Packaging is the ultimate vehicle for design: industrial, graphic, and typographic design are all put to the test to create an impression so meaningful that it converts currency into consumerism. This ...
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By Bill Wynkoop
Many years ago, I had a summer class in London with Richard Head, one of the principals at the Siebert Head brand design firm. He had a great marketing mind and his class had a big impact on me. In particular, the thing that I best remember him for was introducing me to the classic challenge of putting nine dots on a page in a three-by-three formation and then inviting the solution to connect all of the dots with four lines or less.
The natural progression is to draw a box, which leaves the middle dot open. A variety of criss-cross options are then tried, but they inevitably leave one of the corners untouched. Enlightenment comes—hopefully in less than 15 minutes—when you realize that if you extend the lines beyond the visual boundary of the edges, the solution is quite easy.
At the time it was first given, Richard had told us that he used this example to show how constrained an approach can be if boundaries are perceived—I really took his notion to heart and have kept it there since, which may explain why I readily am fascinated by product developers who eschew convention in favor of creating a heretofore unseen presence in the marketplace.
Skewering perceived boundaries
While walking the Fancy Food Show floor in New York this past summer, I used this prism of "an unseen presence" to isolate three products that stood out to me, perhaps none more so than the Seasoned Skewers from Callisons Fine Foods.
Callisons is a century-old flavor company whose primary business had been rooted for many years in mint and peppermint for the oral care and confectionary markets. Four years ago, they held an internal challenge (or competition, if you will) to look for a new delivery option. It yielded the accidental creation of a lemon pepper skewer.
The skewer is loaded by weight with "15-minute flavor" so that the only thing users need to do is slide it into their meat and let it marinate for one-quarter hour. Damon Smith, Callison's president, readily recognized the unique aspects of the delivery system, so he gathered his marketing group together and they decided to start a food division.
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