Jeffrey Morris, director, chief creative officer, Studio Morris08.31.15
We were asked by Jessica Nails to help promote their spring collection of muted neutrals. Much of the work we do in beauty is about story telling and branding; this collection was no different. After establishing naming criteria, our ideation session uncovered the classic line by advertising legend William Bernbach, "When everyone shouts, whisper." This led to the name, "The Whisper Collection."
The author, Jeffrey Morris, of Studio Morris
Together, with the client, our team at Studio Morris named the colors: Hush Hush, Gossip Queen, Sch!, Rumor Mill and Secrets. Armed with our big idea, the design task was to leverage Jessica Nails' exclusivity, European heritage and luxury positioning. A classic Paul Kline image and structured typography help convey the understated elegance of the brand and the collection.
Background
Long before nail salons were found on every corner, there was Jessica Vartoughian, the woman who would become known as The First Lady of Nails. Jessica opened the first-ever nails-only salon and revolutionized nail care with a technique that was ahead of its time. As manicurist to the stars, she has a long history of high quality products that focus on creating healthy nails. Available only in salons, the Jessica Brand is one of the leading brands in Europe.
As a branding agency, naming is one of our core competencies. We do brand strategy, company and product naming brand identity, packaging and interactive for the beauty, luxury and select corporate clients. It’s highly strategic, and involves more than just marketing, and can involve time and expense.
The Process
With Jessica Nails, we were naming a collection. This was less strategic and more creative. We spent time with Jessica, who developed the colors, and learned about her inspiration, point of view and overall objectives. We did a competitive review to understand what others were doing and current trends.
Jessica Nails' magazine ad
We then went back to the office and conducted our own, internal ideation session, creating a group of “buckets” or categories to put potential names in. Our concepts and idea were all over the place and we referred to our criteria to evaluate our brainstorming ideas.
We ended up with a few promising directions, and then began the design process. During the design process, some names worked better than others.
Additionally, our visual exploration led to modifications of some names. Ultimately we settled on four to five directions to present.
After the first presentation, two directions were selected for additional refinements and to apply to the other touchpoints (Point of Purchase displays, Posters, Header Cards, etc.) and it came down to Whisper and another direction.
After the second presentation, Whisper was selected. We then went into production mode, securing the photograph, undertaking extensive retouching, doing product photography and overseeing the execution of all of the materials for the campaign.
Challenges and Opportunities
As a branding agency we’ve worked with some of the largest beauty corporations in the world including Estee Lauder and L’Oreal. We don’t care about the size of the client we work with as long as they are passionate about doing the best work possible. We adhere to the same high standards no matter the size. There are many opportunities in working with smaller entrepreneurial clients. You are usually working with the founder who has the vision and they are more open to new and unusual ideas.
Fashion, Beauty and Luxury marketing is a highly visual endeavor requiring the best artists, photographers, models, designers and materials. Jessica is a tiny company and did not have the budget that our larger clients have. We would have preferred to shoot our own model, with our own photographer. We also do structural design and would have liked to redesign the point of purchase display but we’re professionals, and had to stay within the budget
It forced us to be resourceful, finding ways to get around that challenge. Because we had a good, “big” idea, the execution was simpler and more cost effective. We were able to find a pre-existing image that worked, and we were home free.
The End Result
A good idea can carry the day. The response has been very positive. Everyone is pleased with the results.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Read More:
5 Design Don'ts by Jeffrey Morris: A few common design mistakes that every designer and brand marketer should avoid.
The author, Jeffrey Morris, of Studio Morris
Background
Long before nail salons were found on every corner, there was Jessica Vartoughian, the woman who would become known as The First Lady of Nails. Jessica opened the first-ever nails-only salon and revolutionized nail care with a technique that was ahead of its time. As manicurist to the stars, she has a long history of high quality products that focus on creating healthy nails. Available only in salons, the Jessica Brand is one of the leading brands in Europe.
As a branding agency, naming is one of our core competencies. We do brand strategy, company and product naming brand identity, packaging and interactive for the beauty, luxury and select corporate clients. It’s highly strategic, and involves more than just marketing, and can involve time and expense.
The Process
With Jessica Nails, we were naming a collection. This was less strategic and more creative. We spent time with Jessica, who developed the colors, and learned about her inspiration, point of view and overall objectives. We did a competitive review to understand what others were doing and current trends.
Jessica Nails' magazine ad
We ended up with a few promising directions, and then began the design process. During the design process, some names worked better than others.
Additionally, our visual exploration led to modifications of some names. Ultimately we settled on four to five directions to present.
After the first presentation, two directions were selected for additional refinements and to apply to the other touchpoints (Point of Purchase displays, Posters, Header Cards, etc.) and it came down to Whisper and another direction.
After the second presentation, Whisper was selected. We then went into production mode, securing the photograph, undertaking extensive retouching, doing product photography and overseeing the execution of all of the materials for the campaign.
Challenges and Opportunities
As a branding agency we’ve worked with some of the largest beauty corporations in the world including Estee Lauder and L’Oreal. We don’t care about the size of the client we work with as long as they are passionate about doing the best work possible. We adhere to the same high standards no matter the size. There are many opportunities in working with smaller entrepreneurial clients. You are usually working with the founder who has the vision and they are more open to new and unusual ideas.
Fashion, Beauty and Luxury marketing is a highly visual endeavor requiring the best artists, photographers, models, designers and materials. Jessica is a tiny company and did not have the budget that our larger clients have. We would have preferred to shoot our own model, with our own photographer. We also do structural design and would have liked to redesign the point of purchase display but we’re professionals, and had to stay within the budget
It forced us to be resourceful, finding ways to get around that challenge. Because we had a good, “big” idea, the execution was simpler and more cost effective. We were able to find a pre-existing image that worked, and we were home free.
The End Result
A good idea can carry the day. The response has been very positive. Everyone is pleased with the results.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeffrey Morris is Director and Chief Creative Officer at Studio Morris.
Read More:
5 Design Don'ts by Jeffrey Morris: A few common design mistakes that every designer and brand marketer should avoid.
