Kay James Design is a woman owned, award winning design studio with Midwestern roots. We deliver purposeful design solutions that connect with the hearts and minds of consumers. Our best in class processes are grounded in research. With decades of experience, we serve leading CPGs and industries—such as personal care, food & beverage, household and automotive. While our home is in the Midwest; we are Global in how we work. Whether you’re launching a new disruptor brand, renovating an established brand or seeking unique seasonal or special packaging, our pragmatic approach and world wide network allows us to offer you diverse perspectives and fresh creative results.
We design with purpose and used our proven design thinking strategy to help the Kleenex® brand with their annual, limited edition, Back-to-School cartons.
Our work tripled sales for this retailer, YOY.
We brought forward relevant carton artwork, shelf popping packaging and best in class product imagery for an elevated ecomm shopping experience. To further elevate the value of the purchase, we gave each carton a second life with instructions to transform each carton into a crafty activity.
• Creative Promotional Compaign Ideas
• Brand Packaging that Pops
• Consumer Based Print & Pattern
• In-Context Product Renders for Digital Shelf
Our most important Design Thinking Phase is the Discover Phase. For this women’s wear brand development we looked at consumer insights and shopping behaviors, dug into category audits, and developed a point of view on fashion aesthetics across generations.
We uncovered a key consumer group that felt misrepresented by current clothing lines. As a result, we proposed and executed two new Women’s Wear lines specifically to two key generations.
• Consumer Centric Mindset
• Generational POV
• Brand Identity
• Brand Persona
Upholding and communicating the cloth-like promise of Viva® towels was our main objective to accomplish during the print refresh. We created new patterns leveraging fabric textures and stitches and utilized our manufacturing mindset to challenge how the prints were applied to the substrate.
We delivered a more cloth-like aesthetic with edge-to-edge printing, which elevated Viva® to be the category leader in towel prints.
• Print & Pattern
• Trend Research
• Texture Experts
• Functional Communication
• Manufacturing Minded
Market Research
Trend Forecasts
Consumer Insights
Architecture
Brand Marks
Assets
Guidelines
Line Extensions & Refreshes
Limited Edition & Seasonal
New Concept
Benefit Iconography
Global, National & Private Label
Print & Pattern
Illustration
Emboss & Functional Cues
Limited Edition & Seasonal
Adaptation Guidelines
All Panel Layouts
Mechanical Art Files & Rep Skus
Vendor Managed Services
Design Thinking is the standard of how we work. It is defined as a non-linear, iterative process that our team uses to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. It is a highly collaborative, effective and relevant creative process that delivers with a purpose, drives quick decisions, improves speed to market and prevents costly rework. We begin with an upfront, extensive investigation which allows us to offer our clients the necessary clarification and definition that specifies desirable, feasible and viable design solutions. Along the way, we facilitate collaboration and integrate feedback early and at all stages of development. The result is focused design that places consumers at the heart of everything we do.
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5583 W Waterford Ln. Suite E
Appleton, WI 54913
(920) 560-3420
