Designing the packaging and vehicle wraps for a new brand of entirely natural fruit drink beverage called Earth Wise. I love the overlook and feel of the package with its soft background tones to enhance the fruits’ appetite appeal. The font choices also appear to have a neutral organic rhythm to them. Truly, a great start for a new brand! "Johanna Foods, Inc. has announced the debut of “Earth Wise,” a new brand of entirely natural fruit drink beverages (with initial shipping scheduled for June 2009). Earth Wise’s premium beverage line includes four unique and refreshing flavors in 64 oz gable-top cartons: Watermelon Supreme, Harvest Lemonade, Passionfruit Aloe, and Pomegranate Blueberry. Key to the brand’s uniqueness is the visually striking and attention-grabbing brand identity and packaging, handled by New Jersey/California-based agency, Smith Design.“Earth Wise brand beverages really answer current consumer, food and marketing trends,” said Karen Prongay, VP Marketing at Johanna Foods. “No HFCS, Superfruits, and high overall juice content.”Using only natural ingredients, and no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, Earth Wise products are sweetened with pure, natural sugar, and no high-fructose corn syrup, and are gluten-free. Further ensuring strong appeal with a growing multitude of health-minded consumers, they contain up to 25% real fruit juice, significantly more than other leading drink brands. Earth Wise products incorporate the power of superfruits into flavors like Passionfruit Aloe, Pomegranate Blueberry & Watermelon Supreme. Its popularity has exploded in recent years as consumers have come to understand their health benefits.“Using the illustrated fruit images on each package was key to presenting a healthful image on the shelf,” said James Smith, founding partner of Smith Design.“Johanna Foods marketing team was seeking a simple, fresh, optimistic design that really played up the brand’s benefits, as well as the environmental message of Earth Wise,” added Martha Seidner, VP of Smith Design who lead the upfront research and creative development teams at Smith Design. “The brand owner was clear with the objective: superior shelf presence against the entire chilled juice segment.“We were challenged to deliver something new and distinctive - and to avoid ‘modern - minimalist,’ which has become commonplace in packaged foods and is often confused with ‘store brand.’ We believe that approach has lead to the dilution of visual equity of once-important national brands, leaving them vulnerable.”According to Seidner, Smith Design’s process included an extensive discovery phase where it conducted visual audits of a range of juice shelf sets - from chilled to shelf-stable. “The design team uncovered predominant themes that we feel are over-saturated in the category, making what was once unique, appear ordinary,” said Seidner. Smith Design identified key themes in the juice arena including: “Euro-clean & modern,” “mainstream, everyday-naturals,” “premium organic,” “exotic-world-cultures,” and “authentic-local.” Each of the design team’s approaches was reviewed against the key brands in their visual branding.“The result of the upfront strategic work, audits and analysis lead to a very powerful, ownable design,” said Seidner. “With the recent Tropicana debacle, the importance of creating and maintaining compelling, ownable visual branding is top-of-mind for our clients."According to Johanna Foods, the early retailer response has been very favorable to the line. It is currently on the shelf in hundreds of Market Basket and ShopRite supermarkets and will soon be available at A & P, Pathmark, and other chains. “When the cartons are lined up on the shelf, that’s the true test.” continued Seidner. “Earth Wise packaging speaks to consumers expectation for premium package design aesthetics – regardless of the price point.”Earth Wise products also boast “earth-friendly” production methods, ingredients and packaging, guaranteeing strong appeal with environmentally-conscious consumers. Chilled cartons are certified as recyclable wherever applicable recycling exists (werecyclecartons.com). As part of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Earth Wise has pledged to plant 1.5 trees for every tree harvested. The brand will be supported by a diverse marketing program, including FSI’s, promotional Smart cars and full graphic trailer wraps, also handled by Smith Design.
These chocolate gift packs are minimal but powerfully bold. With the logo peacefully placed on top for visual impact. Great Job!From a press release about the Antoine Amrani Premium Chocolates design by SmithDesign:" Local Philadelphia pastry chef and internationally recognized Chocolatier and Chef Patissier Antoine Amrani is behind this provocative new line. “I want people to return to the beauty and enjoyment of life’s simple luxuries and small pleasures,” said Amrani. “This begins with beautifully designed packaging, and I believe the outside of the box needs to match the experience of enjoying the fine chocolates contained within.”Hired to extend Amrani’s vision to brand identity, packaging and website was Smith Design, an award-winning brand design firm with offices in New Jersey and California. Smith Design’s mission was to develop a compelling visual image that would make a bold statement in the super premium chocolate category. "“Our charge was to position Antoine Amrani Chocolates at the highest end of the premium segment and to visually convey classic tradition with modern, vibrant innovation,” said Martha Seidner, Vice President, Smith Design, who lead the project team. “Antoine and the team at Smith Design agreed that all of the components that comprise the brand, from the shapes of the chocolates to its packaging, would mirror the brand’s promise; a ‘superlative chocolate experience™’ Smith Design worked closely with Antoine Amrani and his partners to translate the full extent of their vision into a luxurious brand identity.”Fred Potok, a partner in Antoine Amrani Chocolates, had worked with Smith Design previously in his building and development business. “Smith Design was brought in because we needed the attentiveness of a boutique firm that also offered an extensive background in food—which is Smith Design’s core competency. Their team analyzed the competitive sets, developed our positioning, tagline and created all the visual elements that make up our brand at every consumer touchpoint, Their team really understood the premium, luxury brand aesthetic, yet also offered extensive experience on leading CPG food brands. They created every aspect of our visual branding—logo, copy, sustainable packaging, consumer website –even our chef uniforms. Their interior designers are now assisting with the design of our factory store.”Typically, chocolate companies use existing stock molds (due to the time needed to create custom molds), yet the team felt there was nothing “in stock” that matched the level of these chocolates. Antoine Amrani’s bon bon shapes were developed by Smith Design’s team of illustrators and designers, who worked closely with an exclusive supplier in Italy on the final tooling for the molds. The results are beautifully sculpted domes, some with subtle shimmers of color and each enrobed in Antoine’s signature rich, dark chocolate. Every piece is provocative and designed to be intuitive to its particular flavor.“People are inherently influenced by what they see,” said Seidner, a 20-year veteran of visual branding industry. “They love being enticed. When you taste Antoine Amrani Chocolates, the deal is closed. But understanding how people behave, we wanted the chocolates and overall brand to be a feast for all of the senses. Antoine’s flavors, texture, aromas and ingredients are simply unmatched and so the visual experience needed to be very special. The packaging suggests the experience that awaits inside the box — classic, rich dark chocolates with notes and flavors that are colorful and vibrant.”The Antoine Amrani packaging conveys excellence without saying a word; rich, matte, mahogany brown gift boxes contrast a chartreuse logo stamped on each lid. The papers used from Mohawk Fine Papers were selected for their environmental benefits.“We explored a range of paper options, and as a sustainable design firm, we recommend what offered the greatest benefits,” said Seidner. “Not only did the papers fully maximize our design strategy, but they are carbon neutral and manufactured with Green-e certified wind energy.”Their brand’s signature pattern, a European-inspired scrollwork, lines each box and shows through where the lid meets the base. The dark brown boxes are offset with vibrant paper sleeves in magenta, orange, purple and green—an unexpected bold and modern twist.Antoine has received tremendous encouragement from one of his mentors, Jean Banchet, one of the most influential chefs in the US, and founder of Chicago’s acclaimed La Francais Restaurant, which Bon Appetite Magazine once proclaimed, “The Best French Restaurant in America.” Antoine Amrani creates the finest chocolates in the United States,” said Banchet.
