Media Contact: Heather West, (612) 724-8760, heatherwest@earthlink.net
Compass Design and Kemps/Marigold Foods Salute the Tilt-A-Whirl
with "Tilt-A-Swirl" Ice Cream
MINNEAPOLIS (May 24, 2002) - Summertime. County fairs. Ice cream.
Americana. Those were the key elements Minneapolis-based Compass Designed
needed to incorporate into their package design for Kemps/Marigold
Foods "Tilt-A-Swirl" ice cream flavor.
The flavor was created in tribute to the Tilt-A-Whirl , the popular
ride found at amusement parks, carnivals and fairs across the United
States and the world. Tilt-A-Whirl observed its 75th anniversary in
2001.
"We wanted to do something special to celebrate Tilt-A-Whirl's
75th anniversary," says Erin Sellner Ward, president of Sellner
Manufacturing and great-granddaughter of the ride's creator. "We
were brainstorming about creative ways to spread the word about the
anniversary, and someone said, 'What about ice cream?'. While everyone
agreed it was a great idea, we weren't quite sure where to go with
it."
Fortunately, inspiration and direction came soon afterwards in the
form of a craving.
"I had a craving for ice cream and had a carton of Kemps ice
cream in my freezer," recalls Sellner Ward. "I was looking
at the carton as I was eating and noticed that they had a customer
comment line. So I thought, 'What the heck,' picked up the phone and
left a very lengthy message about the idea. Imagine my surprise when
I got a call back from a Kemps vice president a few days later saying
she thought the idea was fabulous."
While the actual flavor was under development, Compass Design was
brought in to begin working on the package design. "Being very
familiar with the Tilt-A-Whirl ride, we were all very excited to work
on the Tilt-A-Swirl design," says Compass Design's Partner/Design
Mitch Lindgren. "The ride evokes such strong feelings of nostalgia
and simple pleasures, we wanted to really capture those feelings in
our design."
Initial concepts included sketches of scenes that captured the feelings
of a county fair where the ride might be found, the ride's marquee
and the actual ride itself. Pleased with the concept selections offered
by Compass, Kemps, with input from Sellner Manufacturing, choose a
sketch of a Tilt-A-Swirl marquee.
"Once the marquee concept was chosen, our design team worked
to refine it and really make the package pop off store shelves,"
says Lindgren. "We used the bold, basic colors of red, white
and blue to add impact and to help further the nostalgic feeling."
The design features the "Tilt-A-Swirl" name in dark blue
letters across a red marquee-style sign, offset by the same dark blue
in the background. Each letter appears lit up by bright white light
bulbs, and the there are glimpses of banners waiving in the breeze.
The fonts for the ice cream's title were hand-rendered by Compass'
Mitch Lindgren, who then turned them over to illustrator Tony Hillshire
for finishing.
Also featured on the front of the package is a Tilt-A-Whirl image
and a banner proclaiming Tilt-a-Swirl as the "Official Ice Cream
of the Tilt-A-Whirl 75th Anniversary Celebrations".
"We were thrilled with the work Compass did for Kemps,"
says Sellner Ward. "Although we had the opportunity to make comments
and changes throughout the process, everything Compass did was right
on target."
Compass Design is a dynamic, Minneapolis-based design office specializing
in comprehensive identity and consumer packaging programs for established
and growing companies. With its 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 or
visit Compass Design's Web site at www.compassdesigninc.com.
Located in Faribault, Minn., Sellner Manufacturing was formed in
1926 by Herbert W. Sellner. Four generations later, the company is
still family -owned and operated, producing more than 50 rides every
year, including spin rides, "kiddie" rides and the word-famous
Tilt-A-Whirl.