Our packaging design efforts for California Olive Ranch won a 2017 Nielsen Design Impact Award presented by The Dieline! The awards honor some of the most impactful fast-moving consumer goods redesigns over the last two years, and celebrate the real with measurable business impact of outstanding package design. Design Womb placed aside some pretty big fish out there in the packaging design world, and we are thrilled and grateful for this opportunity.
Download a copy of the press release and interview here or visit Nielsen to check out the winners and grab their official release which includes a great interivew with each of the winners. You can visit our portfolio to see the whole brand identity and packaging design project.
May 02, 2017 | BY Nicole LaFave
Curry Up Now's food truck was used as part of an example during a demo at Apple's spring WWDC. The logo design and branding work we did for the food truck and resturants made a flash appearance on the big screen next to the truck's delicious Indian street food menu. As huge fans of these conferences and gadget annoucement days, we're astonished!
June 16, 2016 | BY Nicole LaFave
The Dieline featured our packaging design work for Green Girl Bakeshop's dairy and gluten free ice cream pints and ice cream sandwiches today. You can see the full project on our site.
February 25, 2016 | BY Nicole LaFave
While we love to help you launch your food packaging projects, we also love to share exciting news about things that our team and extended family members are up to. Allison Ball, our food industry consultant, is launching an exciting new online course in February called "Brains of the Buyer." This course is for Producers of Good Food, and for the inaugural session, the Design Womb community will receive a generous discount of 30% off.
"Brains of the Buyer" helps producers grow their food business, thoughtfully. Alli works with you to create a 1 page business plan to clarify what you're actually selling & who you're selling to, why your product is different, and who your competitors are. Together, you then move on to understanding the thought process of wholesale buyers: why they choose particular products to carry and why they pass on others; how they price them; the strategy behind re-ordering, merchandising, and marketing them; and how to convince those retail accounts to say "Yes!" to carrying your products.
Alli currently helps producers increase their wholesale presence through her one-on-one consulting, and is offering group work for the first time this winter. Prior to launching her consulting business, Alli was Head of Grocery & Store Manager at Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, one of the nation's most influential specialty food markets, where she discovered, supported and promoted hundreds of small food businesses and thousands of retail products.
To sign up or learn more, follow this link and use promo code FOODFRIEND to save 30% off the inaugural course. Please note spots are limited, and registrations closes Friday, January 29th at Midnight, PST. Still have questions? Email allison@alliball.com.
January 22, 2016 | BY Nicole LaFave
To celebrate, we're sharing a few of our favorite collaborations from the past year or so. #PackagingDesignDay
May 07, 2015 | BY Nicole LaFave
Here's a little progress sneak peek at the food truck we designed for Troya Kitchen in San Francisco courtesy of Custom Vehicle Wraps.
May 06, 2015 | BY Nicole LaFave
We are very excited and honored to have two of our food truck designs and branding projects featured on Print Magazine this week. Print Magazine chose the Curry Up Now and Falasophy branding and food truck designs as part of their feature on 8 Ingenious Food Truck Designs. Print Magazine is an iconic design and visual culture brand encompassing a venerated magazine, a website, premium book and e-book lines, and the Regional Design Annual, one of the most well-respected design competitions in the industry.
April 10, 2015 | BY Nicole LaFave
October 24, 2012 | BY Nicole LaFave
Thank you Communication Arts for selecting Design Womb's Curry Up Now logo & truck for this year's Typography Annual. Winner! On stands now.
January 17, 2012 | BY Nicole LaFave
I got a fun little surprise email with a link to this wedding on snippet & ink for Sam & Alicia in San Francisco. The bride & groom had the Curry Up Now food truck that I designed at their event. More on the branding and truck design here. Congratulations Sam & Alicia!
January 17, 2012 | BY Nicole LaFave
I had the pleasure of attending a linocut printmaking class at 3 Fish Studios earlier in December with a friend. 3 Fish Studios is the artistic home of Annie Galvin and Eric Rewitzer, painters and printmakers, husband and wife, and creators of original and affordable art. They offer classes and original work for sale on their site, check it out. I had done printmaking in the past, but it had been years. Not only was the class great, but the studio space is so inspiring and Eric is the nicest and most patient instructor (Annie was sick that day, so I need to go back to meet her). I can't wait to go back and rent some studio time. This has inspired me on a whole new level and I'll be posting a very limited edition run of Bow Tie Pug Prints for sale on the Design Womb Etsy shop as soon as I can. If you are interested in reserving one, contact me. This is the start of my dog series, but of course I had to start with a black pug. Man, would I love to get one of these machines someday to have a small setup at my house, but for those of you that are like me in San Francisco, go check out a class.
December 30, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
Client: IIDA NC | Northern California - The International Interior Design Association's Northern California Chapter is a networking and educational association with a professional and student outreach about the profession of Interior Design. Services: branding, logo design, stationary system, website design View the full project: IIDA NC branding, stationary & website
October 27, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
Earlier this year (yes, I'm that behind on sharing this) I had the opportunity to collaborate on some creative branding & quick application screen shots for smrtUp, a mobile app startup company. I haven't seen the new branding in use yet, but you can compare the old vs. the new at smartupapp.com.
October 26, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
Flower & Gold is a hair and makeup beauty operation catering to both the fashion and wedding markets in the San Francisco bay area. I got the pleasure of helping Ashley & Alexia launch their brand (Ashley does my hair). Their skills speak for themselves if you take a peek into the gallery, and I'm pretty certain their personalities would make them a great pair to have around on your big wedding day or a stressful event. You can see more of the project here on Design Womb. The website was a developed by Kyle R. Young, extended family and a favorite of mine to collaborate and work with.
October 25, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
Here are a few snapshots from our weekend trip to Napa with T&B (Chicago peeps). It flew by and I loved it. We did a bike ride and a picnic Friday and spent time with other good buddies that happened to be in San Francisco and Napa at the same time. We were spoiled with good company, gorgeous weather and wine tasting. I have a lot to learn, and can not wait to go back to do more biking, but this was a good first step for me. I dream of designing wine packaging and labels and doing branding for a winery someday. It's been on my bucket list for awhile now, alongside branding a coffee company and maybe some chocolate. Or more beverages. Okay, fine. The list goes on & on.
October 24, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
Today is hot/cold. Do you know what I mean by that? It's warm and sunny outside, but the cool air from the ocean and fog is rolling in over the hills of our neighborhood. It was an interesting sensation on the way to the mailbox. This is a quick snapshot looking down the end of my street.
October 18, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
I finally got around to taking the intro to letterpress workshop at the San Francisco Center for the Book last week. (SFcB) It had been on my to-do list for over a year now to get myself over there for a workshop or somehow volunteer. Baby steps. I definitely think this intro class was the perfect little introduction to encourage one to explore further. As a small group, we each set our own line of old lead type and created a group print to learn how the equipment worked around the workshop. For myself, I hope to get back sometime for plate making and print making to push my own design work and output. Perhaps I should focus on making it a bigger goal for myself in 2012. The space was fun and I felt inspired to get down and dirty with the ink and paper. I could get lost in the drawers full of old moveable & wood type. Thanks Paula Gloistein for the nice little introduction.
September 27, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
Nice little blog entry from Rosie at PsPrint. Design on Wheels features Design Womb's work for the new Curry Up Now logo & food truck serving the San Francisco Bay Area with delicious indian street food. You can also see a before and after comparison of the logo.
September 13, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
September 07, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
San Francisco isn't shy of good coffee, but Sightglass Coffee is definately a favorite. We've been buying coffee beans from them since we moved here last June. You can order beans online & I highly recommend you give it a try if you love coffee. Right now we love our Chemex and if either of us are going it solo we go V60.
July 19, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
There is a 90% chance I will see something awesome to take a picture of when I leave my house in this city. Typically it involves cool typography, signage, or found color palettes out & about that inspire some of my design work. After living here a year, it was time to start sharing in my little spot about San Francisco typography, letters & colors. I promise I'll name it something better when I get more "serious" about my blog, but until then enjoy yourself some cute numbers from a church around the corner that I pass on my way to the blue mail box.
June 28, 2011 | BY Nicole LaFave
I would call myself a pretty decently successful freelance designer. I am working to grow my business, or double/triple it by the end of this year. Back in college, I was an AIGA student member, but since graduating and working in a handful of studios and deciding to go solo and freelance full-time, I haven't paid my dues since. I fully support an organization such as AIGA, and I love what they are about, but I find is so hard to cough up that $300. It's a love hate relationship. I am a professional, but I am also going it alone at the moment. Finding a way to pay for these extra organizations and at other times paid design competitions can be rough, no matter how much you think the benefits or results from joining might be later. Luckily AIGA offers a way to pay quarterly now, though I am still not sold on making the big leap. Is it work it, is it necessary? I'd love to hear what other professionals have to say about memberships and which ones they find the most valuable. My heart and my mind are saying yes, though I am still on the fence about how to rationalize taking the leap and finally joining AIGA again.
March 28, 2010 | BY Nicole LaFave