H2Ohhh.

For a number of months we have been conducting an experiment based on the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto. Dr. Emoto discovered he could alter the molecular structure of water by means of exposing it to different kinds of music as well as with the mere act of labeling it with certain words. By applying certain emotionally charged words, a particular intent is applied to the water by those who label it and those who view it. His studies are related to the power of human thought. You can click his name above to read more about it. It is really quite amazing.

For someone in the world of product and packaging, such as myself, this has some monumental implications. I'm well aware of the power of good packaging but this takes it to another level entirely.

All that in mind, we started a much less scientific experiment here at home. Impossible to prove the results but, well... it can't hurt. We started filling bottles with drinking water and labeling them with attributes we could all use more of... Love, Health, Prosperity... and drink it everyday.

The shot above is of the "Health" bottle. It was sitting on the pantry counter and the way the sunlight was beaming through the window, illuminating the air bubbles in the water was kinda magical.

I feel healthier already.

Cologne

In the previous post "Branding Bath" I talked about redesigning the bath and body packaging for Agraria. Included in that adventure was a redesign of the cologne spray bottle. Shown here is my concept for the new bottle that features the spherical "bottle stopper" cap and octagonal crystal body. An etched gold metallic neck band cinches this slimmer more elegant sister to the bath bottle.

A Poster Post

 

I have had the wonderful opportunity to dip a toe into the world of the theatre. No, sadly, not to realize my childhood dream to sing or dance ...to everyone's relief. Instead, to exercise my chosen path of design. This opportunity was due to my incredibly talented friend and wordsmith Mark Campbell.

Coming off a recent Grammy Nomination for the recording of his opera Volpone, he is preparing to open a new comic opera, The Inspector, at Wolftrap this April. He asked if I would create the poster for the show and I believe I had agreed to do it before he finished the sentence.

The Inspector is based on Gogol's The Government Inspector. For the opera, the political satire was reset in in Mussolini's Sicily and as Mark clarified "dictatorship is ALWAYS a ripe situation for comedy!"

The story has a strong theme of questioned identity. Mark had something Magritte-like in mind for the design as well as some reference to themes of corruption and Italian nationalism.

I looked to European posters of the period as visual reference. They were such a key medium for propaganda/advertising (same thing, really) for this period that it seemed a good place to start. I illustrated the black suit and fedora to allude very gently to gangster style with it's late 20's silhouette. The refined and more reserved typography, the vest, tie, and white shirt make the figure a bit more of a gentleman or perhaps government official. The corruption theme is hopefully recognized by the lire lining/pocket square details. The focused red and green color palette ideally give it Italian flavor. In the final version the green, white, and red flag stripes in the background give this theme more patriotic power.

I developed about 5 design directions. It came down to the green background with red lire details (shown above) and the Italian flag background with lire in hat. The Italian flag version (shown below left) was ultimately chosen.

The last poster I designed for Mark was in '95 for the musical Splendora (shown below right). This was while I was part of Manville:Bakacs:Santana design firm in NY and is also on my website of work created before 2005 (yellow link and password on the right).