, in a small box. Answers of religion didn't hold me. I needed something bigger.”

One thing lead to another. Once the cheese shop took hold and became the local buzz, Deluca continued on his entrepreneurial journey, forming an iconic brand in ten years from one grocery store. He states, “ I started by selling great goat cheese. Fresh. The smart people got it. Then I sold olive oil. Then I decided to sell them together. Because I knew all about cheese, and then learned all about olive oil, ONLY then could I know about the match. You must know each component individually before you know how to combine them.”

Mr. Dean and Mr. Deluca complemented each other as business partners. Dean was a brilliant interpreter of quality. And we had witnessed with our own eyes during the interview that Deluca was the fire. Pacing backward and forward with swaying hands, an occasional touch of the heart, and a self-confidence that would blow you away, Giorgio continued his story for us.

Dean and Deluca's focus was always on quality and good taste. Their name spread rapidly, and they were wined and dined throughout the world by companies who wanted Dean and Deluca to associate with their products. Giorgio recalls the time as hectic but extremely enjoyable. They were highly influenced by the European culture, where art and eating were closely linked to each other.

Giorgio and Dean developed their own philosophy about taste. "What is taste? What is aesthetics? That is what is behind a great brand. It isn't a gene. It is something one can learn...to perceive more accurately. I couldn't distinguish from good or bad wine in the beginning. Dean and I started by throwing out the notion that one product is considered better than another. This was important to us. Products then became the value that we gave them.“

Dean was a composer, and his life partner Jack was a visual artist. Jack created the logotype that is still used today. Giorgio recalls, “Jack's stuff would be in top windows of 5th avenue. Between Dean and Jack's talents, the audio and visual intelligence was there. I could barely talk with them at the beginning."

Giorgio's respect for Mr. Dean's business sense is very evident. Giorgio explains, "Dean was pure genius. You have to know a product's level. Is it a 10 or a 2 ? If it is a 10, you want to have it. If it is a 0, then you don't want it. But the hard part is to pick a 6 and know that it isn't a 10. Or vice versa. Dean knew if something was a 6 or a 3."

Continuing on the 0 to 10 scale analogy, Giorgio describes their secret weapon to business. "When we found something too expensive, then we took the next one down. If you don't know quality, you will pick stuff for the wrong reason, maybe because it is cheap or you like the packaging. We went with the better quality version. We gave not what they (the customers) wanted, but what we thought they needed. We could go to the marketplace with a mind of great artists. We made ourselves giants. We had the power to penetrate the market. If an 8 or 9 was best, we took it. But we always took the 10 also - but ONLY for image."

Can one confuse quality with elitism? Giorgio explains, '"You are what you eat aesthetically. If you live with junk, then you will take in junk. This is a brilliant insight. Quality is objective, not subjective. It doesn't occur to people in the U.S. that they like many things which are not quality. That is a revolution! To live in a world of aesthetics makes life worthwhile. To please all 5 senses…because that’s all you have! You can know that this is better than that, that there is no energy in this one, that this has layers and layers of richness. Eventually you become what you take in aesthetically. Challenge and exercise it, and then you can perceive better."

Giorgio reminds us, ”Taste is learned. I didn't absorb it through my mother's milk!”

"People resent people for feeling superior, for having privileges. They are wrong. You can make yourself better. Sorry, but you CAN be superior. People want to get into their Gap clothing, sit in front of the tv and drop to the lowest level. The food section in the United States was deplorable (when we started). Tv dinners were considered chic! Eating was something to get done with. If you show people a better thing in a way they can understand, not through intimidation, then they will respond. We appealed to a small audience who were ready."

Giorgio looks at us. “Are you getting this?” he asks.

In fact, we were soaking in an enormous amount of information in this two-hour timeframe. We knew the time was nearing its close, but we wanted to ask Giorgio a final question. Would Dean & Deluca move toward the organic path? Giorgio had much to say.

“America is screwed up! They get crazy on sugar, salt, and fat, most of which is not harmful if in the right proportion. America can't taste; it chooses quantity over quality. They threw the baby out with the bathwater. They couldn't get there by dieting. So what do they do now? ORGANICS! Companies are having a field day! People are now searching for the word organic on products! But when you prepare the food, it is indistinguishable. Organic food does not taste better or have different properties than non-organic. What I believe in is the excitement and freshness of food, like a particular variety that has certain properties, from a certain area. Same with the pesticides. Like the problem of smoking a cigarette and at the same time being worried about the environment. INSANE!!!”

But his fiery nature doesn't mean that he doesn't support true organic products. It has more to do with his philosophy of food honesty. He adds, “It would be great if we had food that was not covered with chemicals. But I wouldn’t go out and call them organic tomatoes. I would say tomatoes from an area 'x' of Rome instead.” That is, the value of an environmentally-friendly produce can be interpreted in different ways.

Deluca’s words were very inspiring for us. We left with a feeling of having met a great artist with great taste. And much of what Giorgio discussed is how we at Identity Works see the branding process also, such as his reference of ‘picking stuff for the wrong reason.’ This is why we never go straight to the design process, but are adamant in following a process of auditing, strategy and concept prior to the design phase. In this way, the final product will attract the right target group for the right reason.

Giorgio is now a consultant for Dean & Deluca. Let us hope that his creative fuel continues to enhance and inspire Dean & Deluca's future path.

Questions? Contact Gail Baker at gail@identityworks.se
http://www.identityworks.se/blogg/deluca_article.pdf