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It's always exciting and challenging to work with any new consumer product brand or entertainment property, but for the owners of these brands, the learning curve can be a steep one. The first focus has to be on creating a unique brand and building equity from scratch, … Read More

When I first met Steve Kaplan, it was clear to me that the man had a deep passion and conviction for the WAL, the acronym for his brainchild, the World Armwrestling League. I’'ve been a diehard sports fan all my life. Being a native Philadelphian, it’'s difficult … Read More

As design consultants, we’'ve placed our emphasis on developing package design systems that tell the brand story with a unique, ownable aesthetic. We’'ve conducted pre-design research, analyzing competitors’' package designs before developing unique concepts to make our clients'’ brands stand apart, but three major factors, while not … Read More

Since people are visual, and brands are increasingly global, it’s crucial to communicate the brand story as though there isn’t any verbal brand communication on pack. By designing it that way and then adding limited verbal communication that enhances the values of the brand, consumers are far … Read More

There’s no denying the fact that licensed brands achieve greatness through great design. Of course, every great licensed brand must have a clear marketing strategy in place and be consistently managed by the brand owner, but it’s stellar design at every consumer touch point that makes superstars … Read More

It’'s no surprise that consumers are doing more of their shopping online now than ever before. Online shopping was already prevalent for many categories prior to the pandemic. But the shift to online retail became significant once stores selling non-essential items began closing across the globe back … Read More

Every brand that chooses to enter the world of licensing needs to have its own packaging program. And I’'m not talking about a simple rectangle with the property logo and a background pattern placed inside of it that some licensed brand owners call a packaging program. I’'m … Read More

Fortunately, in today’'s consumer product marketplace, most brand owners are fully aware of the value of great packaging. They realize that their brand’'s packaging is the single most important consumer touch point and that it is through packaging that consumers first come in contact with their brand … Read More

Whenever I see toys packaged in blind box packaging, it always reminds me of collecting trading cards as a kid and that feeling of wanting the entire set, but knowing the likelihood of that happening was directly tied to how much allowance money I was willing to … Read More

As one of the leading design consultancies to the consumer product and entertainment industries, we are continuously addressing the questions that arise as we interact with our licensing industry clients, many of whom are among our most avid BOLT! readers. After many in-depth conversations during the course … Read More