Just as restaurants often find it difficult to operate successfully as bars, it’s tough for ad agencies to succeed as design shops—and vice versa. That’s partially because there seems to be an element of patch protection at play on both sides of the fence, perhaps as evidenced by some of the comments in the article about Designworks’ foray into advertising with the University of Canterbury’s latest campaign. But, as one of the few agencies that’s won both Best Awards for the likes of the ecostore rebrand and Four’s big yellow duck as well as a whole host of prestigious creative awards, Special Group seems to be doing a pretty good job of striking a balance. And its latest effort is the creation of a new brand identity for Omaha Organic Blueberries (OOB).
After 11 years in the business, a continually expanding product range, and a turnover that has doubled in the past few months, OOB founders Robert and Shannon Auton say it had gone from boutique blueberry grower to international blueberry and ice cream brand, so they knew it was time to redesign their company’s identity and its playful new packaging line will be rolling out to supermarkets, specialty foodstores, cafes and restaurants over the next few months.
“We wanted a new name and look that reflected our values of down-to-earth honesty and flavour-packed certified organic goodness,” says Auton. “At the same time, ice cream is a fun, indulgent treat, so we needed to convey a real sense of playfulness and enjoyment.”
The result is OOB, coming soon to freezers near you as fresh and frozen blueberries, family-sized ice cream tubs and single serve multi-packs.
“We talk about the virtues of simplicity in design [speaking of which, check out what simplified brands look like]and the proof of this is in these particular puddings,” says Heath Lowe, Special Group design director. “The colours are pure and bold, the language is humorous and the design stands out unlike anything else on the shelf.”
