At Issue Vol4 No1

7/28/2019 At Issue Vol4 No1

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-E-H-E J-jO-lLO A L 0 F B u T T ^ ^


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Volume 4, No. 1The Journal of Business and DesignPublisherCorporate Design FoundationSponsored by Potlatch CorporationEditorDelphine HirasunaDesignPentagramKit Hinrichs, Design DirectorAmy Chan, DesignerContributing WritersDelphine HirasunaNoreen O'LearyPeter LawrenceCover IllustrationJohn HerseyMajor Illustration and PhotographyPaul DavisBarry RobinsonEditorial Advisory BoardPeter LawrenceCorporate Design FoundationSara BeckmanHaas School of BusinessUniversity of California at BerkeleyAgnes BourneAgnes Bourne Inc.Kit HinrichsPentagramDelphine HirasunaHirasuna EditorialPeter LaundyDoblin GroupJames PatellGraduate School of BusinessStanford UniversityChristopher PullmanWGBH Educational FoundationFor more informationCorporate Design Foundation20 Park Plaza, Suite 321Boston, MA 02116Telephone: 617-350-7097Fax: 617-451-6355E-mail: [email protected] Wide Web site:ht tp : / /www.cdf .o rg

issue:
mailto:[email protected]://www.cdf.org/http://www.cdf.org/mailto:[email protected]


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his ed i t ion o f @Issue f e a t u r e s c o r p o r a t i o n s t h a t h a v e u s e d d e s i g n a s ab r a n d d i f f e r e n t i a t o r a n d a m e a n s to

p r o d u c t s . R e a d h o wo v e .Pi tney Bowes postage machines .on ce co ns ide red too ugly to b e let out of the mai l room,have been t r ans fo rmed in to a marve l o f func t ionand s ty le . Learn how Minute Maid rev ived

in t e r e s t in i ts j u i c e p r o d u c t s w i th c o lo r fu l n e w p a c k a g i n g . F i n d

o u t h o w W i l l i a m s - S o n o m aca ta logs a r e des igned toc o m m u n i c a t e h i g h - e n dva lue and b rand per - ;sonal i ty . And be sure to hear what Business Week'sB r u c e N u s s b a u m #N - 1 has to say about how designca n cre ate top - l ine growth. T h e n , for a changeof p a c e , m a t c h t h e a n i m a l w i th t h e c o m p a n y inour Corporate Pe, Quiz, aud learn why there's'm o r e to a P a p e r C l i p t h a n y o u m a y t h i n k . ^.


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B u s in e s s W e e k ' s B r u c e N u s s b a u m o n D e s ig nAn advocate for the coverage of des ign in Business Week,edi tor ia l page edi tor Bruce Nussbaum ta lks here wi th PeterLawrence, chairman of Corporate Design Foundation, aboutwhy des igners must take the lead in the New Economy andth e magazine's new arch i tec tura l des ign awards .

B usiness Week frequently refers tothe New Economy. Could you definewhat that means.Th e Ne w E c o n o m y s im p ly m e a n s t h a t t h ewor ld has changed . The r i se o f g loba l izat ion and in format ion techno logy has d ramat ica l ly a l te red the economic env i ronment .The huge amount o f g loba l compet i t ion ou tth e r e h a s m e a n t t h a t c o m p a n ie s c a n ' t r a i sepr ices very eas i ly . At the same t ime, techno logy has a l lowed whole sec to rs to ac tu a l ly lower p r ices whi le p roducing more .

This has fo rced Corpora te Amer ica tore th ink the way i t had opera ted th roughoutthe '70s and '80s , when everyone went onthe assumpt ion tha t i f you had h igh g rowth ,you generated inf lat ion. I f you had lowunemployment , you genera ted in f la t ion . I fyou had in f la t ion , companies genera ted p rof i t s the easyway by ra is ing p r ices .

No lo n g e r a b l e t o r a i se p r i c e s , Co r p o r a t e Am e r i c ase t abou t p ro tec t ing p rof i t marg ins by aggress ive lyshr ink ing opera t ions and cu t t ing costs . They had to dot h i s , and they a re no t qu i te f in ished ye t . Bu t the ne tresu l t i s tha t they 've become fa i r ly p roduct ive in thenew wor ld economy, and no longer want to , o r can ' t ,sh r in k a n y m o r e .

The editorial page editorfo r Business Week, BruceNussbaum was instrumentalin convincing the magazineto support the Industrial DesignSociety of America's annualIndustrial Design ExcellenceAward (IDEA), published eachJune. Before joining BusinessWeek in 1976, he wrote acolumn on the bond marketfo r The American Bankerand was executive editor ofManhattan, Inc. He is a member of the Council on ForeignRelations and the authorof two books, World After Oiland Good Intentions.

Today we are see ing numbers tha t a ret ru ly revo lu t ionary s t rong and r i s ingp r o d u c t iv i t y c o m b in e d w i th f a l l in g i n f la t ion . I t ' s r a ther unheard o f in the e igh thyear o f a business cyc le . We haven ' t seenn u m b e r s l i k e t h a t f o r m a y b e 3 0 y e a r s .Business Week ca l l s i t the New Economy,th e n e w b u s in e ss c y c l e .Are companies still shrinking?N o . T h e n e w b u z z w o r d i n C o r p o r a t eA m e r i c a i s t o p - l i n e g r o w t h , m e a n i n gr e v e n u e g r o w t h . O v e r t h e l a s t 5 - 7years, we've switched from a cost-cutt ingobsess ion to a top- l ine g rowth obsess ion .How does top-line growth differfrom a "shrinking" strategy?Fo r a l o n g t im e c o m p a n ie s t h a t wa n te dto sh r ink went to consu l tan ts fo r he lp .

Co n su l t i n g g r o u p s d id a p r e t t y g o o d jo b i n h e lp in gthem. But the peop le who can te l l you how to sh r inkare not the people who can tel l you how to grow. Theymay be good a t he lp ing you to con t ro l the numbersbu t no t a t he lp ing you to expand and crea te new ideas .For top-l ine growth, you have to sell something. Fortha t you need design . Design innovat ion wi l l p rov idethe new products . Designers can te l l you how to g row,how to innovate , how to change your cu l tu re .


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"Designers a r e t h in k i n g o f t h e m -s e lv e s m o r e a s c o n s u l t a n t sa n d m o v in g i n t o . . .a m a n a g e m e n tc o n s u l t i n g ^ ^ ^

What needs tohappen for design to be used for top-line growth?I f th is new economic parad igm is t rue , then designhas to become a basic par t o f business educa t ion . I t i sabso lu te ly c r i t ica l to make design an in tegra l par t o fbusiness schoo l educa t ion and no t an e lec t ive , as i t i sin most schools. I t has to become a core part of thecur r icu lum because we are no longer in the business o fshr ink ing , s t reaml in ing and t igh ten ing . We ' re in thebusiness o f g rowing , expand ing and crea t ing , and tha ti s what des ign does best . The New Economy is opening up enormous oppor tun i t ies fo r des ign p rofess iona lswho are wi l l ing to walk th rough tha t door and knowwhat to do.Are design schools preparing studentsto step into the New Economy?I th ink design educa t ion needs to change d ramat ica l ly .De s ig n sc h o o l s a r e s t i l l g r a d u a t in g p e o p le wh o a r ebasica l ly an tagon is t ic toward business c l ien ts . I t ' s oneof those insane th ings where i t ' s coo l to be an a r t i s t ,bu t wre tched to be the peop le who buy your a r t . I t ' s aser ious p rob lem. I t ' s an educa t ion p rob lem. But thegood news i s tha t most des ign f i rms have learned tosp e a k th e l a n g u a g e o f b u s in e ss , t h e y ' v e l e a r n e d th ecu l tu re o f business . So , when young designers ge t ou to f sc h o o l a n d g e t t h e i r f i r s t j o b , t h e so c i a l i z a t i o nprocess i s p re t ty shock ing . That ' s where an awfu l lo to f learn ing i s tak ing p lace .

You have been instrumental in significantlyincreasing Business Week's coverage of design.Why do you feel it is important to your readers?Design has become a c r i t ica l s t ra teg ic and tac t ica lw e a p o n u s e d b y c o r p o r a t i o n s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d .Wh e th e r i n a c o s t - c u t t i n g o r g r o wth p h a se , c o m p a n ie scannot do wi thou t i t these days . The bo t tom l ine i s youhave go t to se l l someth ing in business . You can ' t cu tcosts to in f in i ty because there would be no th ing le f t .Design can g ive you the th ings to se l l . At the samet im e , i t c a n p l a y a t r e m e n d o u s r o l e i n c u t t i n g c o s t s ,resu l t ing in th ings wi th fewer par ts , th ings tha t snapto g e th e r . Fo r m a n y r e a so n s , d e s ig n m u s t b e v i e we db y b u s i n e s s a s a n a b s o l u t e l y e s s e n t i a l c o m p e t e n c y ,whether i t i s a core competency o r you h i re i t ou t . I fy o u lo o k a t d e s ig n t h e se d a y s , i t ' s t h e c o m b in a t io nof innovat ion and p roduct deve lopment tha t i s key .Since you began covering the annualIDEA awards for Business Week,what kinds of changes have you observed?I would say tha t 8 , 9 , 10 years ago , p roduct des ignwas basica l ly abou t s ty l ing . Eng ineers would come upwith the innovation, throw it over the wall to the marke t ing peop le , who 'd come up wi th an idea on how tosell i t , and throw it over another wall for the designersto pu t a p re t ty face on i t . Tha t p rocess has changeddramat ica l ly . Designers a re now a t the very leas t par to f an in tegra ted team. They are invo lved f rom thebeg inn ing and , in some cases , d r iv ing the whole th ing .Th e l a r g e r d e s ig n sh o p s e sp e c i a l l y h a v e t h e i r o wnengineer ing capab i l i t ies . Not on ly do they design , theyh a v e a r r a n g e m e n t s i n As i a to m a n u f a c tu r e p a r t s a n da sse m b le t h e m . Th e y ' r e a d d in g f u n c t io n s a n d p r o v id ing serv ices . Th is i s a rea l evo lu t ionary change .Is design serving a different function in business today?Design has become very much an innovat ion indust ry .W e ' re no t jus t ta lk ing abou t the desig n of one p rodu ct .We ' re ta lk ing abou t the design o f the whole p rocessof innovat ion in a company . Designers a re th ink ing o fthemselves more as consu l tan ts and moving in to whatt r a d i t i o n a l ly h a s b e e n a m a n a g e m e n t c o n s u l t i n g f u n c t i o n , p r o v id in g " tu to r in g " o n i n n o v a t io n a s we l l a sp r o d u c t d e s ig n . Th e y ' r e a l so c h a r g in g th e wa y m a n agement consu l tan ts charge , and fo r good reason . St i l l ,I a m a l i t t l e c o n c e r n e d wh e n I g e t t o g e th e r w i th ab u n c h of d e s ig n e r s a n d th e y d o n ' t e v e n m e n t io n t h e


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w o r d d e s i g n . I d o n ' t wa n t t h e m to go too far and forgetth e i r r o o t s and the f a c t t h a t the glory of d e s i g n iss o m e t h i n g t h a t you can see and feel and h e a r . P r o d u c t"lust" to me is rea l ly the so u l of the i n d u s t r y . I d o n ' tw a n t t h e m to l o se t h a t .When you say designers are beginningto charge management consultant fees,I'm assuming you are saying prices are going up?T h e c o s t of g o o d d e s i g n has b e e n g o i n g up for thel a s t 3 y e a r s . For w h a t it d e l i v e r s , it is s t i l l i n c r e d ib lyc h e a p . You can h i r e one of the b e s t d e s ig n e r s in thec o u n t r y t o d a y for the p r i c e of a New York shr ink . Mya d v i c e : Get it wh i l e it's c h e a p b e c a u s e it can p r o v id et e r r i f i c p a y b a c k . In the a r e a of in fo rmat ion design , weh a v e n ' t t a l k e d a b o u t Web s i t e d e s ig n , the I n t e r n e t .T h a t has l i f t e d g r a p h i c d e s i g n r i g h t off the floor.G r a p h i c d e s i g n e r s w e r e e v e n m o r e p o o r l y p a i dt h a n p r o d u c t d e s i g n e r s u n t i l a few y e a r s ago. Nowg r a p h ic d e s ig n has t a k e n off and it's r e a l l y b o o m in g .Is the use of design for innovationwidespread throughout Corporate America?No . I th ink we ' re s t i l l dea l ing wi th a s m a l l n u m b e r ofs m a r t c o m p a n i e s m a k i n g the b e s t use of d e s i g n . I'd say7 0 to 80% of Co r p o r a t e Am e r i c a d o e sn ' t r e a l l y k n o wth e v a lu e of d e s ig n and i sn ' t u t i l iz ing it proper ly , if atall . De s ig n has to be a c e n t r a l c o n c e r n of top m a n a g e m e n t the CEO or se n io r VP l e v e l to wo r k . If d e s ig nis a p e r i p h e r a l f u n c t i o n , the c o m p a n y w i l l o n ly get

HVI'd say 70to 80% ofCorporate

America doesn't really knowthe value of design and isn'tutilizing it properly, if at all."

a b o u t 5% of wh a t d e s ig n can del iver . It's cr i t ica l tha tit is b r o u g h t c l o s e to d e c i s i o n m a k e r s in an i n s t i t u t i o n a l f r a m e wo r k .Are consumer research groups effective in improvingdesign or are they an impediment to innovation?If you don ' t over -genera l ize the res u l t s , focus g roupsc a n be a useful tool . I know design f i rms tha t use t h e mto l e a r n wh a t is good or bad a b o u t a p r o d u c t in them a r k e t p l a c e . It gives them a s ta r t ing po in t for i n n o v a t i n g , a way to l e a r n wh a t p e o p le l i k e and d o n ' t l i k ea b o u t a p r o d u c t . Th a t ' s p r e t t y u se f u l . But it won' t giveyou a Palm Pi lo t . It won' t give you a b r e a k t h r o u g h . It'sw h a t you do with the in fo rmat ion tha t de te rmines howeffective it will be.Last year Business Week began collaborating with theAmerican Institute of Architects on a joint architecturecompetition. What prompted this interest?Ov e r the l a s t c o u p le of y e a r s it has b e c o m e c l e a r t h a ta r c h i t e c t u r e is b e i n g u s e d as a powerfu l business too l .T h a t was not a lwa y s so. Ten, 15 y e a r s ago, a r c h i t e c t u r ewa s b a s i c a l l y a p la y th in g of overs ized egos for bothin d iv id u a l s and corpora t ions . Corpora t ions c rea ted thesem o n u m e n t s for t h e m s e l v e s . We w e r e not i n t e r e s t e d int h a t at Business Week. But o n c e a r c h i t e c t u r e t r a n s formed i tself into a design serv ice tha t cou ld do p o we r ful things for c o r p o r a t i o n s , we b e c a m e i n t e r e s t e d in it.In analyzing the architecturalentries, were there any surprises?I was s t r u c k by two t h i n g s . One, the p o w e r of a r c h i t e c tu r e to sa v e e n o r m o u s a m o u n t s of money . We ' re ta lk ingin the c a s e of one c o m p a n y , No r t e l , a h u n d r e d m i l l i o ndo l la r s . Ta lk abou t power!

O n the o th e r h a n d , in l o o k in g at s o m e of the l o se r s ,t h e r e ' s so m e r e a l l y a wf u l a r c h i t e c tu r e out t h e r e t h a tw o r k s to be a n t i - i n n o v a t i v e . It m a k e s p e o p l e s t u p i d .S p a c e s can be c r e a t e d t h a t su c k the life out of a workt e a m , s u c k the life out of an o r g a n iz a t i o n . Te r r i f i csp a c e s h e lp t e a m s s t a y f r e sh and foster an e n v i r o n m e n tth a t sp a r k s new i d e a s and p r o d u c t s . I was s t ruck bo thby how p o we r f u l a r c h i t e c tu r e can be and how d a n g e r o u s it c o u ld be.From a business perspective,what is design ultimately about?D e s i g n , in the end, is a b o u t c r e a t i n g b e t t e r t h i n g sf o r p e o p le . A lo n g the way, it can g e n e r a t e b e t t e rp rof i t s as w e l l .


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Before Pi tney Bowes redesigned i t s postage meter products ,i t f i r s t had to redes ign i t s cu l ture . Where prev ious ly ,i n -house des igne rs focused on p l eas ing t he i r " i n t e rna l

9'L i s t e d i n B u s i n e s s W e e k ' s a n n u a l t r i b u t e t o t h ecompan ies p roduc ing the mos t p rog res s ive p roduc tdes ig n l a s t yea r w as a na m e tha t once con ju red

up al l the dul l but dura ble c hara cter is t ics of pos t of ficebureaucracy coupled with back-off ice obscur i ty . P i tneyBow es . A company tha t v i r tua l ly c r ea ted the pos tagemete r indus t ry in 1920 , P i tney Bow es has long beenres pec ted fo r func t iona l i ty bu t no t fo r aes the t i c s .Look aga in . O ver the la s t coup le o f yea r s , P i tn eyB o w e s ' g a w ky , w o r k h o r s e m a c h i n e s h a v e u n d e r g o n ea sensual t ransformat ion as the company turned i tse l fin to a $3 .9 b i l l ion g lobal paper /d ig i ta l hybr id . Al thoughbes t know fo r i t s pos ta l me te r s , t oday i t a l s o makesc o m p l e x m o d u l a r u n i t s , i n c l u d i n g o n e t h a t a u t o m a t e severy s t ep o f ma s s -m ai l gen era t ion . S oon i t even

John Moody, President,Mailing Systems Division, Pitney Bowes, Inc.Moody heads up Pitney Bowes' core business division and largest revenue generator, which producesmail processing systems for large companies as wellas home offices.

expects to of fer cus tomers the opt ion of document d is t r ibut ion d irect ly through fax and e-mai l . The holdero f more than 3 , 0 00 p a ten t s , P i tney Bow es i s r anke damong the top 200 companies wor ldwide granted patentsover the pas t ten years .

A s the dominan t p laye r in the pos tage me te r bus i n e s s , how ever , P i tney Bow es had l i t t l e marke t incen t ive to d is t inguish i tse l f through a more sophis t icatedlook. So why is i t now lavishing a t tent ion and re tooling expens e on c r ea t ing s l eek p roduc t des igns ?

"Some yea r s ago o f fi ce p ro duc t des ign d idn ' t ma t t e r tha t much , " admi t s J ohn M oody , p r es iden t o f theP i t n e y B o w e s ' M a i l i n g S y s t e m s D i v i s i o n . "Now i t ' sbecoming inc reas ing ly impor tan t a s w e s ee ou r cus tomers r e s pond as much to the des ign o f the p roduc t sas to their funct ional i ty . I t ' s not poss ib le to persuadeour cus to me rs of ou r t echno log ica l ly adva nce d p ro d uc t s if t he des ign app eara nce a nd us e r in te r f ace don ' tc o m m u n i c a t e t h a t . "

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customers , today they, a long wi th the res t of the company,a r e u n i t e d i n p r o v i d i n g c o n s u m e r s w i t h c u t t i n g - e d g edes igns t ha t ma t ch P i t ney Bowes ' cu t t i ng -edge t echno logy .years ago, when Paul Por ter was brought in f rom WangLabora to r i e s to head the in -hous e des ign d epar tm en t .P o r te r qu ick ly d i s covered tha t even though P i tneyBow es w as a s focus ed on l ead ing -edge t echno logy asthe compu te r indus t ry , i t s image had changed l i t t l ef rom the t ime w hen cus tomers had to lug i t s heavypos tag e me ter s to the pos t off ice for ref i l l ing .

"The company has a lw ays app rec ia ted the va lue o fdes ign enough to inves t in a l a rge in -hous e des ignorganizat ion ," says Por ter . "But i t d idn ' t un der s t an dwhat the real focus of those efforts should be. As inmany compan ies , the in -hous e des igner s t a rge ted thein te rna l cus tomer - marke t ing and manufac tu r ing . Wehad to sh if t our th inking toward the outs ide cus tomer ."

F i r s t , how ever , the depar tmen t had to change itself.T rad i t iona l ly h i r ed fo r the i r ca tego ry exper i ence , thed e s i g n e r s w e r e e n c o u r a g e d t o t h i n k "outside of theb o x " a n d e m b r a c e a l l p o s s i b i l i t i e s . P o r t e r ' s d i r e c t i v ew a s : "D on ' t l ook a t w ha t ou r compe t i to r s a r e do ing .We want to create the bes t so lu t ions of an y i n d u s t r y . "

P i tney Bow es ' indus t r i a l des igner s s t a r t ed to exper i ment wi th pure form through computer s imulat ion . I tsg raph ic des ig ner s , p r ev ious ly l imi ted to packa g ing andl a b e l i n g , w e r e a s s i g n e d t o d e v e l o p s c r e e n g r a p h i c s ,w ork ing w i th human f ac to r s eng inee r s to enhance us e rin te r f ace . T ha t pa r tne r s h ip has r e s u l t ed in g rea te remphas is on color as an organizat ional tool in guidingus ab i l i ty f ea tu res . T he company ' s p la s t i c s t echno logyuni t was a lso brought c loser to the des ign depar tmentand ask ed to funct ion m ore as pro duc t des ig ner s , co ll a b o r a t i n g w i t h t h e i n d u s t r i a l d e s i g n e r s . T o g e t h e rthey work out the deta i ls of the com plica ted surfacesbe ing p roduced . P i tney Bow es ' new multidisciplinaryapproach, in tegrated among al l sk i l l se ts , i s a majorcon t r ibu to r to i t s cu r r en t des ign s ucces s .Paul Porter, Director ofNew Product Development, Pitney Bowes Inc.Porter is in charge of all new product activity forPitney Bowes' Mailing Systems Division and projectcoordination involving the engineering, marketingand design departments.


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N ow if we h ire an indus tr ia l des igner , we makesure the des igner has a sens i t iv i ty to engineer ingand manufac tu r ing , " P o r te r s ays . "When we hirea p las t ics engineer , that indiv idual has a sens i t iv i ty todes ign. We have to want to learn about what everyoneelse is doing and how that exper t ise is going to makeour overal l product des igns bet ter ."

One o ther impor ta nt funct ion ha d to be in tegrate di n t o t h e p r o d u c t d e v e l o p m e n t c y c l e : t h e m a r k e t i n gdepar tmen t . Wi th func t iona l i ty the p r imary c r i t e r i agu id ing p roduc t c r ea t ion in the pas t , t he company ' ssales and market ing s taf f had been a t the f ront l ine of

cons umer f eedback . A sa r e s u l t , marke t ing beganto domina te des ign dec i s ions . "The focus of designhad been the sa t is fact iono f ou r marke t ing peop le , "Por ter recal ls . "Undoubt-edly , that ' s impor tant . Butwe also had th is externalcus tomer tha t w e t endedto forget."

T h i s po in t w as under scored to Por ter a t anea r ly mee t ing w hen amember of h is team pos teddif ferent sketches on the

Personal Post OfficeWhile Pitney Bowes has a 90% marketshare in mail metering systems, only15% of all businesses now use apostage meter. The company createdthe Personal Post Office to pursue theother 85% of individuals and smalloffices who mail 5-10 letters a day andpreviously didn't produce the volume tomerit leasing their own postage meter.

w al l w h i l e marke t ing r eps c r i t iqued them. F rom the re ,the des igner s cobb led toge the r an incongruen t , f ina lsolu t ion with l i t t le s ty l is t ic ef fect . "Part of the reasonpas t p roduc t de s igns w ere s o func t iona l ly ba s ed w asbecaus e ou r des igner s d idn ' t have enough o rgan iza t iona l c r ed ib i l i ty to pus h the enve lope , " P o r te r a s s e r t s ."The th inking was : I f a des ign e lement d idn ' t lookl ike i t was contr ibut ing to the performance of a product , i t was supe rf luo us ."

In 199 5 , the des ign dep ar tm en t pos e d i t s f i rs tcha l l enge to s uch th ink ing w i th the c r ea t ion o f a newmai l p roces s ing s ys tem ca l l ed P os tP e r f ec t . A s t r ik ingv i s ua l depar tu re fo r a new mai l p roces s ing s ys tem,Pos tPerfect was in tended to be used in an of f ice , noth idden aw ay in the ma i l room. Bu t an ea r ly s ke tchw a s p r e m a t u r e l y r e l e a s e d to t h e c o m p a n y ' s P r o d u c tApp roval Com mit tee (PAC), ma de up of execu t ivesf rom depar tments wi th in the Mail ing Sys tems Divis ion .

Design D evelopmentFrom rough pencil sketches tocomputer renderings to the f inalproduct design, the Personal PostOffice became a reality. Here,David Beckstrom, Pi tney Bowesmanager of industrial design, givesa quick overview of the designdevelopment process.

O Conceptual SketchesAfter sketching out dozens ofapproaches, designers beginconsidering human factors,technology and manufacturabili-ty to identify the conce pts thatseem most viable. ,

Aesthetic AppealDesigned to look more l ike a high-function telephone that can sit outin the open, the Personal PostOffice features a simple form and adark neutral color that blend intoan y decor, including home off ices.

New Technology,Affordable PriceIn target ing smal l of f ice customers,Pitney Bowes knew its PersonalPost Office had to be both affordable and smal l . Combining inkjetprint ing wi th Smart Card technology, the machine al lows customersto print personalized indicia andref i l l the postage meter by phonevia the bui l t - in modem.

Gem ScaleThe scale's elliptical"dish" nests evenawkward mail ingtubes securely, andits display lets theuser see the postagerequired after thepackage is removed.

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Modelshat looks goo d on

shortcreate foam m odels

select the right architecture

Q Appearance ModelThe CAD rendering helpsthe designers and engineersresolve development issuesand make tradeoffs betweenwhat is desired and what ispossible.

O Engineering DrawingEvery part within the machinemust be placed and accountedfor. Stereolithography is usedto validate the fit and form ofthe product.

O PrototypeA plastic prototype lets designers and engineers do a finalcheck before expensive injectionmolds are made and manufacturing begins.

Smart CardIdeal for multiple users,the Smart Card plugsinto the machine andallows meter sharing bysegregating the billing.

Wedge-Shaped FormThe machine's wedgedshape gives users a better viewing angle than

looking straight down an dalso helps instruct them

on how and where toinsert the envelope.


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R a d i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m t r a d i t i o n a l P i t n e y B o w e s 'd e s i g n s , t h e s k e t c h m e t w i t h a d i s a s t r o u s r e s p o n s e .

Be l i e v in g t h e c o n c e p t wa s so u n d a n d d e t e r m in e d tos a v e t h e d e s i g n d e p a r t m e n t ' s h a r d - w o n c h a ng e s ,Po r t e r p u t t h e d e s ig n b e f o r e c o n su m e r f o c u s g r o u p s i nt h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , U n i t e d K i n g d o m , S w e d e n a n dCa n a d a . Pa r t i c ip a n t s n o t o n ly l o v e d i t , t h e y r e sp o n d e dwi th r e m a r k s l i k e " P i tn e y Bo we s d id n ' t d e s ig n t h i s . "Un so l i c i t e d , a Br i t i sh o ff ic e e q u ip m e n t m a g a z in e r a nPostPer fec t on i t s cover as an ed i to r ' s cho ice o f bes t -designed p roducts , and pa id the mach ine ' s c rea to rs ab a c k - h a n d e d c o m p l im e n t b y n o t in g i t wa s d e v e lo p e db y P i tn e y Bo we s ' " r e c e n t ly f o r m e d in d u s t r i a l d e s ig n

"The focus of design had beenthe satisfaction of our marketing people... But we also hadthis external customer that wetended to forget."

PostPerfectA radical departure from the oldpostage meters, PostPerfect was thecompany's first attempt at usingsophisticated design to convey thecutting-edge technology inside. Inaddition to incorporating fraud prevention and fund security safeguards, PostPerfect introducedimproved user features over its predecessor at 15% lower overall cost.The new system also needed fewerparts - 88 compared to 327 - anrequired 86% less assembly time.

User FriendlyUsers intuitively understand wh ere to insertthe envelope into themachine, and featuressuch as automatic dating and reset preventfrequent mistakes. ,

Thermal Transfer PrintingPostPerfect's thermaltransfer printing systemis dry and will not smear,and the ribbon cartridgeis simple to replace.

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depar tmen t . " In f ac t , t he in -hous e g roup had beenaround for more than 20 years .

T he cons umer focus g roup r es u l t s he lped to ga inPAC approval . " I t gave us the necessary val idat ion to pursue bolder forms and aes thet ics , " Por tera d d s . "For me personal ly , i t was a necessary v ic tory .I ' ve a lw ays be l i eved tha t peop le r ea l ly do under s t andgood design and want i t . But f irs t I had to s lip someth ing l ike Pos tPerfect out the door to get that necess a ry cus tomer r eac t ion to p rove me co r r ec t . "

But even whi le Pos tPerfect was s t i l l in product ion ,the des ign depar tmen t w as t e s t ed aga in . M anagemen tannounced i t w ou ld s eek ou t s ide des ign he lp on the

development of a new product , the Personal Pos t Off ice ,affordably pr iced and in tended for smal ler of f ice andreta i l cus tomers . The product was a s ignif icant sh if tin co rpo ra te s t r a t egy and one w i th cons ide rab le imp l i cat ions s ince the workplace of the 21s t century is asl ikely to be found at home as in a skyscraper . For thef i rs t t ime, P i tney Bowes in tended to se l l a productthrough nat ional TV adver t is ing and re ta i l out le ts l ikeStaples . Told that h is des igners d idn ' t have the f la i rto carry off such a high-profile launch, Porter offeredup his own job i f h is team fai led to produ ce a w inningdes ign . H is in -hous e t eam w on and came up w i th ahands ome, s imp le s o lu t ion tha t d i s pe l l ed p reconcep -

OldMachineBoxy and lacking visualappeal, Pitney Bowes' oldmachines were sturdyand functional and meantto be hidden aw ay in themailroom.

Slanted Control PanelThe angled control panel can beused comfortably from a standing position, and the brightdisplay provides full languageprompts and status messages.

Envelope TrayThe overhanging panel let designerscreate a stacking tray for meteredenvelopes without having to expandthe space requirement o f the machine

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"We're using aesthetics tounderscore our superiority, toadd value to our products andshow we are continuously furthering productdevelopment/'

t i o n s a b o u t p o s t a g e m e te r s . Th e a e s th e t i c s m a k e th emachine an a t t rac t ive desk top f i t in home of f ices and i th a s b e c o m e o n e o f P i t n e y Bo we s ' h o t t e s t n e w p r o d u c t s .

V i su a l s , o f c o u r se , a r e j u s t o n e o f t h e c h a l l e n g e sf a c in g t h e c o m p a n y ' s d e s ig n e r s . I n d e v e lo p in g th eDo c u M a tc h m a i l sy s t e m two y e a r s a g o , t h e y h a d toc r e a t e a u se r - f r ie n d ly a p p e a r a n c e f or a c o m p l i c a t e dm a c h in e t h a t t a k e s i n se r t s t h r o u g h m u l t i p l e p r o c e ss in gs t a g e s to e n c lo su r e i n a f i n al a d d r e sse d , m e te r e d e n v e lope . More recen t ly , P i tney Bowes has used designt o u n d e r s c o r e t e c h n i c a l e n h a n c e m e n t s i n r e l a u n c h e dp r o d u c t s . Th e f o r e r u n n e r of t h e c o m p a n y ' s Sp e c t r u m 5Se r i e s Fo ld e r / I n se r t e r sy s t e m h a d r e l i a b i l i t y p r o b l e m s .In re too l ing the upgrade , the 5 Ser ies had to conveyth e p e r so n a l i t y o f a n e w p r o d u c t - f or c u s to m e r s w i thshor t memor ies - whi le u t i l iz ing many of the ex is t ingc o v e r s f r o m th e a n g u la r , u n d i s t i n g u i sh e d p r e d e c e sso r .The new design fea tu res f lowing l ines tha t cascade f romm o d u le - to - m o d u le , g iv in g t h e sy s t e m a n u l t r a - c o n te m porary look . I t a l so serves as v isua l s le igh t -o f -hand ,c o r r e c t i n g su r f a c e h e ig h t d i sc r e p a n c i e s t h a t o c c u rb e c a u se o f t h e wa y th e c o m p o n e n t s a r e a s s e m b le d .S imi la r ly , wi th the new Galaxy mai l p rocessor , thed e s ig n e r s h a d t o i n c lu d e m a n y e x i s t i n g p a r t s i n toa n e w a e s th e t i c . As t h e i n d u s t r y ' s f i r s t r e m o v a b le ,h ig h - sp e e d d ig i t a l , i n k j e t p o s t a g e m e te r , t h e m a c h in ehad to look l ike no th in g tha t cam e before i t . To do tha t ,t h e d e s ig n e r s m a n a g e d a se a m le ss t r a n s i t i o n f r o m th esharp edges o f two pre-ex is t ing lower covers to those o fth e u p p e r c u r v e s . Ga la x y ' s b u i l t - i n sc a l e i s a n u n o b

t rus ive se t o f s l ivers tha t emerge f rom the bed o f theproduct , and sub t le f inger re l ie f and tex tu re o f fe r oper a t iona l gu ides . " I t ' s no t requ i red func t iona l ly bu t i tp rov ides a n ice cue to users tha t they ' re in touch wi thth e r i g h t a r e a , " e x p l a in s Da v id Be c k s t r o m , P i tn e yBo w e s ' m a n a g e r o f i n d u s t r i a l d e s ig n .

T h o s e b u y i n g t h e c o m p a n y ' s p r o d u c t s a r e r e s p o n d ing to tha t leve l o f de ta i l , bu t equa l ly sa t i s fy ing toP i tn e y Bo we s ' d e s ig n e r s i s t h e n e w r e c o g n i t i o n f r o mthe i r co l leagues in marke t ing . "We look a t our compet i t ion and depend ing on p roduct l ines , the i r p roductslook very ou tda ted ," says Cl in t Dally , m a r k e t i n g m a n ager o f mai l f in ish ing and paper hand l ing . "Not on ly i sthe i r des ign ou tda ted , so i s the i r hardware . We ' re us inga e s th e t i c s t o u n d e r sc o r e o u rsu p e r io r i t y , t o a d d v a lu e t oo u r p r o d u c t s a n d s h o w w ea r e c o n t in u o u s ly f u r th e r in gp r o d u c t d e v e l o p m e n t . "

No n e of wh ic h su r p r i se sPo r t e r , wh o wa s r e c e n t lypromoted to d i rec to r o f NewP r o d u c t D e v e l o p m e n t . A sthe f i r s t des igner ever g iventh a t p o s t a t P i t n e y Bo we s ,he recogn izes the s t ra teg icva lue o f des ign in the comp a n y ' s o v e r a l l b u s in e ss m ix .

" T r a d i t i o n a l l y , i f y o ua sk e d o u r c u s to m e r s wh e r ea e s t h e t i c s f a l l r e l a t i v e t oo th e r c o n s id e r a t i o n s a f fe c ti n g p r o d u c t se l e c t i o n , t h o seva lues d rop to the bo t tom ofthe l i s t compared to re l ia b i l i ty , per fo rmance , func t iona l i ty , f ea tu res o r cost ," hesays . "Yet , I ' ve a lways known i f you show somebody agrea t des ign , they ge t exc i ted . They have an immedia te ,e m o t io n a l r e a c t i o n to t h o se v i su a l e l e m e n t s . "

Ad m i t t i n g t h a t p o s t a g e m e te r s h a v e n ' t b e e n k n o wnfor des ign , Por te r adds , " I t ' s easy to design fo r consumera c c e p t a n c e i n t h i s m a r k e t b e c a u s e w h a t t h o s e c u s tom ers a re accus tom ed to i s , f rank ly , p re t ty bad . W e ' ret ry ing to ge t to the nex t leve l o f des ign exce l lencebecause our compet i to rs today are no t go ing to be ourc o m p e t i t o r s t o m o r r o w. We b e t t e r b e r e a d y f o r t h a t . "

DocuMatchAn integrated mai l system,DocuMatch, shown lef t , takesan original document di rectf rom a Windows-based PCand automat ical ly creates apersonal ized mai l piece, co l lates, folds and inserts it intoan addressed envelope -producing more than 900 f in ished pieces per hour. Toreduce the int imidat ion factorof the formidable technology,des igners gave the machineexterior a fam i l iar copier-l ikelook and its interior aestheticappea l . Right : Q Funct ionalfeatures, inc lud ing cont ro lpanel, were designed atwheelchai r he ight for handi capped users. O A fr iendlyblue color marks user accesspoints, whi le graphics, arrowsand easy-grasp knobs guideusers step-by-step through aprocedure. Q Pul l -out papertrays feature curved handlesthat echo the exterior design.

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C o r p o r a t e P e t Q u izIt's not just athletic teams that adopt animals as trademarks,companies do it too. Unlike wordmarks and abstract logos, ananimal image communicates the sense of a living, animate beingwith its own unique personality and character traits. Companiessometimes integrate their favorite creature (e.g., car makers likefast animals) into their trademarks to depict qualities that express

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how they would like to be perceived. Other businesses adoptnative animals as "mascots" to honor their regional base.Consumer products, especially aimed at young kids, frequentlypick friendly "pets" to endear themselves to customers. Shownhere are some familiar animal brand trademarks. See if youcan match the creature to the company that owns it.

nSNI 3d IJ OdOdld VH '61 lV 3l i r i3 3V Wy VH d 00V 3IH 0 "81 V3d 'LI ONDJ 3 3 l i a i l M ai d OM '91 110 "liaOIAI 'S I (SOOOd N3Z0 dd) 3A 3 SOdia "171*Z S30HS NMOda d3Sn a '9 30IAH3S I V l S O d 'STl "5 SONHd SDdAddO 'P ( !N3 lMd in03 lAldVd) 3d3 30 NHOT ' !V 3d 33 Xld l 'Z A O a A V I d ' I

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M i n u t e M a i d G o e s f o r t h e O r a n g eW i th t h e j u i c e d r i n k i n g tr a d i t i o n c h a n g i n g a n d b r a n d l o y a lt ybe ing cha l l enged , Minu t e Maid s e t ou t t o r ev i t a l i ze i t s b randi d e n t i t y . I t s f r u i t -f i l l e d n e w p a c k a g i n g d e s i g n n o t o n l yi n c r e a s e d o r a n g e j u i c e s a l e s for M i n u t e Maid, it t u r n e d a l l -n a t u r a l j u i c e s i n t o t h e h e a l t h d r i n k o f t h e ' 9 0 s .

Wayne LucianoMarketing Director, The Minute Maid CompanyLuciano joined The Minute Maid Company in 1988,serving in both marketing and product managementpositions for orange juice and refreshment beverages.

Joe DuffyPresident and Creative Director, Duffy DesignAs head of the Minneapolis-based f irm, Duffy overseesbrand and corporate identity development, literatureand packaging design projects for multinational clients.

E v e n th o u g h Th e M in u te M a id Co m p a n y h a d lo n gbeen a leader in the o range ju ice ca tegory , by themid '90s , the ca tegory i t se l f had gone f la t . Ju icea l te rna t ive p ro du cts , f rom f ru it teas to f lavored w aters ,had e ro ded the overa l l ju ic e ca tegory . Young cons um erslo o k e d u p o n M in u te M a id a s " th e i r m o th e r ' s o r a n g ej u i c e " wh o le so m e b u t n o t wh e r e t h e y we r e a t . E v e nm o th e r s d id n ' t s e r v e o r a n g e j u i c e a s o f t e n, a s m o r eworked ou ts ide the home and the s i t -down fami ly break-f a st b e c a m e a t h in g of t h e p a s t .

C o m p o u n d i n g M i n u t e M a i d ' s c o n c e r n w a s t h efac t tha t i t s s igna tu re b lack car ton , had been "knockedof f" by so many compet i to rs tha t i t was no longer d ist inc t ive . Also , as non- ju ice p roducts g rew in popular i ty ,j u i c e m a k e r s s t a g e d e v e r - m o r ea g g r e ss iv e c a m p a ig n s t o h a n go n to m a r k e t sh a r e .

Squeezed f rom bo th ends byl i f e s ty l e c h a n g e s a n d c o m p e t i t i v e p r e s su r e s , M in u te M a id se to u t t o r e v i t a l i z e i t s b r a n dimage . At s take was i t s shor t -te rm prof i tab i l i ty and the long-te rm s t reng th o f the f ranch ise .

/ I I N U T E M A I D C O M P A N Y F A C T S H E E T IParent Company: The Coca-Cola CompanyPrincipal Officer: Ralph Cooper, President and CEONumber of Countries Served: 24Number of Servings Daily: 28 mi l l ionProducts: Minute Maid juices, punches and adesHi-C fruit dr inks; Five Alive citrus beverage;Bright & Early breakfast beverage and Bacardifruit mixers

But rev i ta l iz ing the Minu te Maid b rand was no smal lu n d e r t a k in g . U l t im a te ly , t h e m a k e o v e r wo u ld e n c o m p a s s 1 6 0 S K U s ( s h o p k e e p i n g u n i t s ) a n d p a c k a g i n gtha t ranged f rom paperboard car tons and shelf-stablep la s t i c c o n t a in e r s t o a lu m in u m c a n s , f r o z e n ju i c e c a n i s t e r s a n d 16-ounce g la ss b o t t l e s .

For the task , Minu te Maid , a d iv is ion o f Coca-ColaCompany , tu rned to Duffy Design , which had p rev iouslyworked on the Die t Coke b rand . Duf fy account d i rec to rEd Math ie reca l l s the f i r s t meet ing wi th Minu te Maid ." Th e y c a m e in sa y in g th a t t h e b r a n d h a d a l o t o fequity, but they weren ' t gett ing the most out of i t . Theya l so r e c o g n iz e d t h a t a g o o d so lu t i o n wo u ld p r o b a b lyl e a d t o r e d o in g th e e n t i r e brand."

Duffy 's f irst move was toiden t i fy which e lements in thee x i s t i n g b r a n d we r e m e a n in g fu l to consumers and wor thp r e s e r v i n g . " W h e n y o u t a k eo n a b r a n d th a t h a s a s i g n i f i cant following, the last thingyou shou ld do i s tear i t apar tand s ta r t over ," exp la ins JoeDuffy . "We work wi th the

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accoun t p lann ing g roup tha t w e s ha re w i th ou r adver tis ing affil iate, Fallon McEUigott, to analyze the equi tyi n a b r a n d . W e b e g i n b y d e c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e b r a n d ' siconography to gain a base to s tar t f rom. I t g ives uspa ramete r s and a l low s us to l ea rn how to con t inue theb rand r e l a t ions h ip w i th i t s co re aud ience . "

Consumer focus groups for Minute Maid providedin te r es t ing p re l imina ry f eedback . A s expec ted , pa r t i c i pan t s a s s oc ia ted the co lo r b lack w i th M inu te M aid ,w i th s ome even r epo r t ing tha t they au tomat ica l lyp icked up " the b lack ca r ton" w hen s hopp ing w i thou t

"Consumers granted MinuteMaid not only juice equity, butfruit equity. It's one thing tobe an orange juice, another tobe an orange."

Updating a Package Phase 1: Old Carton Phase 2: Preliminary Packaging Designs

Using an iterative methodof design development,Duffy Design presentedseveral different approachesto consumer focus groups.Participant comments aboutthe preliminary packagingdesigns, shown here, helpedthe designers arrive at thefinal packaging solution.

The original carton, introduced in the late '60s,presented graphics an dtext against a solid w all ofblack. Research revealedthat only the Minute Maidname and the use of blackhad brand equity andneeded to be carried overinto the new design.

Clean and simple, thisdesign picked up theorange slices from theoriginal carton and dow nplayed the black. "I canpicture the steel tank thejuice came out of," saidone focus group participant, implying it lookedmore sterile than pure.

The "handwritten" typography and busy designdidn't strike consumers aswarm and friendly, butgave the impression that itwas something sold at aroadside fruit stand andcaused them to questionthe product's consistencyand pu rity

r ead ing the l abe l . Bu t peop le a l s o admi t t ed tha t theyfound the brand ident i ty "boring a n d d o r m a n t " a n dfel t i t d idn ' t speak to the qual i ty of the product or howthe product might be bet ter for you.S t i l l , t hey v iew ed the b rand the i r mo the r u s edto s e rve them w i th nos ta lg ic a f f ec t ion . P eop lec la imed to " l o v e " M inu te M aid , even i f theyw eren ' t buy in g it . T h i s h igh r ega rd ex tend ed beyo ndthe d r ink itself. "Consumers gran ted M inu te M aidnot only ju ice equ i ty , but f ru i t equ i ty , " Ma thie sa ys ,emphas iz ing . " I t ' s one th ing to be an o range ju ice ,another to be an orange. The emotional connect ion tof rui t i s ve ry s t rong , s t ronge r tha n to ju ic e . " T h es e

f indings conf i rmed Min ute Mai d ' s goal of ma king th ef ru i t the hero in the packaging to show that the producttas ted l ike the f resh , r ipe f ru i t .

Surveying compet i t ive brands , Duffy des igners sawmore ways for Minute Maid to es tabl ish brand d is t inct ion . "We not iced that no one was us ing photographyeffect ively , " Mathie says . "Most of the category wasdriven by il lustration. At f irs t , we thought i t was becauseyou couldn ' t get good pr in t resolu t ion on paperboardbut , in fact , that i sn ' t the case . Paperboard qual i ty andp r i n t t e c h n o l o g y h a d c a u g h t u p a n d t h e m a r k e t e r sh a d n ' t l e v e r a g e d t h a t . "

T he des igner s began to s ee tha t pho tog raphy migh t18


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of fer Minu te Maid o ther advan tages as wel l , says Nei lPo we l l , d e s ig n d i r e c to r f o r Du f f y /Ne w Yo r k , wh oh e a d e d th e p r o j e c t . "Aside f rom fee l ing more rea l andn a tu r a l , i t ' s h a r d e r f o r c o m p e t i t o r s t o k n o c k o f f , i fy o u d o i t i n a d i s t i n c t i v e wa y . "

Th a t d i s t i n c t i v e wa y , t h e d e s ig n e r s c o n c lu d e d , wa sth rough a co lo r fu l and lav ish pho tomontage o f the f ru i tf rom which the ju i ce i s ma de , wi th b rand in format ionand a newly designed logo type con ta ined in a b lackmor t i se . The p roduct ion d i f f icu l ty and cost o f c rea t ingsu c h g r a p h ic s wo u ld g iv e M in u te M a id c o m p e t i t i v e

brand sa les , and d id some work on the 16 oz . bo t t le ,which uses a d i f fe ren t labe l s ize . "We t r ied to p ick theex t remes. The ha l f -ga l lon car ton be ing the b iggest andt h e 1 6 o z . c o m p a r a b l e t o t h e s m a l l e s t , " P o w e l lexp la ins . " I f we cou ld so lve those th ings , we fe l t wec o u ld h i t a n y th in g t h a t f e l l i n b e twe e n . "

G iven the d ramat ic d i f fe rences in con ta iner s izesa n d sh a p e s , t h e d e s ig n e r s so lv e d th e p r o b l e m b yb u i ld in g a sy s t e m o f m o d u la r e l e m e n t s t h a t c o u lda c c o m m o d a te a w id e r a n g e o f a p p l i c a t i o n s . " Th i s wa ywe cou ld re ta in the look and fee l o f the b rand , wi thou t

Phase 3: Final Design

this designbe t this was the original

ay back when."and tan color

pered thefreshness

d newness an d "didn't

Focus groups participantsthought this image lookedgentle and nurturing. Butthe soft-focused photograph of oranges also madethem think the flavor waswatered down and not 100%juice. The typeface alsocomm unicated "old" ratherthan a sense of heritage.

The final design incorporated the com forting emotional quality of the versionat left, but p resented thefruit in sharp focus andtrue colors, rather thanscreened, to resolve theissue of fruit juice strengthand taste.

The photomontage inthe final version wrapsall around the carton togive the package greaterdimensional interest. Akey concern was planningthe photography so thatthe overprinting type couldbe read.

d i s t a n c e f r o m wo u ld - b e c o p y c a t s wh i l e m a in t a in in g t h elook and fee l o f the o r ig ina l packag ing .In a r r iv ing a t the f ina l b rand image , the designers

u se d a n i t e r a t i v e a p p r o a c h , c r e a t i n g d i f f e r e n t c o n c e p td i rec t ions , p resen t ing them to the c l ien t and then so l ic i t ing feedb ack f rom co nsu me r focus g roup s. "At the e ndof the day , the re la t ionsh ip wi th the consumer i s whatwe we r e t r y in g t o r e e s t a b l i sh , " sa y s M a th i e . " We d idth ree rounds o f focus g roups. We took ou t our in i t ia lso lu t ions , go t feedback , d id modif ica t ions and took i to u t tw ic e m o r e . "

I n i t i a l l y , t h e d e s ig n e r s f o c u se d o n ly o n d e s ig n in gthe ha l f -ga l lon car ton , which represen ts the bu lk o f

h a v in g i t l o o k p i e c e d to g e th e r , " Po we l l e x p l a in s .But one ongoing i ssue was the amount o f b lack tha thad to be used . Too much and i t would look l ike theold identi ty , too l i t t le and the equity would be lost . "Infocus g roups, consumers loved the f ru i t montage in theb a c k g r o u n d a n d p u s h e d to se e a s m u c h o f t h a t a s p o s s ib l e , " M a th i e r e v e a l s . " A t t h e sa m e t im e , t h e m o r eb lack , the more d i rec t the l ink to the Minu te Maid her i t a g e a n d wh e r e t h e b r a n d h a d b e e n . I t wa s a c o n t in u ous 'real e s t a t e ' s t r u g g le b e twe e n th e b l a c k m o r t i seand the f ru i t montage ."

An o th e r c o n s id e r a t i o n wa s t h e p h y s i c a l s e t t i n g i nwhich var ious con ta iners would be v iewed . Fi r s t , there

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Family of PackagingThe design challenge was not justto develop a memorable brand imagebut to create one that retained itsidentity when applied to containersof widely differing shapes, surfacesand sizes. The core graphic elements that had to appear on everycontainer were the fruit photomontage (below) and a black mortisedisplaying the Minute Maid name.

Q Close CroppingThe fruit photomontage was designedto be shown in full or in closecropped detail, depending on thespace available on the container.

Vending MachinesEye-catching, livelygraphics on MinuteMaid vending machines

offset the fact the printquality on the aluminum

cans inside was not asbright and colorful.

Information DemandsThe amount of informationthat has to be shown onsmall frozen juice canistersforced designers to give theblack mortise more spacethan the fruit photography.

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Viewing AngleBecause perishable liquids inpaperboard containers are oftenstocked in low coolers, designers made sure that the brandname was visible from the topof the carton.

New LogotypeThe original logotype (above)looked heavy and clumsyagainst the fruit background,so the designers chose amore elegant serif typefaceto complement the newdesign direction.

mVibrant ColorsThe single-serve asepticjuice carton, featuringbright c heerful colors,delights kids when theysee it in their schoollunch box.

wa s th e o v e r a l l e n v i r o n m e n t o f t h e su p e r m a r k e t i t s e l f- wh ic h c a r r i e s a n a v e r a g e o f 3 0 ,0 0 0 d if f e re n t i t e m sp e r s t o r e , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e F o o d M a r k e t i n g I n s t i t u t e ."Compared to a c lo th ing s to re ," says Duffy , "a super ma rke t i s jus t one b ra nd af te r ano ther sh ou t ing for a t ten t i o n . I t ' s a c lu t t e r e d , c h a o t i c e n v i r o n m e n t . F i r s t a n df o r e m o s t , y o u r b r a n d i s s t r i v in g f o r a t t e n t i o n a m o n gevery th ing tha t comes in to the consumer ' s v iew; no t jus twi th in a ca tegory , bu t every th ing go ing on in the a is le ."

Then , o f course , there i s a lo t go ing on in every a is lea n d d i sp l a y c a se . Po we l l e x p l a in s : " I n m a n y su p e r m a r ke ts , ha l f ga l lon car tons a re d isp layed in ' co f f in -s ty le 'c o o l e r s t h a t s h o p p e r s l o o kd o wn u p o n , so t h e p r im a r yi d e n t i t y n e e d s t o b e v i s i b l ef ro m t h e t o p . S h e l f - s t a b l ep r o d u c t s , h e a t e d a n d v a c u u mse a l e d i n p l a s t i c c o n t a in e r s ,a r e i n a i s l e s , wh ic h t e n d toh a v e d i m m e r l i g h t i n g t h a nd i s p l a y c a s e s . T h e p r o d u c t sm a y b e p u sh e d b a c k o n t h eshelf, m a k in g th e m h a r d e r f o rc u s to m e r s t o se e . Th i s m e a n stha t the co lo r pa le t te must bevery b r igh t to s tand ou t ."

P o w e l l c o n t i n u e s , " F r o z e nju ice can is te r s a re o f ten la ids i d e w a y s i n d e e p f r e e z e r sa n d h a v e l im i t e d ' r e a l e s t a t e 'b e c a u s e t h e y a r e s o s m a l l .In format ion on the can a lsoh a s t o b e l a r g e e n o u g h t or e a d , w h i c h l i m i t s t h e p h o t o g r a p h y . W h a t ' s g o o da b o u t t h e M in u te M a id m o r t i se d e s i g n i s we c a n l if ti t f rom the f ron t and s hr in k i t dow n and u se i t ind i f f e r e n t a p p l i c a t i o n s . "

Th i s wa s p a r t i c u l a r ly im p o r t a n t s i n c e M in u te M a idwa sn ' t j u s t i n t e r e s t e d i n d e v e lo p in g a g r a p h ic sy s t e mf o r i t s v a r io u s o r a n g e j u i c e c o n ta in e r s . I t a l so wa n te dto ex tend the b rand ing p rogram to i t s lemonades , f ru i tp u n c h e s a n d o t h e r j u i c e s .

Th e d e s ig n e r s a p p l i e d t h e sa m e p h o to m o n ta g e c o n c e p t , su b s t i t u t i n g l e m o n s f o r t h e l e m o n a d e a n d m ix e df r u i t s f o r t h e p u n c h e s . " Be f o r e t h e p r o j e c t , o r a n g eju i c e wa s t h e f l a g sh ip a n d l e m o n a d e a n d f ru i t p u n c h e s

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Brand ExtensionsThe fruit photomontage concept was easilyadaptable to other Minute Maid products -e.g., lemons for lemonade, mixed fruits forpunch. However, the photo had to be legallyaccurate in depicting the fruit inside. Forthe punch products, the designers incorporated a bowl containing all the fruits that hadto be represented within the photomontage.


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w e r e n o t a s v i s i b l e , " M a t h i e s a y s . "While t he newt rea tmen t e l eva ted o range ju ice in the cons um er ' s eyes ,i t brought punch and lemonade up much fur ther becausethe packag ing looks on a pa r w i th o range ju ice . "

A no the r marke t s egmen t tha t M inu te M aid w an tedto cap tu re w as young hea l th - cons c ious cons umers , themain pu rchas e r s o f s ing le - s e rve ju ice s o ld in bo t t l e sa n d c a n s . P r i m e o u t l e t s w e r e c o n v e n i e n c e a n d g a ss ta t ion s to res and vend ing mach ines .

P r in t ing a de ta i l ed pho tog raph ic image on an a lu minum can , how ever , w as a cha l l enge . "D o t ga in( ink spread) for a luminum can pr in t ing is s ignif i ca nt , " says Powel l . " I t ' s prob ably one of the crud es tforms of pr in t ing out there because you are pr in t ing a tsuch a h igh revolut ion per minute . We had to push thetechn ica l l imi t s o f ou r s upp l i e r s to ma tch the s amelook and f ee l of the r e s t of the pac ka g in g ." N e ed i ngw hi te and b lack fo r the mor t i s e , the des igner s had tous e th r ee co lo r s to c r ea te the i l lu s ion o f fou r - co lo rp r i n t i n g i n t h e p h o t o m o n t a g e . " I t a l l c a m e d o w n t om a n i p u l a t i o n , " P o w e l l s a y s .

Bu t the des igner s w ere w i l l ing to s ac r i f i ce s omeloss of product ion value on the can s ide to gain i t ono the r con ta ine r s . "We d idn ' t w an t a luminum cans todr ive the look and feel of the des ign," says Powel l . " I fyou des ign for the lowes t common denominator , you ' rego ing to ge t the low es t common denomina to r . "

N ever the les s , p l ac ing an eye -ca tch ing pho tomon tageon s ingle-serve containers d id pay of f . Minute Maidexper ienced improved r es u l t s ina l l p r o d u c t s d u r i n g t h e f i r s tq u a r t e r a f t e r t h e n e w b r a n diden t i ty w as in t roduced . O vera l lvolume sales of s ingle-serve bott l e s i n c r e a s e d b y m o r e t h a n2 4 % , and pe t ro leum s to re s a le s ,which accounts for near ly half ofM inu te M aid ' s to t a l s ing le - s e rvev o l u m e , i n c r e a s e d b y o v e r 3 4 % .

M o r e i m p o r t a n t , t h e n e wbrand g raph ics he lped M inu teMaid to achieve i ts object ive ofbecoming more cons umer d r iventhan t r ade d r iven . " I t ' s a ma t t e r of p u s h v e r s u s p u l l , " s a y sM a t h i e . " W i t h t r a d e - d r i v e n

S U P E R M A R K E T F A C T

Total U.S. grocery storesTotal grocery salesAverage net profit after taxesMedian total store sizeMedian number ofitems in a supermarket

127,000$425.7 billion1.08%38 ,60 0 square feet

30,000Weekly sales persquare foot of selling area

"A supermarket is just onebrand after another shoutingfor consumer attention...not just within a category,but with everything goingon in the aisle."products , you have to spend a por t ion of your budgeton paying the t rade to put the product on the shelf,feature i t , g ive i t a larger shelf 'footprint' t han yourvolume would of fer you. Another way to achieve theseg o a l s i s t o b e c o m e a c o n s u m e r - d r i v e n b r a n d . W ew a n ted to e s t a b l i s h a b r a nd p re fe r enc e s o tha t con s umers w ou ld demand the p roduc t and fo rce the t r adeto g ive i t p rominence . "

Duffy adds , "With a ca tego ry l ike o range ju ice ,c o n s u m e r c h o i c e o ft en c o m e s d o w n t o b r a n d p e r s o n a l i ty , c r ea t ing an iden t i ty tha t s t r ikes an emot iona lc h o r d w i t h t h e t a r g e t a u d i e n c e . "

For Duffy , product packaging is "where the rubbermeets the road." The food category is r ipe with opportun i ty , he c l a ims . "T he peop le w ho p roduce the vas tmajor i ty of food bra nd s tend to g ive packa ging the

bac k o f the i r han d . T hey payat tent ion to o ther th ings anddon ' t r ea l i ze tha t the packag ingis an expres s ion of the bra ndper s ona l i ty . T he packag ing i sthe b rand in the cons umer ' sh a n d s . No mat ter how good theadver t i s ing o r the ac tua l p rod uct , i f you can ' t get the productin to the cons umers ' hands andconv ince them a t tha t phys ica lpoint of contact , they aren ' tgoing to t ry i t . Winning in themarke tp lace i s the end gamewhen i t comes to branding. I fi t doesn ' t r ing the cash regis ter ,i t ' s not succ ess fu l ."9.78

SOURCE: FOOD MARKETING INSTITUTE

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What are youtrying to describe?A name is the first level ofcommunicating a companyor brand, so it should feelappropriate and meaningfulto what it describes. Beforeyou can spot the rightword, you need to know whatyou're trying to describe.Define the product's features,functions and benefits. Thequalities that would appealmost to consumers. How theproduct differs from the com petition. How it will be positioned in the marketplace.

What does thename communicate?As legally available real-word names become scarce,coined names have risenin popularity. But evenmade-up names must evokea compelling image, associat ion, mood or spirit. Niketakes its name from theGreek goddess of victory.AirTouch describes cellulartechnology in a lyrical way.Swatch, formed from thewords Swiss and watch,communicates a sense offun and youthfulness.Pampers suggests softnessand loving attention.

What does it look like?Keep in mind that a corporate or brand name is oftenseen not heard, so it isimportant to consider how itwill look on packaging, letterhead, signs and the like.Does it look unwieldy andugly? Or is it memorableand pleasing to view? OXO,which produces the GoodGrips line of kitchen utensils, is a made-up name.But the company founder,Sam Farber, liked it becauseon packaging it was shortand right reading from anydirection, forward, backwards or upside down.Exxon, too, is a name thatviewers remember for itsintriguing double x's.

What does it sound like?Some words are melodicand fun to say, while othersare clumsy and harsh. Somewords sound passive, othersassertive. Some words capture the sound of the productitself. Kodak, accordingto legend, is the sound theshutter made on the company's original single-lensreflex camera. Amtrak asa brand name sounds muchspeedier than its parent, TheNational Railroad PassengerCorporation. Jamba Juice,HoHo and Iomega's ZipDrive are memorable andfun names to say.

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With more than two mil l ion regis tered trademarks in the United Statesa lone , anyone asked to come up wi th a corpora te o r product n a m e m a ydecide there are no new names lef t to claim. The task is even harderthan naming a baby, which a t leas t won ' t lead to charges of t rademarkinfr ingement i f you pick a name l ike John or Mary. Today a brand nameno t on l y has t o be memor ab l e , d i s t i nc t i ve , ea s y t o p r onounce anddurable, i t has to work globally. That takes more than a large vocabularyand a good thesaurus . Naming profess ionals make a sc ience of knowingthe or igin and esoter ic meaning of words and the emotional react ion to


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cer ta in sounds . They t rack naming t rends and c l iches , foreign languageproblems , spe l l ing and pronunc ia t ion ambigui t i es , and know expedien tways to conduct legal searches and acquire t rademark protect ion. Designersnow also par t ic ipate in the naming process s ince the graphic express ionof the name of ten determines i t s success or fa i lure in the marketplace .Al though the ul t imate reason for se t t l ing on a cer ta in name may bepurely subject ive , i t ' s valuable to put f inal i s t s to a tes t to see i f theypass muster . Here are some ques t ions to cons ider , developed wi th thehe lp of Id iom, a San Franc i sco-based naming f i rm. I, How Does it Translate?

Will it work inthe global marketplace?Negative connotations,tongue-tw isting challengesand cultural and religiousaffronts are frequent foreignlanguage hazards. Somereasons why Federal Expresschanged its brand nameto FedEx were because itdiscovered that in LatinAmerican countries, "federal"conjured a negative imageof "federales" and in certainAsian countries, the V and" I " were difficult to pronounce.Conversely, Japanese tiremaker Shojiro Ishibashitranslated his surname "stonebridge" to come up withthe Bridgestone brand for

CanOwn theName?western markets. GeneralMotors changed its ChevyNova to "Caribe" in LatinAmerica after learning that"no va" means "no go" inSpanish. Be sure to checkname finalists with nativelanguage speakers who arefamiliar with word nuancesand cultural biases.Is it legally available?Before investing too muchtime and energy in developing a total identity programaround a name, find out ifanyone else owns it. Namingconsultants can refer you topatent attorneys who can

conduct a preliminaryscreening of names registered in the United States.The cost is usually less than$100 per name. A morecomprehensive U.S. trademark search typically costsmore than $1000 pername, so you may want tonarrow your choice down toa couple of finalists beforeproceeding to that level.Does it riseabove the "noise"?Just because a name meetsall the criteria above, doesn'tmean its unique. Names insome industries are as distinguishable from one anotheras tract homes in a new

housing development. Theirlogos are often equallygeneric and forgettable.While there are advantagesto incorporating industrydescriptors, make sure thename is distinctive enoughnot to be mistaken for yourcompetitors. At the samet ime, avoid gimmicks andfad names that will soonseem dated. Also, if the purpose is a brand extension,choose a name that fits intoyour existing naming systemso that it supports andcross-sells other corporateproducts and acceleratesmarket acceptance amongthose who know and respectthe existing brand name.

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T h e s u c c e s s o f Williams-Sonoma's d i r e c t - m a i l c a t a l o g s h a sas much to do wi th i t s savvy use o f the p r in t medium as i td o e s w i t h t h e p r e m i u m q u a l i t y of i ts m e r c h a n d i s e . W o r k i n gwi th the un ique s t reng ths o f the ca ta log fo rmat , the companyh a s d i s c o v e r e d w a y s t o e n h a n c e t h e s h o p p i n g e x p e r i e n c e o fcus tomers who o rde r by ma i l .

Chuck Williams, Founder andVice Chairman, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.Will iams founded Will iams-Sonoma in 1956 and is sti l lthe guiding creative force behind the company's home-centered merchandising concepts.

Kerrie Chappelka, Vice President,Creative Services, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.The head of the Creative Services Group, Chappelkaoversees the development and production of the company's five catalog concepts and other print materials.

Enter the pages of a Williams-Sonoma mai l -o rde rcatalog, and you feel the comfortable familiarityof having walked into one of i ts re ta i l s tores .Merchandise is a t t ract ively organized and displayed.

Accompanying text is presented in a friendly, service-oriented tone. And the styling of the photography suggests a knowledge and apprecia t ion of the needs ofse r ious home cooks . Wi l l i ams-Sonoma ' s p remiumbrand image is evident on every page.

The c lar i ty and consis tency with which Wil l iams-Sonoma delivers this message are key reasons why thecompany is now the nat ion 's dominant home-centeredspecialty retailer. Today the company operates 276retail stores and distributes more than ^1 5 4 m i l l i o n c a t a l o g s a n n u a l l yi ts f ive home-based concepts -Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn,H o l d E v e r y t h i n g , G a r d e n e r sE d e n a n d C h a m b e r s . C a t a l o gsa les g rowth has cons i s ten t lyoutpaced i ts re ta i l sa les overthe past f ive years , increasingby 19% in 1997 a lone .

Transla t ing merchandis ingconcepts for direct-mail cata-

Parent Company: Williams-Sonoma IncPrincipal Officer: W. Howard Lester,Chairman and CEOFiscal 1997 Sales: $933 mil l ionNumber of Stores: 276Catalog Concepts: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn,Hold Everything, Gardeners Eden, Chambers

logs is a skill unto itself. Techniques used to create ap leasurab le shopp ing exper ience e.g., enticing displays, stimulating lighting, relaxed traffic flow, informedsales personnel, efficient check-out counters and thel ike don' t d i rect ly apply. By vir tue of i ts medium, apr in ted ca ta log p reven ts shoppers f rom see ing andtouching a product first-hand or asking a friendly clerkfor advice. A catalog must rely on design presentationto communicate i ts brand personal i ty , s teer customersthrough i ts merchandise offer ings, cross-sel l productsand explain each i tem's specia l a t t r ibutes . The designand text must speak in a tone of voice that invites mailo rde r shoppers to se t t l e back and "browse" a whi le .

is voice and desire to informcame natural ly to founder Chuck

Wil l iams, who introduced thecompany ' s f i r s t ma i l -o rde rcatalog in 1971 to give serioushome cooks access to profess ional cooking equipment andimported foods, previouslyavailable only through his shopin San Franc i sco . Wi l l i ams 'repu ta t ion fo r ca r ry ing thehighest qual i ty cookware had

W I L L I A M S - S O N O M A F A C T S H E E T


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sp r e a d b e y o n d th e Ba y Ar e a , a n d to m e e t f a r - r e a c h in gd e m a n d , h e p r o d u c e d " A C a t a l o g f or C o o k s , " w i t hth e i n i t i a l h e lp of h i s f r i e n d E d w a r d M a r c u s ofNeiman Marcus. The f i r s t mai l ing went ou t to 5,000f o o d s a v v y c u s t o m e r s .

Al t h o u g h Wi l l i a m s , n o w in h i s 8 0 s , i s s e m i r e t i r e d ,h is in f luence i s s t i l l f e l t in the company today ."Chuck k e e p s e v e r y o n e h o n e s t , " s a y s K e r r i e

Ch a p p e lk a , v i c e p r e s id e n t of c r e a t i v e se r v i c e s i ncharge o f a l l f ive ca ta logs . "He s a y s , 'Don't m a k ei t confusing , te l l an honest s to ry and pay attent ion to de ta i l s . ' Chuck i s good a t makingsure tha t no one goes too fa r a f ie ld ."

To e n s u r e th a t e a c h m e r c h a n d i s econcep t re f lec ts a s ingu lar v is ion , thec o n te n t s of e a c h Wi l l i a m s- So n o m a c a t a log as wel l as i t s re la ted re ta i l s to resa r e d e t e r m in e d b y th e m e r c h a n t ( h e a dbuyer ) in charge o f the conce p t . Ea chconcep t i s essen t ia l ly t rea ted as a sepa r a t e c o m p a n y a n d h a s i t s o wn u n iq u eiden t i ty . The merchan t de te rmines whatgoes in to a ca ta log and o rgan izes theprod uct o ffe r ings in to page s pre ads ,work ing c lose ly wi th an in -house p rod u c t io n t e a m . Th e c a t a lo g t e a m c o n s i s t s of a p r o d u c t i o n m a n a g e r , c o o r d in a to r , a s s i s t a n ta n d c o p y e d i to r wh o se e t h e p r o c e ss t h r o u g h f r o mbeginn ing to end . The a r t d i rec to r , s ty l i s t , pho tographerand copywr i te r fo r each ca ta log a re h i red f rom ou ts ide ."Our a im is to pu t toge ther the best team and es tab l i sha l o n g - t e r m r e l a t i o n sh ip , " sa y s Ch a p p e lk a . " Th e m o r ewe know about each o ther and our work ing s ty les , theb e t t e r we c a n b e . "

This con t inu i ty a lso makes fo r g rea te r consis tencyf r o m c a t a lo g t o c a t a lo g . Th e d e s ig n a n d p h o to g r a p h ics ty l ing , paper , co lo r separa t ions and p r in t ing a re kep tto a h igh s tandard . "We look a t every th ing as a re f lect i o n o n t h e p r o d u c t , " sa y s Ch a p p e lk a .

That goes fo r the themat ic s to ry on each spread aswel l . "We t ry to make our copy more than sound b i tes ,a n d t r y t o u se i t t o h e lp c u s to m e r s u n d e r s t a n d th e i rp u r c h a se b e t t e r . We b e l i e v e t h a t e v e r y th in g sh o u ld t e l la story. I f we're featuring a recipe for Torti l la Soup, forins tance , we may show i t wi th the cheese , the g ra te r ,the pot for making i t in . All the pieces f i t together . I t ' s

Story on a SpreadEach spread in Williams-Sonoma's catalog is designed to tell a complete story.The items shown on the page typicallyrelate back to the recipe featured onthe spread or are supported by a visualdemonstration of the product in use.

Famous ChefsA tradition started by founder Chuck

Williams, recipes from well-knownchefs such as Todd English add value to

the catalog content and educate andinspire customers with c ooking ideas

an d ways to use the products.

Original Catalog FormatThe original Williams-Sonoma catalogwas in a 52/2u x 8" format, smallenough to fit into a purse. After 20years, the busy design looked dated anddetracted from the appeal of the merchandise, so the company undertooka major design makeover in 1994.

Perishable ProductsThe catalog format allowsWilliams-Sonoma to sell

exclusive perishable foods,such as organic lamb from

Pennsylvania, which maybe hard to find in many

parts of the country.

Perfex Salt &Pepper MillsThe Perfex saltand pepper mills arehoused in a luminumcasings with pull-ou;chutes for easy refill:Their grindingmechanisms -made to last alifetirr - pmv upwide range of even grinds.Pepper Mill , 4 7 : t a l l . #11-17574 $ 5 4 . 0 0Salt Mill, 3'A' ta ll . #11-944710 $ 5 0 . 0 0Jamison LambJamison organic lamb comes from a small far

i farm in Pennsylvania , where the lambs graze i| paddo cks. This lamb is sold when very young,) meat is tender and delicate in flavor. Many chefs1 sider i t the best in America . Recipes included.

CVJ/J/O" onlyI Sec order form for important shipping informa\ Lamb C hops , a p p r o x . 3 lb., two per serving.I Set of twelve # 1 1 - 6 4 3 4 6 0 $ 9 5 . 0 0 ($10.00)i Lamb Shanks, appr ox. 7 7: lb., one per serving.1 Set of ten #11-1086610 $ 8 9 . 0 0 ,$10.00)

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I S S U E :

O Faxable ColorsWith m ore customers faxing in their orders,Williams-Sonoma color tested its orderform to make sure it will reproduce. Thename, address and ID number of repeatcustomers are preprinted on the form formore convenient ordering.

Impulse PurchasesLike impulse items typically displayedat a checkout counter, the ma il orderform features inexpensive add-ons thatthe customer can buy at no additionalshipping charge.

Q Prepared FoodShowing the featured lambshank recipe in a Dutchoven helps the customersee what the finished dishlooks like and understandhow the cookware productcould be used.

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I S S U E

a l l here , as opposed to search ing i t ou t . That i s no t tosay that you need to buy everything on the page to makethe d ish , bu t here a re th ings tha t may make i t eas ie r ."

Inc lud ing rec ipes no t on ly he lps to se l l the cook-ware on the page , i t se rves to increase the educa t iona la n d e n t e r t a in m e n t v a lu e o f t h e c a t a lo g . W h e n p r o d u c ing four seasonal ca ta logs a year , r ang ing be tween72 and 134 pages (and d i f fe ren t vers ions wi th in thoseseasons) , r ec ipes a re a way to en t ice mai l -o rder customers to look ins ide to see what ' s new.D e sp i t e t h e m u l t i p l e c a t a lo g v e r s io n s p r o d u c e de a c h y e a r , Wi l l i a m s- So n o m a r a r e ly r e u se s p h o to graphs , even though a p roduct remains the same."We reshoo t to keep the backgrounds and l igh t ing cons is ten t in each book ," exp la ins Chr is Weber , whose f i rmh a s b e e n d e s ig n in g th e Wi l l i a m s- So n o m a c a t a lo g f o rthe past th ree and a ha l f years . "Williams-Sonoma as acompany knows what has va lue . They are wi l l ing to re -shoot anything just to get the color of the wood table tomatch what i s on the page . They wi l l go tha t ex t ra mi lea l l the t ime to have the qua l i ty where i t needs to be ."

Th e c h a n g e in p h o to g r a p h ic p r e se n t a t i o n i s a l so

important for giving a fresh look to stock i tems sucha s Ca lp h a lo n p a n s f e a tu r e d i n e v e r y c a t a lo g . "Certainrecogn izab le b rand names g ive au thor i ty to our mer c h a n d i se , " sa y s Ch a p p e lk a . " We h a v e t o h a v e t h e m ine v e r y c a t a lo g . M a y b e c u s to m e r s wo n ' t p u r c h a se t h e mthe f irst t ime, or the second t ime they see i t , but theth i rd t ime, they may say , 'Okay , th is i s what I want.'"

Presen t ing repea t i tems in d i f fe ren t ways he lps customers unders tand the i r versa t i le uses . A ca ta log le tsyou do things that you can ' t do in a store, Weber pointsout. "A catalog lets us br ing the product r ight into thehome, put the food r ight on the table," she explains. "Ifwe are going to shoot a trifle bowl, we look for a great-looking tr if le to put in there because that will sel l thebowl. For a salad bowl, we look for the trendiest f r iseel e t t u c e a n d wo r k o n a b a c k g r o u n d th a t c o m p le m e n t sthe product. We can create a story around an omelet panby the rec ipe , the herbs in the background , the spa tu laand the plate the omelet will be served on. We can helpyou v isua l ize us ing the p roducts in your home."

Th e c a t a lo g f o r m a t a l so e n a b le s Wi l l i a m s- So n o m ato tes t new product ca tegor ies more eas i ly and cost -

Using Designto ExpandWilliams-Sonoma'sDirect-Mail Sales

Traditional digest size52/2" wide x 8" high

New format8" wide x W1/^ high

Test MarketingAlthough the company sensedthat the original digest size ofits Williams-Sonoma catalogwas causing a decline in direct-mail sales, it was reluctantto change because consumersassociated the size and lookwith the brand. In 1994,Williams-Sonoma decided totest the equity in the formatby hiring Pentagram Design'sLowell Williams (no relation toChuck) to redesign the catalog.

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I S S U E

eff iciently . "Furniture a n d f o o d a r e p r im e e x a m p le s , "says Chappelka . " I f we were go ing to have them in as to re , they 'd have to go in to a l l o f our s to res . Thatmeans buy ing a lo t more inven tory . With the ca ta log ,we c a n k e e p th e p r o d u c t s i n a wa r e h o u se . "

But even ca ta log tes ts a re less r i sky fo r Wil l iams-Sonoma, which i s unsurpassed in iden t i fy ing custo m e r t a s t e s a n d p r e f e r e n c e s . " We v e r y m u c h

watch what se l l s and doesn ' t and keep a h is to ry o f howth ings a re go ing We know who our customers a re , whatthey l ike and don ' t l ike . They te l l us by the i r buy ing ,"Chappelka says . "One o f the fun th ings when a book i smai led , i s we s ta r t ge t t ing the sa les resu l t s . I t i s l ikewatch ing a t icker tape . Somet imes we say , 'Look wh a tthey ' re buy ing f i r s t ! ' I t ' s g rea t ."

S t i l l , Ch a p p e lk a e m p h a s i z e s , " Wh e n we a r e p u t t i n gtogether a catalog, we have to be aware of how easy ord i f f icu l t i t i s fo r the customer to use . I f a customerlooks a t a page and i s confused , she ' l l tu rn to the nex tpage. A good lesson for al l of us is at Christmas t ime,w h e n e v e r y o n e o n t h e c o r p o r a t e d i r e c t - m a i l s i d ea n s w e r s telephones.You t h in k y o u ' v e t h o u g h t e v e r y

th ing th rough and a customer wi l l say , T don ' t ge tt h i s , ' and you go , 'You know what , I don ' t e i ther . ' I t ' samazing . You rea l ize you haven ' t worked i t a l l ou t ."

Th e Wi l l i a m s- So n o m a c a t a lo g a v e r a g e s n in e i t e m son a sp read , so e l imina t ing confusion i s c r i t ica l . Capt ions a re p laced r igh t nex t to the pho to o f the p roducta n d su r r o u n d e d w i th a s m u c h wh i t e sp a c e a s p o ss ib l e ."Supposed ly , the more p roducts you ge t on the page ,the be t te r they se l l , bu t the t ru th i s , there ' s a l ine wheretoo much takes away f rom a p roduct . Bu t too l i t t lea n d th e p a g e wo n ' t g e n e r a t e e n o u g h sa l e s r e tu r n s t oc a r r y itself," sa y s Ch a p p e lk a . " We lo v e wh i t e sp a c e .We s t r i v e f o r a b a l a n c e o f wh i t e sp a c e . "

L o o k in g f o r t h e o p t im u m b a l a n c e i s a Wi l l i a m s-Sonoma ha l lmark . "We pay ex t raord inary a t ten t ion tod e t a i l s a t W i l l i a m s - S o n o m a , " C h a p p e l k a s a y s . " W ework hard to b r ing consis tency to our ca ta logs , and tomake them consis ten t wi th the image we presen t in ours t o r e s . We d o n ' t wa n t c u s to m e r s t o h a v e a d i f f e re n texper ience in the ca ta logs than in the s to res . When youwork hard to bu i ld a b rand , you have to p ro tec t i t ca refu l ly by making sure tha t no th ing d i lu tes your iden t i ty ."

Pre-holidaySeptember

ThanksgivingOctober

ChristmasNovember Last-minute ShoppersDecember

was asked to prosimilar layouts, both asize and in an g'xlO1/^

within the same). The results w ere

overwhelmingly in favor

over.

Direct-MailShopper

Holiday MarketingWilliams-Sonoma produces fourseasonal catalogs per year, an dwithin those seasons, develops several different versions. Page spreadsare often added, dropped or repaginated. The Fall-Holiday catalogs,for instance, feature four differentcovers, moving progressively fromfall cooking to holiday entertaining.Inside, spreads are repaginated tobring forward gift-oriented and seasonal products that would be ofgreater interest to direct-mail shoppers as Christmas approaches.

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D E S I G N A N D B U S I N E S S C L A S S I C : T H E P A P E R C L I P

onsider the humble paper clip: It's just a thin pieceof steel wire bent into a double-oval shape, but over thepast century, no one has invented a better method of

holding loose sheets of paper together.Its invention in 1899 is credited to a Norwegian named

Johan Vaaler, who patented the device in Germany becauseNorway had no patent law at the time. Vaaler didnothing with his invention, however, and a yearlater a U.S. patent for a paper clip, called the rKonaclip, was awarded to Cornelius J. miBrosnan of Springfield, Massachusetts. In f iEngland, Gem Manufacturing Ltd. quicklyfollowed with the now familiar double-ovalshaped Gem clip. Since then, literally zillions of paper clips have been sold.

The common paper clip is a wonder ofsimplicity and function, so it seems puzzling that it wasn't invented earlier. Forcenturies, straight pins, string and othermaterials were used as fasteners, but theypunctured or damaged the papers. Whilethe paper clip seems like such an obvioussolution, its success had to awa it the invention of steel wire, which was "elastic" enough

to be stretched, bent and twisted. The design was perfectedfurther by rounding the sharp points of the wire so theywouldn't catch, scratch or tear the papers. By 1907, theGem brand rose to prominence with a "slide on," double-Ustyle paper clip that "will hold securely your letters, documents, or memoranda without perforation or mutilation until^ you wish to release them."

^ Although some dispute the originator of the paperclip, Norwegians have proudly embraced their

icountryman, Johan Vaaler, as the true inventor. During the Nazi occupation of Norway inWorld War II, Norwegians made the paperclip a symbol of national unity. Prohibitedfrom wearing buttons imprinted with theNorwegian king's initials, they fastened paperclips to their lapels in a show of solidarity andopposition to the occupation. Wearing apaper clip was often reason enough for arrest.

Although colorful plastic materials andnew shapes have challenged the double-ovalsteel-wire paper clip over the years, nonehas proven superior. The trad itional paperclip is the essence of form follows function.After a century, it still works.


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Potlatch CorporationThe sponsor of Issue, Potlatch Corporation has long been aproponent of the use of quality design to enhance corporate identity,promote products, and establish credibility and distinction amongkey consumer and business audiences. Its broad line of high-performancecoated printing papers - including Potlatch McCoy, Vintage, VintageRemarque, Vintage Velvet Creme, Northwest, Karma, Mountie,and Makers' Matte - are available in a choice of versatile finishesand shades, with both recycled and virgin fiber content. Potlatch'smanufacturing systems in Minnesota are also recognized for quality bythe International Standards Organization (ISO) 9002. For Potlatch,paper is just the beginning of the partnership.

Corporate Design FoundationCorporate Design Foundation is a nonprofit educational and researchorganization whose mission is to improve the quality of life andthe effectiveness of organizations through design. The Foundationconcentrates its efforts in conducting research, developing teachingmaterial, and collaborating with business school faculty to introduceproduct design, communication design, and building design intothe business school curriculum.

@lssue: The Journal of Business an d Design is specifically publishedfor business leaders and business school students to communicateexamples of how and why design impacts business.Board of DirectorsAgnes Bourne, Owner, Agnes Bourne, Inc.Sam Farber, Founder, OXO InternationalNancye Green, Principal, Donovan and GreenMarco Lansiti, Associate Professor, Harvard B

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