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Hot Bread Kitchen Gets Some Hot New Packaging
When we first started working with Hot Bread Kitchen a few years ago, the social purpose bakery was a big idea with a little bread stand at a greenmarket in Harlem. Since then they have grown into a social enterprise that employs immigrant women to bake delicious breads while learning valuable skills for careers in the food industry. They now have more than 20 retailers carrying their products, including Dean & Deluca and the Brooklyn Larder, and participate in 4 greenmarkets per week, including Union Square. Over the past year Bad Feather has worked together with Hot Bread Kitchen to develop packaging that’s as tasty as the the breads they bake.
Lavash crackers (organic, crispy crackers topped with a variety of seeds and spices – you want these) are one of their biggest sellers. The challenge was to design packaging that retained the DIY, homegrown aesthetic that has influenced the Hot Bread Kitchen brand from the beginning. In the early days Jessamyn would hand-stamp kraft paper business cards with the Hot Bread Kitchen logo, and that was a foundation for design elements used in all of the marketing materials we’ve since created for them. When we set to transitioning from their handmade packaging (stamped re-closable paper bags) to a printed design, it was important that we retained the stamped logo which results in a charming irregularity when the bags are lined up on a shelf.
We finally got our hands on a few bags of newly-packaged lavash and must say, they’re as tasty as ever and we could not be more pleased with the result of the finished product.
Email Marketing Party Magic
We had you at magic, right? Bad Feather recently had great success using an email marketing campaign to promote this year’s Sonic Union party. Maybe you’ve seen the self-mailing poster invite we created last year? We got loads of positive feedback on the design and we’re told the party was one for the record books. When we sat down to brainstorm ideas for this year’s party, the folks at Sonic Union were interested in promoting the event digitally. It is 2010 after all, and in addition to being a greener and more interactive approach, we saved some serious cash by eliminating printing and postage.
Aside from rethinking the distribution of the invitation, we wanted to design an invite to reflect Sonic Union’s industry reputation of being darn good party people. On our end the ideas started flowing with the mention of the Zoltar machine that would be one of several party attractions. We created this digital poster design that we felt appropriately conveyed 100% FUN.
The poster design was embedded in an HTML email campaign sent to an initial list of invitees. We sent this through a 3rd party service, utilizing their list management capabilities to wrangle the guest list Read the rest of this entry »
Collaborating on JoanWatts.com
We recently developed a new artist portfolio site in collaboration with award-winning book designers, Skolkin + Chickey. We first learned about Joan Watts when our friends at Radius Books published a gorgeous monograph of her paintings. We were pleased to have the opportunity to create this minimal site design to showcase her beautiful work.
Check out JoanWatts.com.
Get Your iPads Ready for Popular Science+
Today PopSci and Bonnier announced Popular Science+, the new digital version of Popular Science magazine available on the iPad. This is the first magazine app to be developed on Bonnier’s Mag+ platform.
Bad Feather designed and built PopularSciencePlus.com to promote the launch of Popular Science+. Read about the app features and watch the concept videos from BERG to learn about their collaboration with with Popular Science to re-imagine the form of magazines.
And of course, if you have an iPad you should download the April issue from in the iTunes store now! Follow @PopSciPlus on Twitter and tell them what you think of their rad new app.
Feeling Generous?
The holidays are a time for giving (and let’s not forget tax season is nearly upon us). We thought we’d bring a few of the great non-profits we work with to your attention, should you be feeling that generous itch:
The Poetry Project fosters and inspires the reading and writing of contemporary poetry through its live programming, workshops, publications, website and special events. You can make a donation and with your help the Project will continue to be central to a thriving community and will be here for generations of poets and artists to come..
Hot Bread Kitchen is more than a bakery. It’s a non-profit social enterprise that enhances the future for immigrant women and preserves baking traditions. There’s still time to order one of their tasty holiday gift boxes. You can also make a donation to support the future of Hot Bread Kitchen.
Radius Books is a non-profit publishing company based in Santa Fe that encourages, promotes, and publishes books of artistic and cultural value for a wide audience. Consider joining the membership program, which provides the critical financial foundation that makes Radius Books a vital promoter of the visual arts. You can also make a charitable donation.
For the Love of Corduroy
A public service announcement for people who like Corduroy fabric:
Bad Feather is pleased to announce the momentous unveiling of the newly redesigned CorduroyClub.com, and perhaps more importantly, the imminent Grand 11|11 Meeting of the Corduroy Appreciation Club!
Below is a screenshot of the Corduroy Appreciation Club’s new home. Please visit the website, and if you have a true appreciation for Corduroy fabric, consider both joining the organization and attending the 11|11 meeting, which promises to be epic.
HAIL THE WALE!
Spin to Win at Sonic Union
This summer we had a lot of fun designing this prize wheel. Turns out Sonic Union and their clients are having even more fun playing with it!
We created the wheel as an alternative to branded SWAG. Sonic Union is sending its clients away with a memorable experience (and maybe a siiiick prize) instead of more stuff we all get (but don’t really want or need). Prizes vary from ‘Free Stuff You Get Free’ – recycled copy of this morning this morning’s Metro anyone? – or ‘Super Special Commute’, an escort to the subway with a free swipe, to a ‘One Night Getaway’ room at the W hotel. Who doesn’t want a shot at that? A spin of the wheel and a coupon for a free Frosty at the Union Square Wendy’s keeps clients talking about Sonic Union round the water cool for days.
We Got Our Data On, Now Get Your Skis On
We just completed an interactive infographic for SKI magazine online. Data visualization was a new and exciting thing for us to tackle here at Bad Feather and if we do say so ourselves, we’re pretty pleased with the results.
The oh-so-pretty infographic, which represents the top 50 North American ski resorts’ comparative ratings according to the 2010 Reader Resort Survey for such categories as terrain, snowfall, lodging, dining, family activities, is animated in Flash to allow users to interact and discover the top resorts in each category. The SKI site is chock full of resort stats and content to satisfy your inner ski bunny. Ski season is just around the corner – check it out.
Bring the Noise
We are psyched to announce a new site we built for 1928 Recordings, a Brooklyn-based record label helmed by Ryan McReynolds. Designed in collaboration with our friend Sohrab from Shadowless Kick, 1928recordings.com features a catalog of the label’s releases, listings for upcoming tour dates, and label news and info, all editable by 1928 Recordings (thanks again, WordPress). The online store was built separately using the new White Label service from Insound.com.
For the WordPress nerds out there who might be curious, we used GigPress for the tour listings, Cleaner Gallery and Shadowbox for the image slideshows, Audio Player for the audio samples, and Viper’s Video Quicktags for the video embeds.
Bring on the Pickle Party!
We recently completed a small packaging project, creating a set of labels for Bradley Farm. If you happen to shop at the Grand Army Plaza green market in Brooklyn, you may know the ever-popular, bearded chef turned farmer, Ray Bradley. In addition to his beautiful produce and delicious, naturally raised pork, Ray also sells his own brand of pickles, strawberry preserves, wildflower honey and other specialty items [Read: homegrown and ground paprika. Run, don't walk].
To help get the pickles to market, Heather and Kristen headed to Bradley Farm in New Paltz to jar and label some Dills, Bread and Butters, and the almighty Lemon Cucumber pickles. Thanks to Ray’s generosity, we didn’t leave empty handed and we’ve since enjoyed the scrumptious treats in the studio. Nobody ever told Kristen she might have to wear a hairnet when she joined team Bad Feather, but if you ask her, we’re sure she’ll tell you a day in the country and her own jar of those tasty dill pickles was worth it.
Bradley Farm is at the 97th and Amsterdam Market on the Upper West Side on Fridays, and the Grand Army Plaza Market in Brooklyn on Saturdays. We also created a hilarious Ray Bradley button that Ray is selling to his loyal customers to help recoup losses from the late blight that severely damaged this year’s heirloom tomato crops. Support the farm and get yourself some pickles!
A Passport to Learn Money
Our friends over at Skill-Life Inc. launched their first product this week – the Beta version of CentsCity, an online world packed with games that teach teens and tweens financial skills as they earn rewards from their parents, teachers, and out-of-school providers.
We were happy to work with Felix Lloyd and crew again to design both print and online elements to support the launch of CentsCity. Bad Feather created the CentsCity “passport”, which players receive via snail mail when they sign up. The passport comes with a set of stickers kids can affix to pages for banking, investments, charities, rewards, and general progress as they play online.
We also teamed up with our pals at Dtek to design and develop the container site, CentsCity.com, to house the game, which was created by 360KID. Check it out and invite some youngsters to Learn Money! Earn Rewards!
The Fruits of Our Labor
Recently Bad Feather had an opportunity to design a wine label! James Benedetto of Scotto’s Wine Cellar in Carroll Garden is releasing his ’05 Benedetto Blend and he came to us for assistance. The design was inspired by the wine-stained, handwritten label stuck on a sample bottle from winemaker, Tony Coturri.
The Coturri vineyards are sustainably farmed, the grapes are hand harvested and the wines are hand crafted. The limited production of the Benedetto Blend 2005 is a bold, earthy wine that will compliment hearty peasant food well. We’re finding the wine and the label very appetizing!
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