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Imperfect Produce, Perfect Branding

Imperfect Produce  is a customizable weekly produce delivery company that offers irregular produce at reduced costs. The company was born out of a desire to reduce food waste. According to their website, “ more than 20% of the fruits and vegetables grown in America never make it off the farm because they aren’t perfect enough for grocery store standards,” resulting in “billions of pounds of wasted produce every year.” This is an issue that I’ve been aware of for a while, after having seen the documentary  Just Eat It , but I didn’t really know what to do about it aside from picking less desirable-looking produce at stores. So I was really excited when I found out that this service had become available in LA, having first established itself in Northern California.  I’ve been using the service for a few months now and there is much to recommend it, which I'll get into later, but as a graphic designer I’ve been especially impressed with their branding.  See below f...
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I'm Ready for the Robocalypse...if They'll Clean Up My Cats' Poop

I first saw the Litter Robot at CatCon LA last year, browsing through the aisles of every kind of products for cats imaginable, including a lot of tech items. It's sort of the Rolls Royce of automatic cat litter boxes, with a price tag to match ($450, but hey free shipping!). My boyfriend and I joked that this would be one of the first things we'd get when we moved in together, since between the two of us there would be three cats and we could just imagine what the litter box scooping situation would look like. Fast forward a year later, and we decided to take the Litter Robot plunge! We read up on all the reviews, of course, and when I saw that it was one of Styletails.com's picks for best of pet tech from CES 2017, it sealed the deal. When it got delivered to my office about a week after placing the order, I was pretty impressed with the package design; they do a lot with just black ink on corrugate cardboard. It's cost-effective but still impactful: simple, clean...

Minimalism has ruled for a while—is it time for "Maximalism"?

Came across this intriguing  article  about how minimalism' grip is loosening in the design world, making the way for "maximalism." Judging from the crazy patterns on some Lu La Roe leggings that have been making the rounds in the office, this observations seems to have merit. As a devotee of minimalism and a survivor of the 80s, I'm a little wary of this trend, but as with all things, it's a cycle and we've come back around to "expressive" and "vibrant" but also possibly "overkill." Perhaps we're approaching another roaring 20s!

A Behind-the-scenes Look at Professional Pub Design

Go to any large city and chances are you'll run into an "Irish" pub. While some are no doubt owned by genuine Irish expats, looks like most of these establishments are professionally designed by companies such as   The Irish Pub Company . Touting itself as "Taking the Best of Old Pub Culture & Integrating with the Trends of Today." they certainly have a process that works. They've built "Irish pubs" all over the world, filling a demand yet also creating more as the popularity of these establishments increases. This post is a fascinating glimpse into the world of professional pub design.

A+ For This College Student's Dating "Resume"

A junior at Michigan State sure has made internet waves with his dating " resume ." It's clever, hilarious, and very well-designed. We're pretty sure we'd say yes if he asked us out. Bravo!

Clever Drawings With GPS Tracking

Ever since live GPS tracking allowed people to see the paths they've walked/run/biked, people have gotten the bright idea to make pictures. There was a woman a few years back who famously drew all kinds of penises while running with her Nike+ app , and now there is a guy who biked 125 miles just so he could draw a picture of a goat . I gotta say, I'm not immune to immortalizing myself through GPS drawings--the two pictured in this post are my attempts. It required some planning in Google Maps and running with a sheet of detailed instructions on when to turn on which streets.

Superior Package Design Sets a Commodity Product Apart

How has the commoditization of the consumer technology market influenced the design of the packaging. This blog explores two difference scenarios: Packaging as a silent salesman and packaging as an extention of the brand. But first. here are the reasons we know that commoditization has taken place in the consumer technology market: The length of the product cycles has gotten much shorter. Price erosion has effected margins in many categories (ie: TVs, mobile phones, Ink jet printers) House brands now complete with well known brands such as Sony and LG Customers can gather product knowledge at the tap of a finger Some categories of products are impulse buys (ie: ear buds, phone cases, chargers) For brands such as Apple, this doesn't present an issue. They have a branded store which allows them to charge a premium and control the competition in the retail environment. They sell their brand at other retail outlets as well; but they will often have a branded section within a...