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Compass Design "Monkeys Around," Finds Success With Package Design for Kemps/Marigold Foods' New Ice Cream "Monkey Business"

Minneapolis (June 27, 2000) -With a focus on fun, Minneapolis-based Compass Design went "bananas" designing the packaging for Kemps/Marigold Foods' latest limited edition ice cream, "Monkey Business."

"The only direction we were given from Kemps was that the packaging should say "fun, with monkeys playing in a jungle" said Mitch Lindgren, Compass partner/designer. "Other than that, we were on our own."

Since the name of the flavor was Monkey Business, Lindgren and his design team began by creating pencil sketches of monkeys cavorting among all types of backgrounds. "We literally took Kemps' directive to heart," said Lindgren. "We had a lot of fun taking different ideas from the flavor's name and putting monkeys on mounds of ice cream, in the jungle and in a circus setting."

After regrouping to share sketches, five of the designers' best concepts were chosen to present to Kemps. "Kemps liked certain elements of two different sketches," said Julia Hemphill, partner/sales at Compass Design. "So we combined them to come up with a winning finished product."

The final package design features a number of brown and tan monkeys, smiling and hanging from vines which circle the entire container. The monkeys are set against a jungle background, complete with green leaves and bright yellow bananas. While the monkeys, leaves and bananas were created with Adobe Illustrator, the type for the name "Monkey Business" was hand-lettered - a Compass Design hallmark. To further emphasis the flavor's fun, a banana was used in place of the "i" in Business.

Adapting the Process to Meet Client Needs

In order to remain flexible, Kemps doesn't assign a specific month to a limited edition ice cream flavor until shortly before its distribution. Accordingly, Compass has had to learn to adjust its own internal processes to meet the products short lead time.

"Once we get the flavor's name and some direction from the client, we hit the ground running," said Lindgren. "Many times we only have a month from the time we receive the information to keylining, so we need to work quickly."

Lindgren said that one of the process modifications that has proved to be successful for the Compass/Kemps relationship is going directly from black and white pencil sketches to a final mock-up in full color.

"A 'sketch-to-final-image process' wouldn't be appropriate for most of our clients," said Lindgren. "But our contact at Kemps has been involved with packaging for 15 years and has developed a deep understanding of design. She's able to look at a black and white sketch and visualize what it will look like in color, which eliminates a number of time-consuming steps."

Compass Design is a dynamic, Minneapolis-based design office specializing in comprehensive identity and consumer packaging programs for established and growing companies. With its exceptionally experienced and knowledgeable staff, Compass Design strives for integrity and accuracy in its cost-effective, award-winning strategic design solutions. For more information on Compass Design, please contact Julia Hemphill at (612) 339-1595.