Vermont Village Rebrand

Here's a story about a small design studio taking on a big visual identity project. We were hired by Vermont Village, an organic applesauce company, to redesign a logo and rebrand their existing packaging. We love a good challenge, believed in the product, and loved the enthusiasm of the brand manager that hired us. We came up with many fun concepts, despite some crazy timelines and unorthodox methods of decision making. (So goes the design process sometimes!) 

We presented lots of rounds and revisions. Work we were very proud of. But in the end they decided to not use the logo or much of our clean, original work. We're proud of what we created and we're certainly grateful for what we figured out along the way. Sometimes the boss just changes his mind. You can see echoes of our watercolor and illustration work on the shelves today, but we can't say it's fully ours. 

We also know we grossly undercharged for the service and I'm sure creatives everywhere can relate to being taken advantage of occasionally, especially when the task seems out of your league. We should have charged three times the amount we were paid for the amount of work put in and design services rendered. We're a bit wiser now, it was a lesson in trusting our instincts and knowing when it's time to walk away. Better contracts and stronger spines. They have since been bought by Stonewall Kitchen and it's possible these design updates helped them in that process. Which is good to have put out there in the universe! We love making brands and projects look as sharp as they can. 
...
Here's the Brainstorm version of the logo and some of the pieces we designed. Even though we can't say what's on store shelves is our full work, they are unveiling products old and new with all the elements of the style we created. We still totally support this company and their awesome apple products. It's amazing how some of the more challenging things career-wise end up teaching you the most about yourself and your business. Hindsight is a good enough distance to help you find gratitude. I've also added a few shots of other pieces we came up with during the rebranding process. If you know the brand, you might enjoy seeing where it could have gone. 😁