Stories
A BUSINESS IDENTITY STORY:
Here's a story about how one successful business identity
can lead to another. . .and another. . .and another. . .and another. . .
Mark Harden, is a serial entrepreneur, family man and hospitality connoisseur. We met in 1992, when Mark needed a fresh, compelling business identity for his chili and spice company, Desert Gardens. When he wasn't working his main job at an Albuquerque fast food restaurant in support of his lovely wife and six children, Mark spent hours selling his chili-and-spice mixes out of the trunk of his car to specialty food shops.
He reached out to me to help him establish a brand that would reflect his passion for quality products and best showcase the essence of his homemade gourmet delights. A hand-illustrated, clean, country design did the trick, and this gift-worthy product sold well. Inspired by the success, Mark next developed Country Gardens Cuisine, a line of country-style soups and dips.
Country Gardens Cuisine sold well in stores, too, so Mark launched Megan's Pantry, which focused on easy-to-prepare foods, sauces and mixes for home parties. Mark aptly named the parent company of these burgeoning enterprises, Comfort Foods.
Years of hard work paired with a strong brand eventually paid off big time, when, 15 years after the debut of Desert Gardens, Mark sold Comfort Foods for $4 million!
You would think Mark would have then settled into a relaxing retirement, relishing his good fortune, but retirement lasted about five minutes before he contacted me again with another business idea: Light the World Candles. This line of fragrant candles and bath products wouldn't make him a millionaire again, but it did support Christian organizations, one of his other great passions in life.
After candles, Mark moved onto personal care products. He started a line of all-natural cosmetics that are so luxurious, they'll make you Blush.
Perhaps his most hipster-friendly endeavor is Reverend J Beard Oil, an Amazon-based business he gifted to his son, the Reverend J. The profits help supplement the modest church income of this enthusiastically-bearded pastor in the International District of Albuquerque, so he, too, can raise a family. He also introduced to the lineage of entrepreneurial efforts, Earth's Gift, 100-percent all-natural, antioxidant rich facial mask kits and facial scrub for men and women.
I'm beyond proud to have helped Mark launch his multitude of successful business identities, and in turn support the growth of his wonderful family that now includes 6 kids and 15 grandchildren (and counting!). What's next for Mark? Only time will tell...
A PACKAGING STORY:
Here's a story about the love of pumpkin seeds.
In 1984, 15-year-old Marietta DeAngelo visited a small farm in Neuruppersdorf, Austria, as an exchange student. At her hosts' dining table between the salt and pepper was a bottle of pumpkin seed oil. Marietta soon discovered that the entire town used this deep, nutritious, olive-green oil on everything from eggs to dips, sandwiches to yogurt - even on ice cream!
Twenty-five years after her student exchange, Marietta's host family flew her to visit Neuruppersdorf again - this time with her husband, Alan, and their five children. Once again, she observed that the WHOLE COUNTRY still used pumpkin seed oil on everything. Was there a market for this novelty in the US, she wondered?
So Marietta travelled to New York City with 216 bottles of pumpkin seed oil, and proceeded to sell all 216 bottles to specialty stores that weekend. Stöger Oil was born.
At the 2013 Fancy Food Show in New York City, Marietta and Alan found business mentors in Chuck and Ian, the charismatic owners of Los Chileros. These two suggested the DeAngelos launch a full Stöger product line, replete with eye-popping packaging.
Enter CiMiAtch.
I love good, quality food, so helping the DeAngelo's better promote their gorgeous, gourmet oils was a no-brainer. The original Stöger package was a plain, medicinal bottle, designed to feature the nutrition of the oil. But Stöger Oil shouldn't hide in an apothecary-like container! Instead, I created a clean product design to capture each oil's purity and essence of the plant source, with the top band's hue reflecting the oil's natural color.
To affirm their tasteful beauty, out of 80,000 products shown at the 2013 San Francisco Fancy Food Show (the "Oscars" of foodies), Stöger Oils were named a Top Five Food Trend! What an honor. Over the next five years, Marietta and Alan took home a total of FIVE gold and silver Sofi statues. They continue to sell Stöger Oils nationwide in large and small specialty food stores - and of course they still love pumpkin seed oil on their ice cream.
AN ARCHITECTURAL GRAPHICS STORY:
Here's a story about integrating architecture, natural environment and business identity.
Durango's largest pediatric group, Pediatric Partners of the Southwest, was founded in 2003. In order to grow at the pace of their dreams, PPSW needed more space. So they took on the lofty endeavor of building a 30,000-square-foot health campus near Horse Gulch, a beloved hiking, mountain biking and public trails system in Durango, Colorado. The space, aptly named Horse Gulch Health Campus, also includes a Mercy Medical group and a dozen other complementary health services.
One of their greatest challenges was to create a captivating logo, fresh identity and signage package that didn't tout the usual mundane medical look. They wanted a professional, practical, modern design, but also sought to bring the outdoors in. The Partners voted unanimously on the new Horse Gulch identity, pleased to have an identity they felt represented themselves well.
After dozens of meetings with the artistic PPSW business manager, Bauen Group Architecture, the Horse Gulch's CEO and FastSigns Durango, a standout signage package was designed to reflect the surrounding environment using real birch tree bark, handmade paper and a natural color palette.
