SLIM SOFIA SIPS SKINNY CAN

The Pepsi “Skinny Can,” introduced at Fashion Week last month and rolling out now, is supported by striking print advertising. That includes this portrait of “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara sipping from the new look can. Pepsi promoted the packaging as a celebration of confident women; feminist critics note that the fashion-related launch links “slim” to “successful,” and point the possible Photoshopping of the voluptuous Vergara down to a sleeker version for the ad. read more

------------------------------------

DUFFY NATURALLY

Duffy & Partners is responsible for creating new packaging for Natural Inspirations, a line of bath and body products launching this October. The Natural Inspirations line was created “to comfort the body and soothe the soul” while offering a new way to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure in its mission to end breast cancer.The packaging features beautifully layered botanical illustrations sweeping over pale pink backgrounds, each designed to represent a specific aromatherapy blends. see the products


Graphic Artist, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Green Design

ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE NUTS

The Nutmobile, a traveling ambassador for the Planters brand, has gone green. The new model runs on biodiesel and has a wind turbine, solar panels, LED interior lighting, recycled parts and wood floors purportedly reclaimed from a 19th century barn. It made its public debut at the Global Green Oscars preparty. The redesigned Nutmobile joins a succession of mobile ad vehicles, best known of which is the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Jason Levine is Planters’ senior director for marketing. He has the new Nutmobile is based on an Isuzu box truck. According to James Riseborough, chief creative officer of builder Turtle Transit, the fiberglass peanut body is held in place with an underlying steel frame. Energy captured and converted by the wind turbine and solar panel drive an alternator that recharges batteries for interior lighting and sound system. Joe Doyon, Turtle Transit’s general manager says that this kind of advertising is having a renaissance due to the popularity of camera phones.

------------------------

HAVE A GLASS

Creative agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay New York found a unique design solution that goes beyond p-o-p. Their concept takes emptied bottles of Bols Genever, a Dutch spirits brand, and via a specialized handmade process recycles them into attractive drinking glasses. The glasses are being leveraged as selling tools and premiums, with the vision to expand the program to consumers through a mail-in program.




------------------------

ALL QUIET ON THE CHIP FRONT
Frito-Lay has silenced its SunChips brand bag. The noisy but remarkably compostable eco-bag upset sensitive consumers and triggered a noise-free bag movement. The company states: “You asked for a quieter bag and we heard you loud and clear.”
read more

Freelance Artist, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Auto Zone Gets Girly

Can car care products be marketed directly to women, or at the very least be gender-neutral? Check out this branding exercise by design student Vinh Pho, which makes AutoZone products seem as if they were being sold out of Bath & Body Works.


-----------------------------

Oscars pushing its envelope

Previously just dressed-up office supply issue, this year's Academy Awards' winners' envelopes are now custom-designed by Marc Friedland Couture Communications.

-----------------------------

jcpenny Boxes It Up

J. C. Penney Company is now jcpenney, and it has a new logo to match, the first redesign in its 40-year-history.

The letters "jcp" are emphasized in the new design. The Helvetica letters are placed off-center in a red box; the remainder of the name is shown breaking free of the box, symbolic of the company breaking out into new retail areas. The box and initial letters are also used alone, such as in the company's avatar. (At this writing, the old logo was still in use on the jcp website, and predictions are that the new design will be rolled out formally in advertising shown during the Academy Awards on February 27.)

The redesign comes on the heels of a recent redesign of the Sears logo—which was also set in a high x-height sans serif. Some say the redesign was in response to burgeoning sales at more contemporary competitors such as Macy's and Kohl's.

Who designed the new mark? From the company's web site: "To choose a new logo design, jcpenney sought submissions that reflect a wide range of perspectives. Participants included the Company's associates, several design agencies, and two art schools – University of Cincinnati and Rhode Island School of Design – that collectively submitted over 200 designs for consideration. The winning design was provided by Luke Langhus, a third-year graphic design student at the University of Cincinnati, who chose to reintroduce jcpenney's iconic red box – a symbol he has long associated with the national retailer. Langhus developed a versatile logo that preserves the company's namesake but can be modified to showcase the 'jcp' independently, given his intent to ensure it would resonate with constantly connected digital consumers who often use abbreviations."

jcpenney.net


Graphic Designer Portfolio, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Graphic Design Questions? Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Graphic Designer Rolls

Mayor Villaraigosa, in partnership with Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, has declared graphic designer and cyclist Geoff McFetridge winner of the Bike Awareness and Safety slogan contest. The "Give Me 3" bus shelter posters will be seen on 1,000 ads, and refers to support of 3 Foot Passing legislation that would give bikers more room to ride. The winning slogan was submitted by Danny Gamboa of Long Beach CA. Other sponsors of the effort to make the City of Angels a more bike friendly place include LADOT, LAPD and Midnight Ridazz. read more


Beyond The Cup
Nestlé is the latest major corporation to invest substantially to become more sustainable, in this instance expanding its reach into sustainable coffee farming, making its factories more efficient and reducing its packaging. Beyond the Cup: The Nescafe Plan aims to double the amount of Nescafé, the instant coffee, that it buys directly from farmers. They also intend to increase its number of agronomists and field technicians. To reduce its direct impacts, Nestlé is investing funds into its own factories to reduce energy and waste, and to use spent coffee grounds as fuel in all factories. see more

Graphic Designer's Portfolio, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Nordstrom Gets Real

Director Andrew Walton of production company IDENTITY has helmed a series of intimate documentary-style vignettes for Nordstrom. The campaign, titled “Career Mode,” sits on Nordstrom website and real Nordstrom customers sharing thoughts on their style and how what they wear to work defines them personally and professionally. Says Pia Hunter is Creative Director, Nordstrom and she notes that she “wanted real stories from real people and of course, to capture our customers in their best possible light.” One of the four films features a marketing freelancer…
 read more

Graphic Designer Portfolio, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com

Spartan Story

To celebrate the grand opening of the Michigan State University Medical School campus in downtown Grand Rapids MI, advertising agency Extra Credit Projects developed a print and outdoor campaign that’s turning heads. Featuring the familiar Spartan football helmet, the ads are intended to inform the public about the new location as well as enhance the brand in the region. “It’s a really big deal for the city to be able to officially be a part of the Big Ten,” said agency principal Rob Jackson.

Tasha Lee Design, Chicagoland Graphic Designer
Email Me: tasha@tashaleedesign.com