Packaging is a billboard and one that battles for attention in a sea of other products. Finding a balance between information and aesthetics is paramount. When designging, one must find balance in cost, design, and practicality in distribution and assembly. Prototyping, careful proofing, and a working knowledge of international vendor communications ensures magic on the store's shelf.
On-Product Design
A coffee cup is more than a beverage holder - it's a marketing tool with extensive reach. These products had additional selling points due to their environmental benefits, and it was my job to help sell those benefits and ensure the end user knew a business was making a better choice in their purchasing habits.
Eco-Products
Cup Design Retail Sleeve Design Carton Design
Paper cups and containers are the foundation of the product offering at Eco-Products. They are the vibrant face of the brand thanks to being the highest volume products sold by the company. So when it's time to brand or refresh, it was on the design team to hit it out of the park. And through brainstorming, drafting, and prototyping, I did just that. For the World Art cup design - I was tasked with a refresh that would help efforts for copyright due the foundation of the original artwork being ineligible (Did you know you can't copyright a map of Earth? Now you know.) I incorporated text as latitude lines, sourcing bits of inspirational text to add visual and verbal depth. I even snuck in a nod to Carl Sagan and the famous pale blue dot image from NASA. The final product is eye-catching while remaining friendly to a variety of business applications. The "This is Why" series was inspired by a trip to Costa Rica. Being blown away by the vibrancy and beauty of nature, I realized found a visual answer to the why behind "Green is All We Do." From there I pitched it as a campaign and it was a home run. I was the cover for a sustainability report and website landing page, and it became the line of cups shown below.
The "Not to long ago...." cups were born out of an agency exercise and I was tasked with finding fun options for paper items that could become a mini-billboard on the recycled content cup lineup.
Cusa Tea and Coffee
Brand Designer
Cusa Tea and Coffee is a startup instant organic drink manufacturer based in Boulder, Colorado. They are fast growing with 576% overall direct to consumer (DTC) growth in the last two years, and 251% annual growth in subscriptions.
I collaborated directly with the founder and marketing manager to produce a variety of packaging for their expanding tea and coffee lineup. I also organized and efficiently photographed products to generate an extensive collection of images that met Amazon and Google Images specifications. I also generated marketing materials and trade show assets on an as-needed basis. Below is a selection of their award-winning products featuring single serving satchets, retail triangle boxes, and their bulk packaging for amazon and other online retailers. Layouts featuring flattened packaging templates shows as delivered to international vendors. I managed generation, client reviews, and international vendor edits and approvals.
Uhl's Brewing Co.
Brand Designer
Uhl’s Brewing Company is a small and passionate barrel centric brewery in Boulder, Colorado. They specialize in barrel aged stouts, IPAs, fruited sours, lagers, and smoothie ales. To put it simply, they make a lot of exceptional beer.
Which means I get to make fun labels! Most of the label bases are direct from the owner, which you can see everything on their Instagram feed.
The selection of labels below are the examples of work where Aaron gave direction, and I built the art to match the owner’s vision.
