Company 7 BBQ Sauce Labels

I was approached late in 2010 with the project of designing a line of barbecue sauce labels for a new local restaurant concept. The restaurant, Company 7 BBQ, wanted to have their proprietary line of sauces and one rub ready to go on opening day. The only problem was the timeline: about 2 weeks total to design and get labels printed. I initially wanted to decline the project because of the tight timeline so near the holidays.

I spoke with the folks and learned they are a family of firefighters and seemed like good people, so I accepted the project. It was the least I could do for those who have put their lives on the line to help others. 

I knew concepting would be intense and stressful. I did my standard steps of research and thumbnailing, however, I put myself on a strict timer for each stage and really just cranked out whatever came to mind. 

I developed four initial concepts, mocking up the mildest and hottest sauce to show the progression of "heat". Version A was to gradually up the flames in the background against a dark blue background:

Version B was simple, bold solid colors in the background from "uniform blue" to "fire engine red" and the heat scale was numerical starting with 1 and going up to 6 within the firefighter maltese cross symbol:

Version C was based on the very cool Peter Pirsch fire truck that is the centerpiece of the Company 7 BBQ bar area:

Version D based on the idea of fire damage, the hotter the sauce, the more the beat up and textured the label would become:

In the end, the client chose version B, the bold solid colors. I worked up retail and in-store versions as quickly as I could and they were able to open with some labels on sauces. Response to the restaurant has been fantastic from what I've heard. If you're in the area, be sure to check 'em out!

DLM 2010 Food & Wine Show Poster

At my day job at Dorothy Lane Market (an upscale grocer here in town), I'm the only designer on staff. It can be quite demanding at times, and like all design jobs, some projects are cooler than others. Once project I look forward to every year is the Food & Wine Show poster (and related advertising materials). I've designed every poster since the event started in 1998, so it is a real challenge to come up with a fresh idea every year. And let's face it, some years might have been better than others.

Typically, I've stuck with a color palette the reflects the fall season and red wine or night and the moon (since it gets dark earlier in November when the show is held). This year, after looking at my previous years' posters, I realized that I had entirely overlooked the lighter side of wine (and color). So I went inthe complete opposite direction: I made it my mission to explore a color palette the revolved around "white wine".

Along the way, I developed a few ideas that I presented...

The first was inspired by one of my research photos of grapes glowing in the afternoon sunlight, so I added some texture for a Tuscan-inspired concept...

For this concept, I went a bit more stark/fine art simplicity...

Derivative with different background texture and altered bottle color...

And last but not least, champagne colored background with a "leaf glass' (thanks to my buddy Von and his fantastic book, Drip, Dot, Swirl.)

The unanimous choice for this year's poster was the last one: the champagne background with "leaf glass", and after only 1 day of it being posted, I've already received quite a few comments (1 from the owner who said it was my "best ever", guess I get to be employed for awhile longer!) I must say, that honestly, I was rooting for the Tuscan inspired version, but I do think there is a appeal in the simplicity of the "leaf glass" that does work better since it is a fall event.

What The?

So at my day job, we do a weekly e-newsletter and we feature new products to our stores in it. A few weeks ago, we had a new product in our healthy stuff department. It sounded harmless enough: Lily of the Desert Aloe Vera Juice. It's supposed to help digestion. Still doing good. I was processing the photo in Photoshop and I zoomed into the product label and noticed that it says "Inner Fillet":

Come again? I associate "fillet" with filleted fish or other meat. I don't think I want to drink something that gives/makes my "innards filleted. Methinks next label design should skip that notice...

DLM Pastry Show Book 2009

Last week was the fifth annual Dorothy Lane Market Pastry Show. This marks the second year that we've done a "book" for the show that features write-ups about the fine pastries, hors d'oeuvres, and beer and wine offered at the event. The book acts as an admission badge and event souvenir.

For this year's theme, I decided to go with "spring watercolors postcards" when I was developing the design for the advertising materials. I had found some awesome watercolor brushes for Illustrator that I was itching to try out, so I played with various combinations of strokes until I achieved that Impressionistic watercolor look that I had envisioned. I then turned the icons for the Eiffel Tower, pastry, and tulip that I'd used in previous years' materials into stamps to tie everything together.

I was surpised by the strong response by our associates to the finished piece: they all just fell in love with the simple design. It is quite a departure from previous years and from all the positive reactions I've heard, a good one at that! To steal a line from the A-Team: "I love it when a good design comes together." :)

Cover:


Inside page:

Friday Fun: Chocolate Bar

Whenever I travel, I enjoy looking through the guide books at the hotel to see what sites they recommend. On a recent trip to Buffalo, I was perusing the local guide book and came across this priceless ad:

Looks like an interesting place for adults right? Well, that little brown round circle at the bottom proudly proclaims "A great place for kids too!" Um, right. I didn't get that impression from the rest of the ad!

Greek Dressing

Batsakis Foods approached me to design their first product label for Andi's Authentic Greek Dressing. The client had two requirements: include the Greek Key and the blue from the Greek Flag (PMS 286C).

Of course, my first step was to visit my friend Dr. Google to research Greek history and culture. I’ve also been a fan of Greek history since college, so I dug into my old notes to see if there was anything interesting there. I think my favorite part was discovering the different patterns associated with Greek culture. I also learned that there are many ways to make a Greek Key. I never really understood or noticed the subtleties before, but I see them now and am still amazing at the versatility and creativity within just this one pattern element.



While doing my research, I discovered a really neat “flower” icon that I thought might give an interesting perspective versus the traditional Greek key. I also explored the idea of doing mosaic tiles, but quickly ruled it out as I couldn’t seem to get the right feel to the label. It just always seemed too cluttered and busy with the tiles there.




Oddly enough, the cream color was inspired by one of my Netflix movies. I for the life of me can’t remember which movie it was. All I remember is that the female lead worked for her parents in a cool little Greek cafe and the blue and cream colors were on the walls.

Using the Greek flag blue and cream as a base, I broaden the color palate out to five colors: Cream (PMS 1205), Burnt Umber (PMS 491), Olive (PMS 582), and Black. Burnt Umber and Olive were inspired by some ancient Greek pottery that I found in my research.



I complemented the traditional "Greek" typeface of Lithos pro with Trajan Pro to maintain a clean, upscale look for the label.

So far, the client has been extremely pleased with the results, completely selling out of 500 jars at the local Greek Festival.



All in all, I’m satisfied with the label. I wish I could have explored more untraditional type treatments that could have still given a Greek flavor to the label. And if I could’ve figured out the mosaic pattern or a way to incorporate some Greek text into the label, that would’ve rocked it. Oh well, maybe next time…