IDY Creative - Branding, Package Design and 3D Viz

Ruby Tuesday, the international restaurant chain known for its casual dining menu and impressive salad bar, has been implementing a new, “fresh” (a word emphasized over and over) identity over the past several months to coincide with an update of the brand’s interior, wrote Ryan Hembree from Brand New. Gone are black- and white- checkered tablecloths and the hodge-podge of sports memorabilia that adorned the walls and were reminiscent of Applebee’s or TGI Friday’s In their place is a more upscale and elegant look and feel.

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An article in designweek reveals that InterContinental Hotels Group is to launch a refresh of its Holiday Inn family, which will be implemented across all hotels, with branding by Interbrand.

Redesigned brand signage will be installed at hotels once they have implemented the relaunch programme, which aims to give Holiday Inn a ‘refreshed and contemporary brand image’.

The new identity uses the letter ‘H’ in white on green, with the addition of the particular brand name, such as Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express.

All Holiday Inn hotels open or under development are expected to have implemented the relaunch programme by the end of 2010, with the first due to open in spring 2008 in the US.
‘The changes we are making will ensure the Holiday Inn brand goes forward into the future with a strong and confident new image,’ says IHG’s chief executive Andrew Cosslett.

IHG expects the relaunch programme to allow Holiday Inn hotels to generate significantly higher revenue, as well as an enhanced return on investment for the room’s owners. Owners and franchisees will invest up to $1bn (£488 000) over a three-year period to carry out the brand relaunch to meet the required service and quality levels.

“Manifesting brand essence through packaging is powerful at retail,” declares Ron Pence, Pepsi Senior Marketing Manager for packaging innovation, in a Shelf Impact’s article. The Pepsi brand reflects youth and vitality, and those virtues shine through on its new 20-oz bottle for the U.S. market.

Working with 4sight, a structural packaging innovation firm, Pepsi created the new bottle as a cornerstone of its “Choreography” branding program.

The bottle design helps the brand remain relevant with teens and young adults by integrating the equity in the Pepsi logo and delivering greater visual impact in stores.

The new design extends the branding beyond the label by adding the Pepsi globe and name onto the bottle. Lines of the iconic Pepsi globe logo are expressed as horizontal waves, and waves above and below the label uncoil from top to bottom, giving the bottle more visual definition when exposed to light on store shelves.

“Wherever you look, there is branding in all directions,” says Stuart Leslie, 4sight President. “No matter which way the bottle faces, consumers will see two Pepsi globes embossed on top, above the label, and the Pepsi name prominently displayed in two areas at the bottom.”

The PET bottles are sourced through multiple suppliers.

The new design balances creativity and function, Pence notes. Marketers at Pepsi get a bottle that reinforces the brand’s image and position in the soft drink industry. The bottle also succeeds from an operations perspective. It withstands carbonation pressure, design elements in filled bottles retain their shape and sharpness over time, and the bottles adhere to Pepsi’s existing manufacturing standards.

Yes, we’re launching the new IDY Creative. And we’re narrowing our core services: Naming, Focus Groups, Corporate ID, Packaging Design, Multimedia and Web Design. We’re targeting inventors, entrepreneurs, and companies or individuals with a new product idea or whose product needs a make-over.
Oh, and this thing we’re calling “Virtual Photography” (or something like it). We model and render your product in 3D on the computer, eliminating the need for expensive, clumsy, and frankly imperfect photography. Another great advantage of Virtual Photography is that changes in the package, lighting, camera angle, etc. can be made quickly and easily. Try that with a traditional photo shoot!

The whole idea is to help you get your product or service seen by your target audience, which will generate sales.

We’re real excited about the new us. Stay tuned for a new web site coming soon.

Please comment on the new look!

IDY recently completed its rebrand of the popular Blow Off, Stick It and Lube Job cleaners, adhesives and lubricants.

A.V.W., Inc., an aerosol product manufacturer and marketing company, realized it was the end of the road for its current line up.

They contracted IDY to redesign its entire line of products under one brand. Max Professional puts a professional face on industrial products that look the part and get the job done.

The rebrand was needed for a serious bid to get the products into The Home Depot, Ace Hardware and other large retailers. These heavy hitters didn’t take A.V.W.’s earlier efforts seriously, in one case literally laughing at the cartoon characters and risque brand names.

The marketing firm hopes the new brand will make it to shelves within the year. Stay tuned.

A.V.W., Inc., makers of Blow Off Duster, Lube Job Lubricants and other gems, is getting serious with their packaging. Their customers have expressed a desire for more industrial and less “cartoony” products. It’s a smart move. As was their decision to retain Is It Done Yet for the job. Seems that large retailers also want the toned-down labels.

For years, the Blow Off Duster line has built a reputation among office supply stores and computer/gaming stores for high performance at a reasonable cost. But the funny names and cartoon graphics lessen credibility among larger retailers like WalMart.

Expect to see the new-look cans on shelves later this year.

Very good article at BrandWeek on Customers’ expectations of brands. The landscape is changing, or, has already changed. Better keep up.

I was at a 7-11 getting my Frappuccino fix, when I noticed Doritos new brand ID. I like the logotype- not sure about the “lightning” element. Interested in your thoughts.

I’m sure they did plenty of research, but who decided that only two colors, black and yellow, were aesthetically pleasing for a telecommunications company? Works fine if you manufacture heavy dirt moving equipment or school buses… I didn’t like it for NexTel, and I don’t for Sprint.

Owning a mobile phone is a personal experience- it is something we use daily and carry along with us everywhere. Cingular and TMobile brands seem a little more personal to me, although it seems TMobile could stand a brand makeover.

Thoughts?

I don’t know if any of you noticed, but Formula 409 recently rebranded. What an improvement! Although the changes seem subtle, the hard square-ish number “409″ was made more legible and modernized. It’s cleaner and less “cluttered”. The label was also printed on clear material, exposing more of the product in the bottle.