I recently ran across this Rodney J. Moore article from Jupiter Images’ Creative Brief, which examines the business and design process of rebranding a hair care line.
Elizabeth Arden Spas bought out a chain of salons in the Midwest. Arden decided to give the salon’s hair product line a makeover, hiring Cincinnati consultancy Alexander Isley to redesign the packaging for a national launch. Isley also suggested a name change, convincing Arden the name “Portrait” wouldn’t appeal to the 30- to 45-year-olds they had in mind as target customers. The designer chose early 20th century typeface Venus for the packaging, jumping on the Swiss revival bandwagon. This trend is a return to the modernist simplicity of the mid-20th century. The color schemes were black-plus-one, choosing a different fruit color for each product. Using tints of the Pantone color builds in an analogous color harmony. If students need proof that basic design and typography don’t have practical applications, they need look no further.
