Hugo Naturals - Voicebox Creative

When the printer resolutely confirms an unbending print date; when the client has an unexpected, unsought inspiration; when the designers go back to the drawing board—when those luxurious budgeted hours have seeped away, who will feel the crunch? 

Production. It’s just how it goes.

Do we despair, then—with a sku list of forty items that should be well on their way but are in fact without the benefit of an approved concept? Or, do we start thinking?

At Voicebox Creative the production department began to think—then they began to hum. While their conceptual counterparts stewed in client meetings we began to build a system. We worked out variables, setting rules—sometimes going back and starting over. We worked on what we knew couldn’t change: there would be a logo, there would be a product name. We had the dielines. Without drawing a line on a mechanical, we created proportions and grids. Without knowing how the concept would emerge from design, we built a frame for it.

The result: approval came and my production team ignited. With a system that relayed one items attributes in relation to another, but not as part of another, we knew where everything belonged. While the nuances were debated, the substance took form. The unreasonable deadline approached and we decided on another round of proofing—why not? There was time to spare. Forty mechanicals shipped with loving care, ease, and concise, fluid branding across all forms.