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It’s the 1st of December and you haven’t started thinking about Christmas presents yet – but do not fear! We’ve done the hard work for you and scoured the internet for some pain-free, easy DIY Christmas gifting ideas (shhhh, we won’t tell if you don’t). So why not avoid the crowds and spend some time at home making these thoughtful gifts which will leave the recipient feeling rather special! Here are our favourite picks for you to give to the ones you like the most…

Bespoke tea-cup candles

Make use of some waif and stray teacups (charity shops usually have LOADS of sets if you don’t have some already) and create some extra special bespoke candles. You don’t need a million different materials for this gift and can personalise it with your favourite essential oils scents.

Blackberry Gin

Let’s face it, we love our families but more than a few hours with them will have us reaching for the nearest bottle of alcohol.  Why not soften the blow by coming prepared with a bottle of homemade blackberry gin to share amongst all.  This is a super simple and delicious sounding recipe to knock up a personalised gift in minutes!

Nail Polish Marbled Mugs

Ok, we are a design agency so not all the DIY gifts can be food/ drink related.  We thought these marble effect nail polish mugs were pretty snazzy and a great way to brighten up any Christmas hamper! Nail polish, plain white mugs and toothpicks are all you need for this creation!  Instructions can be found via The Sweetest Occassion. 

Gingerbread popcorn

Add a little festive spirit to this DIY gift by popping corn and coating in some deliciously sweet spices.  Tesco’s have a fabulous gingerbread recipe to follow here.  Bag up in some cellophane, tie with some ribbon and use as a stocking filler for all.

Bath salts

Everyone loves to relax over the festive period, and what better way than with a soothing bath.  This little DIY recipe for Lavender mint bath salts is nice and simple and will make the perfect gift for Mum/ Grandma! 

Packaging ideas

We’re used to creating bespoke packaging, so were quite impressed by the ingenious use of toilet rolls, paper and ribbon to create a perfect little gift box.

Homemade christmas crackers

It wouldn’t be christmas without some cheese and crackers!  Box these yummy homemade cheese crackers up with some chutney for a savvy present. Recipe courtesy of Sainsbury’s.

Home made cards

Making your own homemade cards doesn’t need to be painful! Print off some christmas carols and rip the paper into shapes to form a Christmas tree – great fun to get kids involved too!

We are definitely going to give some of these a go – how about you?  We’d love to see some photos if you do so please share!

Yes you heard that right. Sustainable packaging company TIPA have created packaging that turns into fertiliser and decomposes like orange peel after 6 months. They are the first to do so in the UK.

The new packaging is for Snact’s fruit jerky range who were after an environmentally friendly option for their packaging. This certainly fits that brief!

TIPA’s CEO and co-founder, Daphna Nissenbaum, says: “Over 9.6 million tonnes of plastic waste is sent to landfill every year in Europe and something has to change. We look forward to the beginning of a new era in packaging where for the first time, viable end-of-life solutions are available on the market.”

What does it look like?

Below is an example of how the packaging decomposes. TIPA have run many tests simulating different conditions, which sometimes led to the decomposing taking as little as 24 weeks!

Here at Slice we think that it is a great idea to turn packaging into fertilise and impressive effort towards reducing the amount of waste from packaging! How many of you would keep this for 6 months just to see it decompose?

Original post courtesy of design week

About Slice Design

Based in London UK, Slice Design are a top international creative branding and packaging design agency that have helped consumer brands grow and get noticed since 2004. We like to think of ourselves as a challenger to the large agency. As the name suggests we cut through jargon with our flexible, no nonsense approach and down to earth attitude.

No fancy trademarked processes and no hidden extras. The benefit to yourselves is all the experience but with the flexibility that large packaging design agencies cannot deliver.

From our studio in Hammersmith, London, we work for clients around the world: global and local, big household names and small startups, challengers and leaders. Whether a big brand re-design, NPD launch or simple packaging updates. We’re proud to remain flexible, refreshingly honest and wholly independent.

You can see some of our recent packaging design work here

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends!

Friday the 25th of November may be a date you don’t recognise, but you’ll certainly know the name “Black Friday.” Yes it’s that time of year again, where retailers offer large discounts and people clamber over each other for biggest flat screen TV.

But what makes people so frantic on this specific day?

Black Friday has now become the biggest shopping day of the year in the UK with the Salmon network predicting we will spend £5 billion during the Black Friday 5-day-week. This day is traditionally American and falls the day after Thanksgiving – ironic how on one day Americans will be enjoying turkey and giving thanks for all the blessings in their lives, and the next they will be arguing over a blender in Target.

The UK soon adopted this tradition with Asda and Amazon among the first to jump on the bandwagon. The day has now spread to countries including India, France, Romania, Mexico and Canada.

After the mad rush in 2014 turned violent in some stores (who remembers the riots in Tesco?) there was a rise of people looking for deals online – which is certainly the safer option! Cyber Monday which follows after Black Friday gives customers the opportunity to shop online and still get bargains.

Are you getting a good deal though?

Or is it just that you know your saving a bit of money that makes the day such a success?

Louise Haggerty, 56 said “I got a Dyson but I don’t even know if I want it. I just picked it up. It was mental in there. It was crazy. It was absolutely disgusting, disgusting.” and Andy Blackett, 30 said “I got two coffee makers, two tablets, two TVs and a stereo,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you the prices, but I know they’re bargains.”

In 2015 “Which?” investigated deals from Amazon, Argos, AO, Curry’s and John Lewis on Black Friday for months before and after and discovered that only 90 out of the 178 deals were actually cheaper on the day. So, you may get a deal, but be smart about it and do your research.

Some of the retailers who will be participating include: Amazon, Argos, Boots, Currys, PC World, GAME, House of Fraser, Marks & Spencer and very.co.uk. Next, Apple, IKEA, Asda will not be participating in Black Friday this year.

Slice’s top tips are:

• Make a wishlist of items
• Research and compare the prices before the day
• Get there early
• Before buying; think do you need it/where would it go?
• Wear protective headgear
• Don’t wear open toe shoes
• Don’t forget your wallet
• If you can, avoid the shops and shop online

Everyone understands that if you see something for a discounted price, you are more likely to want it, even if you don’t need it. We’ve all been there. We’d love to know if you’ve got any great deals on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Have you braved the crowds? Tell us here.

We know we’re in the thick of the festive season when the first Christmas advert graces our television screens.  The God-father of Christmas adverts, John Lewis, set the bar some years ago with their heartfelt and heavily emotive adverts, adamant on pulling the heart strings of even the most cold hearted viewers. From a marketing point of view, placing family and relationships at the core of the message is a great strategy, subtly instilling associative feelings of trust and honesty with the brands themselves. 

But let’s not be cynical, we’re no grinches! Yes, we too cry those salty tears (damn the successful marketing campaigns and old men on the moon).  The team here at Slice got together to check out and rank this years competitors.  We’ve prepared a cry-o-metre for you – just so you know how many tissues to have at the ready!

The Adverts

1. M&S – Christmas with love from Mrs Claus 

2. Waitrose – #HomeForChristmas

3. John Lewis – #BusterTheBoxer

4. Sainsbury’s – The Greatest Gift

Our Thoughts

We thought that the heart warming M&S advert, telling the story of sibling love, did a fantastic job with product placement throughout – showcasing luxurious jumpers to fluffy socks, buttery mince pies to kids fashion shoes.  It was also a nice twist to have a female lead, in the form of Mrs Claus.

The star of the Waitrose advert this year was the Robin, documenting it’s journey from stormy sea’s to the garden of a young girl, which certainly caused a few wet eyes in the office. 

Sainsbury’s rather long advert features the familiar voice of James Cordon singing a catchy tune telling the story of a Father’s quest to spend more time with his family. The advert played heavily on the emotional family message, however we weren’t sure we were left feeling hungry at the end of it…

John Lewis controversially changed their tried and tested strategy this year, going for a more humorous, tongue in cheek approach. We personally quite liked it, but it has been met with some disappointed viewings.  Whether the change in approach has paid off for them time will tell…

A common theme in all the adverts is a true and lovely message about the importance of friends and family.  So go have a mulled wine (whether it be purchased from M&S, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s…) and thoroughly enjoy the festive season!

You can see some of our recent packaging design work here

Your brand portfolio has grown and you now have several sub-brands under your parent brand – fantastic news!  However, when looking at shelf space, it’s not just other competitor products that you need to worry about – without strong brand architecture you might find your own brands competing with each other – crazy right?! If the brand architecture is not coherent across the range, then you will loose shelf stand out on stand alone products, which is not what you want after all the hard work that’s gone into getting your product into retail! 

A robust brand architecture has the ability to define hierarchy on pack, assists to draw the consumer eye around the pack as you desire, and helps them to process the information on pack.   A strong brand architecture is also important in order to build a homogenous portfolio, and provides a platform for future NPD growth.

How to get it right – things to consider

1. Consider the logotype – how do you want your brand to be portrayed?
2. Create distinct zones on pack that will be identifiable
3. Ensure that the parent brand logo and sub-brand logo do not compete on pack
4. Consider the importance of brand colour on pack
5. Think whether an emotional or functional approach on pack is most suitable for your brand

If you’re thinking about growing your portfolio, or have already rolled out your product to various sub-brands ask yourself the following; is your brand architecture, the way in which you speak and resonate with the consumer, consistent across the range?

Here’s our guide on how to successfully manage brand architecture for growing/ large portfolios

1. Firstly, identity the core product within your range, being the product which is taking the biggest market share
2. Now looking at this core product, ensure that you have a clear brand identity and have successfully addressed a consumer need whilst conveying your solution in a unique way
3. Invest in brand guidelines – how will the structure or graphics of your packaging become synonymous with your brand?  Take for example the unique shape of the tubular Pringles pots and brand logo, which makes the product and it’s sub brands instantly recognisable on shelf
4. Once you’ve successfully tackled the brand architecture of your core range, look to roll out across sub-brands by leveraging the core brand identity whilst identifying differences.  Sub-brands may come in different flavours, sizes and so forth…
5. In turn, a clear recognisable brand architecture is more likely to evoke an emotional response from the consumer and get them to pick up your product

Brand architecture in action

Slice Design Ltd has been working closely with Greek food company Cypressa on their various ranges.  Slice Design decided to play on the heritage and authenticity of the brand, evoking an emotional reaction from the consumer alongside a trust in the product.  Previously, the Cypressa range lacked a clear brand architecture, making it difficult for consumers to easily identify the numerous sub-brands on shelf and associate them with the parent brand.  Slice Design used brand architecture to highlight similarities across the range and tie them all together, by using earthy colours, strong lines and a strong parent logo.    

Beyond providing great creative for large and small FMCG companies, throughout the past 12 years, Slice design specifically helps companies hit budget targets and ensure ROI on creative agency costs, by offering flexible, time and cost efficient branding and design solutions, without the hassle.

If this sounds like something that might be relevant for you, get in touch.

As of today, Waitrose have launched a new gluten free pasta range.

It’s almost that time of year…A-level results day. Duh-duh-duuuuuh!!! School leavers across the country will face the most important decision of their lives. What to do next. We are going to take you through our thoughts on degree vs apprenticeships.

The natural academic path is to bag yourself a degree – 412,000 higher education places were awarded last year. Still the hottest contender as far as higher education goes, but how valuable is a design degree vs a design apprenticeship? Slightly less appealing now that the government has announced that tuition fees are set to rise to £9,250 per year. Yes, that’s right kids. Not only will you gain yourself a snazzy certificate but also a debt short of £30k (and the rest).

I’m not knocking degrees – I am a ‘certified’ design graduate myself. However I would certainly back a design apprenticeship for anyone curious about this pathway. Taking a diplomatic view on it, I guess it depends on what you are after and whether you respond better from ‘education’ or from a more ‘hands-on’ approach. I believe that 1 year in the industry can be just as valuable, if not more than a 3 year degree.

Our thoughts

It has been several years but I remember the student scenario well. Briefed on a project and told that we had 4 weeks to research. 4 weeks to create concepts and another 4 weeks to build a design. A whole term to basically rustle up a design worthy of a Student Starpack. It took less time for Leicester City to climb the league. Unless courses start mirroring design briefs in the industry and preparing students for graduation, then design apprenticeships could lead the future in higher education. As more students shun University in favour of gaining a real, and valuable insight in to our creative industry.

About Slice

At Slice, we offer graduate placements and also believe in the value of apprenticeships. We’re always on the lookout for inspirational design students and straight-out-of-school individuals with a unstoppable talent in packaging & branding who are willing to get stuck in and learn the ropes fast. CV’s welcome!

Blimey! Is it that time again? Haven’t we only just had the Olympics?

That was a quick 4 years. One thing we always look forward to debating at all of the sports events is the logo. The Rio Olympics logo has caused much less controversy than the London 2012 one. In fact, you could say it has kept its head down a little.

So what is it, what does it represent? –  It’s intention is not immediately evident, in fact it is quite obscure. The footprint is meant to represent Sugarloaf Mountain and the surrounding landscape – No, me neither.

In fact let’s be honest, I saw a childs dummy. But then in the London 2012 Olympics one I always see  ‘dad dancing at a wedding disco’. I can’t unsee that now!

Happy weekend everyone and bring on the games!!

From our studio in Hammersmith, London, we work for clients around the world: global and local, big household names and small startups, challengers and leaders. Whether a big brand re-design, NPD launch or simple packaging updates. We’re proud to remain flexible, refreshingly honest and wholly independent.

You can see some of our recent packaging design work here