#project 33

THE UPSIDE: there is an undeniable sense of relief and lightness that comes with throwing out old or unnecessary “stuff” and tidying up your environment. Feelings of elation and freedom, and the bonus, good-will sense that over time you’ll be reducing your footprint on the earth if you commit to consuming less.

THE DOWNSIDE: the angst you have to go through in order to get ruthless and let go. The pangs of guilt… and the sneezing! (from all the dust you’ll uncover).

We’ve all got out “stuff” right? Whether its physical or emotional, or heaven forbid, both – we’re probably all carrying around a little more than we need to and a bunch of stuff that, when we’re really honest with ourselves, doesn’t truly make us happy; let alone inspire us. And we live with it until every so often we have a big Spring clean, or your partner or your mum throws it out for you. Or, if you’re like me, you have an Epic Easter Tidy Up!

I’ve been gradually going through my belongings and decluttering for a while now. It started with a market stall about 8 months ago and has been progressing. The wardrobe was my main focus initially, as it was the one area where I felt I’d accumulated more than I needed, used, or even liked anymore. That’s the startling thing actually – how much stuff I had that I didn’t really even like. Not anymore anyway. And that’s been one of my biggest takeaways for me from this exercise:

Great once, doesn’t mean great now.

And that is where I was able to give myself permission, with reckless abandon, to throw stuff out! I sold a bit at the markets and it was satisfying to see others excitedly trying on things that no longer fit me, served a purpose or made me happy. It was even more satisfying to drop the remains off to a charity store and simply give stuff away.

Cut to, over Easter I decided to go to the next level with my decluttering. I felt the need to purge. I was certain there were things still lurking around that I didn’t need. And, as that energy was growing inside me, I remembered the linen cupboard, and the TV cabinet drawers, the 5 boxes of “storage” in the garage… the freezer… the glovebox in my car… you get the idea. Everything was up for grabs. Everything needed to be looked at and assessed with a few key questions in mind: namely, stay or go?

Is this ‘item’ coming with me on the journey?

… and courtesy of Marie Kondo, does this ‘item’ SPARK JOY?

Oh my, does “spark joy” lead to some serious clearing!

If you haven’t encountered the term before, I’d encourage you to take a look at the KonMari method. It essentially asks you to evaluate everything in your life with that question of sparking joy in mind. A little confronting at times, since I realised I was holding on to various things – from old jackets to perfumes to script notes for plays I was in 10 years ago to … the list goes on.

For extra inspiration, I consulted The Minimalists' documentary. Their primary message being about adding value to your life, which struck me as another way of asking if something brought joy to your life. It's a fairly consistent theme amongst those talking around this topic. 

I’m not getting too puritanical about it though – an old trick of mine for when I'd discover something new. You know the all or nothing approach to things? I’m just trying to apply this thinking, with a light touch, to help free up physical and mental headspace, and any emotional ‘eliminating’ or baggage-clearing that happens along the way is a welcome bonus.

Time to focus on what’s really important and meaningful, and what genuinely lights me up.

Here are 3 excellent resources I highly recommend for inspiration if you’re also feeling the need to lighten your load.

1.     The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo: the KonMari Method

2.     Minimalism Documentary: featuring The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus, and others.

3.     Project 33: be more with less, by Courtney Carver

Ps. Project 33 was the most testing concept for me; a notion of reducing your clothing to a “capsule wardrobe”. That’s right – 33 items, only. Including SHOES! I’m certainly no expert on this one, but I did give it a shot – well, I counted all the items in my wardrobe anyway. The one saving grace was that underwear, gym wear and lounge-wear are not included. I downgraded a few things to “loungewear” just so I could keep them. And I allowed myself 120 items of clothing. And even that was pretty brutal, I’m not going to lie – but honestly, a month or so later, I can hardly even remember what I threw out and I’m definitely not missing anything!

Pps. Sadly, my CD collection got the chop. In this digital age, and with 2 Spotify subscriptions in our household, I just couldn't justify it. As nostalgic - and EPIC - as it was to part with them, the truth is I can't remember the last time I played a CD. I took photos of some of the artwork though. I used to spend hours pouring over album covers and lyrics...

About Established in 1974 as the New Orleans Jazz, the team later moved to Utah in 1979. The Utah Jazz are a professional basketball team playing in the NBA.

Design by In-house by Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment creative services

Related Links http://www.nba.com/jazz/newlook http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15519329/uni-watch-breaks-new-look-utah-jazz-bringing-next-season

Notes/Opinions The old Jazz brand had some emotional equity, in my mind at least, because it was one of the few sports brands from my childhood that I remember the logo resembling a finished masterpiece in a coloring book (along with the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Coyotes, and Toronto Raptors) rather than a typical logomark.

The detailed mountainscape in the background paired with the gradient-heavy, swooshing letterforms in the foreground could be considered a piece of fine art in its own right.

And while the logo does make me smile, it deserves to be framed and hung on a wall rather than be on the front a basketball jersey. I think the brand update is refreshing and welcomed. It looks as though much of the original brand from the 1970’s was able to be resurrected and updated for the 2010’s. Seeing the new brand marks in motion showcases how a basketball team’s logo can be relevant in today’s brand climate, where a brand has to be both dynamic and responsive - almost as if it’s breathing.

Although, an issue I have with this brand update is the secondary logomark. With the amount of energy and effort the designers put into the all of the other Jazz logomarks and design elements, this particular piece seems very iterative, repetitive (see image below), and static. I wish the designers would have utilized their new custom typeface in a more exciting and dynamic way.

One other criticism I have of the rebrand (and I know that I’m getting picky here) is that the refined colors aren’t vibrant enough - they don’t pack that ‘punch’. I love sporting a teams colors with pride and being able to recognize other fans too! The chosen blue is so dark and dull that it would be hard to wear those colors at a bar and spot my fellow Jazz supporters. In short, I don’t think the colors are being pushed to their fullest potential.

Overall, I would say the rebrand was successful because the Utah Jazz team and fans have a strong new logo to rally behind and proudly support. The fact that the logo was made with the digital environment in-mind gives this rebrand that much more energy and charisma.

Hope you enjoyed the read!

About Established in 1974 as the New Orleans Jazz, the team later moved to Utah in 1979. The Utah Jazz are a professional basketball team playing in the NBA.

Design by In-house by Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment creative services

Related Links http://www.nba.com/jazz/newlook http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15519329/uni-watch-breaks-new-look-utah-jazz-bringing-next-season

Notes/Opinions The old Jazz brand had some emotional equity, in my mind at least, because it was one of the few sports brands from my childhood that I remember the logo resembling a finished masterpiece in a coloring book (along with the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Coyotes, and Toronto Raptors) rather than a typical logomark.

The detailed mountainscape in the background paired with the gradient-heavy, swooshing letterforms in the foreground could be considered a piece of fine art in its own right.

And while the logo does make me smile, it deserves to be framed and hung on a wall rather than be on the front a basketball jersey. I think the brand update is refreshing and welcomed. It looks as though much of the original brand from the 1970’s was able to be resurrected and updated for the 2010’s. Seeing the new brand marks in motion showcases how a basketball team’s logo can be relevant in today’s brand climate, where a brand has to be both dynamic and responsive - almost as if it’s breathing.

Although, an issue I have with this brand update is the secondary logomark. With the amount of energy and effort the designers put into the all of the other Jazz logomarks and design elements, this particular piece seems very iterative, repetitive (see image below), and static. I wish the designers would have utilized their new custom typeface in a more exciting and dynamic way.

One other criticism I have of the rebrand (and I know that I’m getting picky here) is that the refined colors aren’t vibrant enough - they don’t pack that ‘punch’. I love sporting a teams colors with pride and being able to recognize other fans too! The chosen blue is so dark and dull that it would be hard to wear those colors at a bar and spot my fellow Jazz supporters. In short, I don’t think the colors are being pushed to their fullest potential.

Overall, I would say the rebrand was successful because the Utah Jazz team and fans have a strong new logo to rally behind and proudly support. The fact that the logo was made with the digital environment in-mind gives this rebrand that much more energy and charisma.

Project 33: Redesign Review- Planters Nuts

The past year seems to be the age of the “simplified” redesign. With more and more brands like Netflix and Google evolving their marks and brands to a cleaner look, it’s not surprising that other companies are jumping in too; with varying degrees of success.  Some have given their redesign a lot of thought to make sure they kept their consumer-retaining equities while others have stripped their brand of the personality that makes it ownable.

 One such brand I have noticed a change in recently is Planters Nuts. As I reached for my favorite flight snack on my way to California not long ago, I noticed a big change on their shelf. Planters Nuts was founded in 1906 and in 1916, the first rendition of Mr. Peanut came to life after a schoolboy won a contest for designing the brand mark. Fast forward a century and we still see our favorite Peanut on commercials and printed media along with their logotype and recognizable brand colors; blue and yellow. Recently, Planters launched their new and improved logo mark and updated packaging.

 The first major change from past branding is the separation of Mr. Peanut from the logotype itself. In the previous rendition, he was tied with the type and cut off at the legs creating a weird line and a dismembered personality on pack. Not only have they pulled him out to play better to their heritage but this also allows them to use the logo and space better. Mr. Peanut himself also got a little jazzed up; the illustration no longer uses black to create shapes; instead opting for tone on tone dimension and cleaner lines.

 Now that the type is no longer tied to Mr. Peanut, they have done away with their asymmetric curved logotype; ditching the ligatures, holding-shape and gradient in favor of a trendy, clean sans serif that is reminiscent of Planters logos past. Though less dynamic than the former logo, there is a nice balance. To be honest, it reminds me a lot of Netflix.  The video streaming company seems to have started a trend of subtle but meaningful branding changes; while the planters interpretation is nice and could lend itself naturally to a relevant packaging update, overall it’s quite plain.

 When it comes to their adaptation of the new branding to the package design, it could be pushed further. They have kept their strategy in place but have removed any type of flourish or gradient. Flat color floods the packs, using flat bands of color to differentiate flavor and nut variety. The hierarchy is straightforward and effective yet blocky with the tangents created by the logo and the color bands.

 Overall, I feel like this rebrand is unfinished; a good stepping stone to some of the nicer elements that we see on their 100th anniversary bottle or the dessert mixes. The update to the logo is nice. Bringing in symmetry while keeping the curve that people have come to associate with the brand was a nice design decision. However, I do crave the motion from the old mark and I feel that they have not taken advantage of the symmetry on pack as well as they could have. They have cleaned up the logo to become more relevant but in the process became more generic. They are using new assets in old ways on pack causing the redesign to fall flat and feel like a cheaper product overall. With less character in the packaging, this feels more like a value brand instead of the brand of nuts I have grown up with. Part of me wishes that they had taken the great tone of voice they have created for Mr. Peanut throughout the last decade and really owned it. They have all the pieces but could spend a little more time to crack this nut.