Now That's a Good Change

So, I've been talking a lot lately about all these brands that have been re-branding or re-packaging and going down the wrong road. In my weekly trips to the grocery store I notice a lot brands going under the knife and I wanted to talk about a re-design that I thought really works.

Several weeks ago Baked Lay's introduced a new flavor called Southwestern Ranch to launch their new package design. It's hard to believe that Baked Lays have been around for 15 years, but it is nice to see them move beyond their bright yellow packaging. The new design uses toned down colors as well as a nice new matte finish material for the package. It's also nice that BAKED has basically become a brand so they made it much larger on the package. This is also a great example of how you can take an existing logo and make some minor adjustments to it and adapt for the present day (something Tropicana should have thought about). You really have to examine the logo closely to realize the changes that were made.

Now here is the real kicker. Over the last several weeks Lay's have slowly been working the new look into their existing flavors. Oh, by the way, I purchased the new flavor because of the package and it is rather nice (a bit spicy, but I like). So I'm looking this last weekend and actually saw about 1/2 of the Baked Lay's flavors in there nice new wrapping and actually picked up the Sour Cream & Onion and put it into my cart. It wasn't until a minute later that I realized I don't even really care for Sour Cream & Onion - but the colors of the package was just so appealing I picked it up. Of course I put it back and insisted on only grabbing a flavor with the new look (I'm a package snob). Congrats Lay's on making our shopping experience more enjoyable. I'm just glad to see a successful re-design that isn't a step backwards.

It's Time to Grow

Alright, most likely if you are reading this entry you've received the Popcorn Initiative spring mail out. So below find the directions on how to plant your wild flower seeds that you've received. I'm planting mine tomorrow. I'd love to see some photos of what you grow. Happy planting and happy spring.

It may sound obvious enough, but choosing the most advantageous site on your property is a very important determinant in the eventual success of your wildflower garden. The most important factors to consider in this regard are the amount of average daily sunlight, the relative quality of the soil, and the accessibility to a water source like a hose or a sprinkler.

Though many wildflowers do tolerate some filtered shade - and a few actually thrive in it - the vast majority are definitely sun-lovers and will likely demonstrate the strongest bloom where exposure is greatest (especially in the morning). Therefore, the general rule of thumb when considering the optimum planting site on your property is 'the more sun the better'. This naturally means that areas with little or no tree coverage and as little obstruction from any structure such as a house, garage, or barn are best.

Soil too is sometimes a consideration when planting wildflowers, but it's important to keep in mind that wildflowers will generally sprout in all but the most difficult conditions. This means that pampering your site with fertilizer or rich sod is not usually necessary. In fact, doing so can sometimes achieve the opposite result by inviting unwanted weeds and grasses. Only in the poorest of conditions, where the soil is literally sterile, is using an accelerant advisable.

Lastly, when choosing the best site for your seed installation, the availability of a steady watering source is helpful, but not usually necessary. In most regions and during most seasons, natural rainfall will be sufficient to provide the water necessary for a successful bloom. However, if you live in a particularly arid region, are planting during drier months, or are simply experiencing prolonged drought, it will definitely be to your advantage to water your site every other day or so for the first few weeks after planting until root growth is established.

Now all you need to do is clear the area of existing weeds or growth and to loosen the soil. You can do this simply with a rake, hoe or shovel. Work the soil as best you can, of course you'll get some weeds sprouting along with your flowers.

Next, you want to sow your seeds. Simply scatter the seeds evenly over the area or in the pot you wish to plant. This can be done by putting the seeds in your hand or just shaking out of the envelope. After you get your seeds sowed lightly compress your seeds into the soil. Don't push them down any further than 1/2 inch. You just want to protect them from the birds and winds. An easy way to do this is by pressing them in with your hands or feet - just keep the pressure light.

Now you are ready to watch them grow, I hope...

What an Exquisite Corpse

No, I'm not talking about some dead guy here. I'm talking about a technique that exploites the mystique of accident. A kind of collective collage of words or images called the cadavre exquis (exquisite corpse). Based on an old parlor game, it was played by several people, each of whom would write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold the paper to conceal part of it, and pass it on to the next player for his contribution. When done with art it works exactly the same way. The first artist illustrates a panel and hides 95% of the panel before giving it to the next artist. The artists have to continue the illustration from the 5% that they can see. A lot of times this creates amazing images that have great contrast in style and meaning.

I wanted to share a couple of artists that have taken the exquisite corpse idea to the next level. They passed the image back and forth 60 times to create an amazing 35 foot long piece. Check out all panels of the piece at their site http://www.jabcstudio.com.

A little thought for your spare time with a fellow creative. The best part is you can do a written corpse or an illustrated version. I've done it and it's a great deal of fun. Oh yeah, it doesn't have to be done on a computer. So go get your corpse on...

The New Brand of Recovery

So this came to my attention a couple of days ago. We have a new logo to represent our current recovery "stimulus" package. The first thing I noticed was how bad it is. I instantly thought of the logo for the National Recovery Administration from the 1930's. Take a good look at both of them. From a design standpoint there is no challenge (especially when you add in the 75 year difference) the NRA logo wins hands down.

Of course we have the obvious stars, what's up with the 2 stars that are bastardized bleeding off the blue? The gears that represent work, haven't we come a little further in 75 years? And the tilted green ghost, oh wait I guess that's a plant representing "green" growth - I get it...

This stamp was created to mark every project of the "stimulus" package of 2009. I saw the question raised yesterday - how do we mark the pig odor research in Iowa - does each pig get the new stamp branded on them? And since the logo itself was a government project that I sure taxpayers payed too much for, shouldn't it have a stamp on itself? I have great concerns about where this idea of branding government money will take us as a nation.

Do a little research on the National Recovery Administration of the 1930's and you'll realize that the government used the symbol to try and halt free business. They tried to control prices and most importantly if you resisted to display the logo or wear the logo as a worker the administration actually campaigned for the public to boycott you.

We are all in this regardless of how much money each of us puts into the recovery, do we really need a clip art created logo to tell us that our government is working for us? Maybe every politician in DC should be wearing the new logo on their lapels. Maybe it would remind them they represent the public where they reside. I believe this logo will be short lived - even the NRA only lasted 2 years before being put out of business by the supreme court in 1935.

Observe or Inspire

I wanted to do a brief post about a great site called Card Observer. The idea behind the site is to basically feature really well designed and produced business cards. The thing I love about sites like this is they really inspire everyone to want something better. The production techniques highlighted range from letterpress, die cutting, screen printing to special ink techniques.

Check it out and get inspired. It's one thing to observe and another to inspire and be inspired. Just in case you were looking for a particularly well done card check out the entry from 2.28.09. It's one of my favorites.

What's Kraft Up To?

So on the heals of the Tropicana debacle I was shopping this last weekend and noticed another terrible mistake being made by a huge food manufacturer. This time it's Kraft. They recently had changed their corporate logo, which frankly I payed little attention to since it was really more of a corporate internal change at this point. You can see the trusty hexagon shape that's been around forever and the new flowery butterfly thing that they have now. I can't understand why they would move in this direction. It's not like there is any element of this new logo that can replace the current (before) Kraft logo that stills occupies all of their packaging.



Let me get back to what got me to this point. I was in the cheese section (this is where I spend a large amount of time in the store - cheese is awesome) looking for some shredded cheese and noticed this awful package (above). Kraft seems to think that it's now necessary to put pictures of big blocks of cheese on there shredded cheese packages. This is insane. Who needs to see what cheese looks like when "hello" it's right there in the see through package.

To me this packaging really starts to take on the look of a generic brand, too bad it's not priced that way. Honestly I can't say I really cared for the old blue Kraft Cheese packaging. I never purchased it - I was always drawn to the Sargento packaging. I guess if I'm going to pay $4 for cheese I don't want it to look generic. My personal fear is that all brands will start down this road. I would love to know what the thought is behind these changes. Maybe someday we will find out. What do you think?