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One of Capsule's early milestones was the identity for Byerly's, the Minneapolis-based gourmet food store chain. "We were very proud to win that work in the first year of business and more importantly to be able to complete and launch the work after 18 months of arduous work," says Keller. Since then Capsule's client list has grown to include Cargill, HoMedics, Target, Spec Mix, Redwing Shoes and Netgear. In addition, their work has received numerous awards, including ones from the American Center for Design, American Corporate Identity, Communications Arts, Graphis, and I.D. Magazine. A project like the YANK DVD burner is what Capsule Design does best: articulate a brand, identify a memorable name, and design a package that begs to be touched, read, and purchased. On the project's onset, Capsule faced the daunting task of creating a brand that would be able to take on such power brands as Sony, TDK, and HP. "Our approach was to find the underserved market - teens - and create a brand they could engage with," Keller says. "The YANK brand is anti-big brand and it flies in the face of what these consumers see in the DVD burner aisle of the national electronics retailers." Managing Principal Aaron Keller spoke to Altpick.com from his Minneapolis office.
The idea behind Capsule has a couple of different origins: getting to the essence of something to encapsulate; getting to the core; it is a small container that contains very vital elements - vital pieces of something that are rather important. We also talk about it as a device that takes you to a different place. A capsule allows you to explore different places. That's a core element in our business and how we approach design. So from that perspective, having designed our own name, we have gotten into naming as a firm. It is part of our package of deliverables. We look at not just the language of names but also the visual presentation or visual composition of names and how that works hand in hand with how a name, how an identity, is designed and presented. So when it comes to our name it is one of those little elements. It is simple. It's the essence, the device that takes you to a different place. Is it hard to find a name that isn't already used? Yes it is. It depends on the category, technology, communications, consumer goods - yeah, it can be extremely challenging to find a protectable name. It requires lateral thinking. Or metaphorical thinking, which designers are natural at, so it is just a matter of using words verses visuals and doing that same process. It is amazing how we can turn out some very distinctive names. The firms we were at in the past - we didn't have a lot of success at naming. When we step back and look at what naming could be - and since that time we have had only one naming project go bad - where they couldn't pick a name and it wasn't due to the names themselves, it was due to management issues and not being able to make a decision between two very powerful people in the company. We have not had naming go bad like I've had it go bad many years ago, when you couldn't get a protectable name and there were all kinds of issues that we would run into. We just haven't had that.
There are some of the typical process things like brainstorming. But it is brainstorming not in just throwing names on the wall. It is brainstorming around metaphors, then digging deep in the metaphors and finding things that meet our criteria for a great name. Which is? It needs to be short which leads to memorability. Relevant in some way - connected to the project or service -because that leads to memorability. It needs to be distinctive as well as visual in some way. What else sets your company apart from the rest? We immerse our staff into the context of the end customers' decision-making process. It moves us away from anything style driven and in the direction of asking what is going on in the customer's head right now in this context. As consumers we change-base on our context. The way you buy when you walk into a convenience store is different than when you walk into Marshall Fields or a department store. What is happening in that decision- making process? And how is whatever we are designing influencing that? And can it influence that? Can it keep them there longer? Can it get them more engaged? Can it get them to make a decision faster and get to what they want? And what they want is easier for them to pick so they are happier with their selection. All these types of things are asked in the context of the decision-making process. What's a project driven by that idea? Schroeder Milk. For that project we asked ourselves what is going on in the consumers' heads when they are making a decision on milk. It is not the brand of milk, you could care less. Because in most cases milk is milk is milk to most consumers. But they are trying to make a decision on fat level, or skim, or 1%, 2% and all those factors. So, understanding that, we designed a package that caters to that idea and helped them make that decision and that became their trade dress essentially.
Yes. A passion for creativity and the ability to deliver upon the un-expected! They are very thoughtful and inquisitive about everything that is Capsule. Do you see any quality of your work influenced by being in Minneapolis? It is a big retail town. It is extremely big with Target and Best Buy and Marshall Fields and the Mall of America. We enjoy doing retail and we enjoy shopping and so for retail projects we can provide a lot of insight for those who are not around retail as much. And it is cold. You have to be creative about what you do with your time when you are stuck indoors for six months of the year. You have to problem solve, how to get around without frostbite. What do you do to keep moral up around month five? We always have lunch served in the office or catered in the office every Monday. And once a year we do a big event. We go off site to just have fun. Then we have the spontaneous things where we go out and shop and travel. - Contributed by Mary-Beth Holland >> See more work from Capsule >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
