Zunda Design Group
South Norwalk, Connecticut • www.zundagroup.com

Clockwise from upper left: Charlie Zunda, partner; Gary Esposito, partner; Marie Zunda, partner, Ed Moeller, partner.

Three years ago, four longtime colleagues decided to combine their strengths to create a powerhouse package design and brand identity firm. Charlie Zunda, Gary Esposito, Ed Moeller, and Marie Zunda now lead a staff of 30 that has diverse yet similar strengths that can cultivate long-term relationships with large CPG clients. For over 25 years, Zunda Group's focus has been "Creating Brands That Inspire."

The big concept of Zunda Group is trying to create a unique point of difference because the partners have deep experience on the "other side of the fence," as it were, in the corporate culture of consumer product goods companies. That puts them in a unique position to anticipate the needs of their more established clients. "I'm not sure if we're a big little group or a little big group," Moeller ponders.

Of the established corporate clients, Gary Esposito emphasizes, "They know us, not just of us." Esposito is very proud of the work environment at Zunda Group because there are no egos allowed inside the office walls. "We don't sit off in an ivory tower," says Esposito.

Every project at the firm is handled similarly, and every project is seen by six or seven senior members of the firm during development. One of the firm's strengths is their ability to distill design briefs quickly because they know the marketing language intimately. They usually redefine the brief and go back to clients with their thoughts. A single clear message is important, because the visual graphics need to be focused.

When it comes to brand research, Zunda Group and their team of research partners create innovative research styles that help them get to the bottom of why a brand exists and that allow them to get into the minds of consumers.

Moeller says the firm has definitely responded to—or led—the trend toward package design simplicity. He explains that in recent decades computer software made many companies expect more from their designs, but that strategy did not always produce the most effective designs as brand communications became a little lost by embellishment.

In a sense, today's simplicity trend is reverting to a more pure idea of strong brand design. "We're getting design down to its real core essence," Moeller says, and that essence is visual. "We're still designing brands for very specific targets."

The firm's partners agree on one thing: A brand's essence is contained in all the graphic elements (like color, shape, texture, photography) that make up the packaging. The visual elements on a package must work together to make the brand message clear. Zunda says that it's how the visual elements come together that creates the ability to "create brands that inspire."