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Because of the new packaging, many of the old labels needed to be updated. Sullivan's Potato Salad was in desperate need of an overhaul. Not only because of the new packaging and a brand new logo, but also because they had started to order higher quantities and needed something more than the simple TEC label I had designed. Finished June 2005. Back to Top
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Gramma's Potato Salad is the flagship product for Country Maid, Inc. The identity and the recipe have been trademarked. I thought it was neccesary to spend a lot more time designing the new lids for this product. Here is a sample of the designs that were rejected and the final selection that went to print. Finished May 2005. Back to Top
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These designs were approved for the 1, 2, and 3 pound containers. Jim is responsible for three of the four of these labels. We had each made up designs, but they chose his over mine. The concept and the finishing is my work though. I really wish we'd had more time to work these, but even as it was we didn't get them in to the printer in time to make Memorial Day. Finished April 2005. Back to Top
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Another bulk design that I really enjoyed. The Blue Ribbon Cole Slaw really started taking off and a preprinted label needed to be developed. The entire Blue Ribbon line had this logo on top, a combination of the Country Maid logo and a county fair blue ribbon. Finished November 2004. Back to Top
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Finally, Trig's decided to update their logo. This is the label design after I had a chance to spend a little more time with it. Finished July 2004. Back to Top
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This label, designed for Brakebush, is relatively simple. It's generally just an informational label. Finished August 2004. Back to Top
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This is another Custom Cuts label for mixed raw vegetables and dip. Finished August 2004. Back to Top
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In 2002 Jordan, the president of Country Maid, made a business alliance with Custom Cuts. In the process, he offered the services of our already overworked graphics department. We designed and printed labels for them. Essentially, we were jobbed out for no extra pay. Still, I did enjoy some of the finished designs. Like this one for mixed raw vegetables and dip. Finished June 2004. Back to Top
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This design was in response to claims that my current label designs weren't flashy enough. It bears mentioning that during my time at Country Maid, I had always held back because the general attitude was conveyed that we wanted an old -fashioned, homemade look and flashy wasn't allowed. A lot of changes have been made in ownership in the last few years and attitudes have changed. Far be it for me to complain. These are the new "high art" designs for Dips. The gloves are off, fellas! Finished January 2004. Back to Top
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Sometimes you just need to blow off a little steam. Sometimes, as an artist, the only way to get yourself back on track is to let your creative side wander for a while. This is a collection of the "Rejected" ads that Jim and I made up and hung on our door. They were never intended to be used, but given a more progressive company, they could be polished up into a pretty interesting ad campaign.
Finished February 2003 - April 2005. Back to Top
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This is the last design for the bulk Gramma's Potato Salad. Gramma's was the flagship product of the company, so it was decided that using a couple extra colors was worth it, even if it was a bulk label. Finished December 2003. Back to Top
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In 2003, Jordan, the president of Country Maid, became involved with the Festival Food Stores. As a result, we supplied all of their salads and dips. It was a short lived venture. This is the final design created for the Festival templates. Finished August 2003. Back to Top
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PDQ Food Stores requested that the product name be as large as possible. I never particularly liked this design, and it had to be printed on the TEC so the colors were simple, but the end product shows some diversity in design, so I thought I would include it. Finished June 2003. Back to Top
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Unfortunately, due to some miscommunication, Kwik Trip ended up going to an outside design house and I had to recreate the logo and title for this label. I'm not sure why they preferred this over the Kwik-nic idea. Finished April 2003. Back to Top
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Kwik Trip Convenience Stores asked for some designs for a new line of pre-packaged salads. The Graphics department came up with the name "Kwik-nic" salads. This is my favorite design from that series. Finished April 2003. Back to Top
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This is a representation of the progression of the art on our flagship product here at Country Maid, Inc. The first label was what they were using when I arrived. The third label in the progression is produced for companies that do not want our logo on the product. You can see by the dates on the labels how long it took me to convince them to move forward with newer and newer designs. Finished December 2002. Back to Top
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Quillin's was an interesting problem. The words were so small on the logo that it was difficult to fit it on the label and still have it readable. I ended up doing something very very simple and leaving a lot of white space to make the logo stand out. Finished December 2001. Back to Top
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This is one of the first POP (Point of Purchase) flyers that I ever did with the new camera. It turned out pretty well. I especially enjoy the festive blocks of transparent color that overlay the product. Finished April 2001. Back to Top
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Piggly Wiggly had us design labels a number of times. This is my favorite one, although in the approval process they had me move the Pig graphic down a little and his eyes were then hidden by the text. Not my choice, but I still like the design. Finished April 2001. Back to Top
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In 2001 I started designing some of the food shows. I would work with the sales departement and design displays, signage, even animated displays. All my work was done on a non-existant budget, so I had to be creative with what little money I could glean from the sales department. Many of my displays won awards, which was impressive since Country Maid had never won an award before. These are some of my favorite displays. Finished 2001. Back to Top
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When Country Maid was first doing business with Sullivan's, I came up with this design for their labels. In the end, we had to go with a simpler design so that it could be printed on the TEC, but I liked how it ended up looking. Finished November 2000. Back to Top
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This is a redesign of the original sell sheet. I decided, after updating the sleeves, that the sell sheet could use some updating. Although it's far from cutting edge, it is leaps and bounds better than the original. Finished August 2000. Back to Top
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At one point I decided that the bulk labels needed some redesigning. The plate needed to be updated anyway to reflect the current recipe. Although the general public never gets to see these labels I thought it couldn't hurt to have a pretty label. It's a far cry from the simple text labels that we had been using and it lends a visual identity to our brand that the grocery stores could recognize. Finished April 2000. Back to Top
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I don't know where the original artwork came from, but finally we ran out of the old sleeves and I was able to redesign them. Click here to see the original sleeve. I took a picture just so I could show everyone just how bad the original ones were. My new design gets rid of the ridiculous rendering (what is the point when the actual product is right there?) and allows the product to be seen. I also started to emphasize the "Maid" as a company icon (you can see her in the upper corner, rendered on the side of the sleeve.) Finished March 2000. Back to Top
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This design was created for the Trig's Food Stores. The logo was given to me on a business card and I had to recreate it and then design a label around it. The president of the company asked me to do this "right away." I asked how long I had to complete it. He told me that the Trig's executives were in the conference room and would like to see the designs right away. Considering the time constraints, I think it turned out pretty well. Finished February 2000. Back to Top
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This is one of the first POP (Point of Purchase) flyers that I ever did for Country Maid. Sales had a meeting with Culver's, so I went out of my way to put this together. The camera I used only produced 4x6 photos, which is why the graphics only cover half the page, I did some photo editing to piece two photos together to get the height. I bought the Culver's products, put together the photo shoot, the layout, all the graphics and printed it on an inkjet printer. It turned out pretty well considering I had no idea what I was doing. Finished January 2000. Back to Top
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In 1999 Country Maid had an account with the new Super-Wal-Marts. They developed a brand called Archer Farms. It was a short lived account, but here is the design (which wasn't much of a design, we were told to copy the designs as close as possible. Finished May 1999. Back to Top
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In trying desperately to make up for the embarrassment of the Mega designs, I did my best to spice up any new designs as best I could. Again, all the labels during this time had to be created simply so as to print properly going through the TEC printer. Finished June 1998. Back to Top
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I had to include this design as one of my mistakes. With every artist, there will be mistakes. Mine was that I had designed up a couple of very nice labels for Mega, but three of their deli managers came in to approve the label. In my ignorance, I allowed them to stand behind me and offer suggestions as I developed the label. Not only was it a matter of too many cooks in the kitchen, but it made me realize that my experience was actually worth somthing. It's always interesting when someone will put down what a graphic artist does as "drawing pretty pictures" or that, since I'm using a computer, they could do it just as easily. This design will always remind me that not everyone can be a graphic designer. I find that most people can't even dress themselves in the morning! Finished April 1998. Back to Top
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This is one of the first labels I had the pleasure of redesigning. The original labels were preprinted at a much higher cost, I redesigned these to run on the TEC printer. Other than some color changes and some minor graphical changes to make it more compatible with the printer, I left the design largely unchanged. Finished November 1997. Back to Top
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