MClean Design

We created The Buccaneer for Plata Wines as a brand that combines the excitement and mystery of pirate mythology with a premium wine in an effort to increase Plata’s presence with exclusive Buccaneer retailer BevMo. A hand drawn brandmark with references to the romantic flourishes, scrolls and stylings from the time period buccaneers sailed the Caribbean in the 17th century combined with authentic pirate symbology instead of tired skull and cross bone clichés help elevate The Buccaneer above the expected. The oversized, menacing black label, slightly muted stamped foil and the glossy blood red flag emphasize The Buccaneer’s heritage and sense of adventure.

Design Panel at ‘Brewbound Craft Beer Session’ Announced

http://www.brewbound.com/news/design-panel-at-brewbound-craft-beer-session-announced

Featured craft brewers include Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing, Benjamin Weiss from The Bruery

As retailers continue to add SKU’s to their shelves and more craft brands emerge into the marketplace, it’s becoming increasingly important that craft brewers separate themselves with creative label designs and innovative packaging.

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I don’t miss the giant starbursts that used to read “10% MORE FREE!” but I hope nobody asks me to design a “NOW WITH FEWER OUNCES” burst anytime soon either.

Consumer Reports recently published an article on a trend of companies trimming ounces out of their packaged goods to combat rising materials and production costs. The article can be found here.

“From toothpaste to tuna fish, hot dogs to hand soap, companies have been shaving ounces and inches from packaged goods for years, usually blaming it on rising costs for ingredients and energy.”

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This year, our holiday season looks to be as busy as ever. Somehow, just as most people are planning time away from the office, our little corner of the world heats up.

Currently, based on a certain depth of experience which we are certain is in no way complete, we are aware of three basic variations of the dubiously christened “holiday” project:

1) “Our annual budget is about to be renewed at the first of the year, so let’s get that 250-sku redesign project started over the holidays. Your first invoice will probably be due just about the time our new budget is approved, and we’ll get a jump start on the New Year.”

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As the design team that developed Monster Energy, we get questions all the time from different corners of the market, asking us to relate our success in capturing the energy drink market to, for example, impulse snack food purchases, or high-end car care products.

We always try to provide clear answers, so we take another look at the situation we faced and extrapolate forward. Somehow, despite feeling like we’ve drained that well dry, we continue to learn. Turns out that well is deep, and we have much to say.

Our busy studio schedule has never allowed us the time to actually sit down and pen the book we keep threatening to write – “Creating A Monster” or something equally Frankensteinian – so we thought to write it here, one bite-sized chunk at a time, starting with this, our inaugural post.

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