Matthew Runeare

🍭 Top 3 Takeaways from this week's Sweets & Snacks Expo: 1️⃣ Occasions are the NEW Seasonal While traditional seasonal products aren't going anywhere (pumpkin spice: you *ARE* safe), consumer demands are evolving FAST. Whether it's aligning an LTO with a Taylor Swift album drop or deciding what snack to buy for a Vanderpump Rules Reunion watch party with friends, brands and retailers that solve for occasions in culture will outpace their peers by a mile. A standout example was Jack Link's Protein Snacks Bloody Mary Mixes: "people were already putting beef sticks in their Bloody Marys, so it made sense that we show up at brunch!" 2️⃣ The Better-for-You vs. Indulgence Battle Continues NCA Sweet Insights reports that only 53% of consumers believe BFY confections exist, and just 1 in 10 purchase them frequently (predominantly Gen-Z). Experts confidently state: "Indulgence is not going anywhere," even as consumers cut back on snack purchases citing health concerns. The takeaway? Consumers will never give up indulgence—it will just look different in the future. There's a MASSIVE, untapped opportunity in this space. Standout brands already threading the needle beautifully include BEHAVE and NICKS, both of which highlight indulgence with drool-worthy flavor and texture, and an "oh-by-the-way this is actually better for you" twist. FFUPs also caught my eye with their unabashed "NOT HEALTHY" claims, embracing the pure joy and emotional benefits of snacking without any B.S. 3️⃣ Foodie Influence International flavors aren't new, but what stood out was the expressive brand storytelling in snacking. There were so many founders on the expo floor sharing the flavors of their culture with infectious joy. El Nacho was particularly memorable—their tortilla chips were not only delicious, but their packaging was a vehicle for storytelling with cheerfully rebellious characters. I am an immediate fan (especially of Ms. Mango). Nomad Snacks also drew me in with their journey of international flavors like chimichurri and ramen. Lastly...our team has a few more takeaways in our pocket too spicy to publish here 👀 DM if you want to hear more! #SweetsAndSnacks #ConsumerTrends #foodandbev LPK Emily Dominick Kyle

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Sprucing up my portfolio for the first time in quite a while. I've added a bunch of new things, including some work I did at Petco and a The Beachbody Company logo and app concept that I created when I was leading UX and Product Design for them. If curious, this is how the logo concept was born: The heart is the hardest working muscle in the body. Fun fact: if you rotate a heart 90 degrees clockwise, it magically turns into the letter "B." Outline this "B" and, voila, a second "B" appears in the negative space, giving you "BB" for Beachbody. Finally, adding a circle around this design creates a sense of community and belonging. Bonus: it looks sweet as a mobile app icon. 👍 More here > https://cottonblend.com Did I mention I’m currently open to consulting and would also consider full-time opportunities as well? Let’s talk! #design #productdesign #ux #branding #creative #iOS

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Had to share this thoughtful article about the conflicting feelings we have as designers with new AI tools.... made me consider the threat of too much standardization over innovation, or letting your own creative instincts atrophy. Check it out and lmk your thoughts

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Have you listened to The Design Imposter Podcast? Monique and I have some remarkable guests in the coming weeks and the conversations are 🔥 Actually, our pre-recording vibe checks have been 🔥🔥🔥 We really need to start recording the vibe checks for b-roll. ---- Here's one of my favorite episodes which discusses the benefits of working in a corporate environment over freelancing and entrepreneurship. https://lnkd.in/eYKW3sTA

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This idea is long, long overdue. "Design belongs to everyone" - no, it does not. While I'm all for democratization and co-creation, I would say that the skills and contributions of design-educated, war-tested designers are both insanely undervalued and grossly overlooked. Doing this comes at a major cost, a major cost to the relevance, significance, and bottom line of EVERYTHING you're creating without them. Design isn't here to make things pretty. It's here to make things WORK. So let it, and let us, do our jobs.

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CODO Design’s third exclusive BBT Newsletter issue from our broader 2024 Beer Branding Trends Review goes out tomorrow. This deeeeep dive explores a the super fun trend we’re seeing in brewery co-branding. We hit on several topics here, including: - Defining co-branding - The importance of brand values as a go / no-go filter - How to set KPIs and measure ROI - Limited time only (a powerful nudge) - Brand Architecture and Intellectual Property considerations + The various types of of co-branding we’re seeing right now across the industry, including: - Brewery x local business - Brewery x CPG Food / snack brand - Brewery x (usually college) Sports Teams - Brewery x NPO / Charity - Clear lifestyle plays - Brewery x Brewery (or beyond beer brand) collabs - Brewery x XYZ Celebrity (band, personality, athlete) This one’s for Beer Branding Trends Newsletter subscribers only. Click here to join the party: https://lnkd.in/gB8428j2

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Everyone wants a fabulous logo. It takes a great design process to get there. And that's exactly what we are covering in this series of posts. Yesterday, I covered the preliminary, "discovery phase" or, as some people like to call it, "onboarding." If you haven't read that post and the one before it, I recommend reading both to get full context. I'm breaking out the full brand design process so you know what to do if you are trying to do it yourself, or know what to expect of a really great designer if you are hiring someone. Here we go! The Brand Design Process: Phase 1 - Research This is THE MOST IMPORTANT PHASE. The better the research, the better the strategy. The better the strategy, the better the execution. The research phase is mainly comprised of audits. Compiling lists and comparing data. These are the audits and the data within each that we want to examine if it exists: • Brand - name, messaging, taglines, trademarks, brand manuals • Business - stationary, forms, invoices, business cards • Internal - memos, employee swag, holiday greetings • Retail - packaging, promos, bags, merch • Sales - sales/product literature, decks, investor relations, campaigns • Electronic - social/web, video, apps • Environment - interiors, exteriors, signage, trade show booths I use a checklist and a corresponding file structure to gather and organize all of this data from each client. This can take days, weeks or even months, depending on the size and history of the brand. (DM me if you would like the checklist and file structure) It should be noted that you can use the checklist to also reverse engineer the deliverables that will be created for the brand in phase 4 of this process. Corresponding with this data gathering is the interview. I interview the team that is responsible for branding decisions. The owner, founder, CEO, whoever it may be that is on the team. The interview is comprised of 16 questions that elicit the values, purpose, mission, vision, culture, goals and more. It is recorded, and transcribed and annotated and delivered for the team's digestion. This interview usually goes for several hours and a byproduct is a business/life coaching session where the answers that the team comes up with are revelatory for those being interviewed. I have found that time and again, that interview ends up being one of the most valuable parts of the branding process. The value comes from the clarity that arises for the leadership of the company. Even if the company had plenty of clarity in their business, it's amazing what happens when you get a whole lot more. Once the audits and interview are finished and all of the data is in our hands, the research phase is complete. The next phase is strategy, which is distilling this data down to two one page briefs. The Brand Brief defines the brand personality and the Creative Brief defines where we are going and why. And I have hit the character limit! See you tomorrow!

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O-M-G. Learn how to craft some seriously refined 3D letters using Affinity in the next Creative Session. Especially for those Designers that have recently downloaded Affinity and still running it through it's paces. You'll pick up essential Affinity illustration skills and tricks in seconds. https://lnkd.in/gYvsrdme #affinity #illustrators #canva

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Today on Dieline I wrote about Cliik, a new home storage brand that stands for "for elegance, innovation, and sustainability". The branding is incredibly well done, but we have to address the plastic packaging. In the article I talk about why this was such a missed opportunity for Cliik in an otherwise perfect brand launch, and I feature 3 other home storage brands that use sustainable materials while still being stylish, well-designed, and shelf-ready. #CPG #Packaging #Branding #Cliik #Dieline #DesignNews #designarticles #design

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A lot of what we do as designers is clean up. Sure, we talk about story arcs and designing the experience, but the average presentation may not have the time or resources to think bigger than getting it done, even when it’s an essential pitch by the C-suite for a new initiative. That's where following the template, using it wisely to maximize variation, and keeping it simple comes into play. Much of what you need to say should be in the talk track rather than in the slide, and if you need to go into detail, use an appendix, preread existing material, or a download to let people dive deep. Designing for a screen comes with practice, like riding a bike. In my experience helping thousands of presenters, the less design YOU have to do, the better it is for you and the AUDIENCE. Focus on *design that matters.* Be *intentional with design.* #presentationdesign

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Excited about supercharging your design team? 🌟 Don't miss our April Gather & Grow webinar! Learn how DesignOps can transform your design crew into your brand’s MVP and drive sustainable ROI. 🚀 Join Aletheia Delivre from Zapier, Jasmine Price from Airbnb, and Kim Marchant from JPMorgan Chase & Co as they dive into strategies for keeping that creative spark alive, seamlessly integrating brand and product, and why embracing progress over perfection matters. Plus, get insights on leveraging AI for feedback and shifting from centralized to distributed teams effectively. Ready to elevate your design game? Sign up now and let's make magic happen together! ✨ #DesignOps #Webinar #CreativeMomentum

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(Heavy sigh) Okay let's try to take this survey question seriously. On a 10-point scale I'm going to award 4 points for giving me the right product, 1 point *each* for getting the size and color right, 2 points for not giving me more or less things than I ordered, and 2 points for getting it to me on the expected timeline. My score is 6. Tell me what things you got right? Is that when you use the "Don't Know" button? Here's a pro tip: Take your own survey. Then ask anyone else (honestly just ask any other human with general comprehension skills) to take your survey. If math is required then it's a #badsurvey . (All jokes aside the problem with this survey is that it assumes some ability to reliably assign a numerical level of correctness to an order fulfillment.)

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I'm loving this article on how designers need to elevate their thinking on integrating AI at various stages of the user journey to tackle entire processes, not just one-off tricks. ✨ Enter the "Agentic era of UX". 🤖 https://lnkd.in/eWdHbeWv #ai #agentic #design #ux #ui

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I'm super excited about the diverse and global cohort that is coming together for my Design Leadership at Scale Director+ online course coming up June 10-20, 2024! If you are an established design leader positioning yourself for future executive roles, this course is made for you. If you are a design, product, or marketing executive overseeing promising design leaders, please forward this message and encourage them to apply. 📣 📣 📣 I'm also thrilled to offer a limited number of 50% off scholarships for the June cohort. Scholarships are awarded based on financial need, and we prioritize applicants who are in an unplanned career transition based on a recent layoff or job separation. The central focus of this intensive 2-week course is on helping leaders to navigate the challenging transition from managing functional teams to driving enterprise-wide impact. Content will include: • Identifying your core leadership qualities and superpowers • Mapping your organization and understanding key cross-functional relationships • Learning the signals of mature design organizations • Measuring and articulating the value of design to your business • Increasing your impact and influence across the enterprise This all comes together in a learning experience that blends pre-recorded video lectures, group discussions, reading assignments, hands-on projects, and collaborative small group working sessions. We will also spend time with some of the top executive design leaders in the industry. Registration is open now! Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/gCbCF2xd #design #designleadership #designmanagement #designatscale #designcareers #skillbuilding

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We have a large project that's primarily handled by my Design Director and PM—it's straightforward, but has a very detailed process associated with it. Review, QA, documentation all needs to be handled very specifically. So when we had an upcoming client review and we knew these team members would be out on PTO—we got together ahead of time, documented the process and debriefed two brand new team members who would fill in. And oh boy did it go...great. Document or Die folks. #yesterlearnings #prepare #documentation

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“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou Read our blog on sensory design and brand perception here: https://lnkd.in/eKnN9pr7

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🚀 Honoring My Innovation Journey with SUPER JTBD Statement 🚀 Inspired by the insights of JTBD/Outcome Driven Innovation by Tony Ulwick, I've been applying JTBD principles in my CX/Product Design projects for years. Through experimentation and refinement, I've developed my version called SUPER JTBD Statement, a mashup of insights and techniques that I've found incredibly powerful in driving innovation forward. With SUPER JTBD Statement, we can: • Confirm with the customers/users with unparalleled clarity • Unite the internal team with a crystal-clear perspective • Tackle the right problems to solve with precision • Come up with innovative ideas that truly resonate with users and drive impact SUPER JTBD Framework: - As a [User/Customer] - I want to minimize [Direction of improvement] [Performance Metric] of [Object/Aspect to Adjust or Control] - When [Situation/Context] - So I can [Desired Outcome] - Making me feel [Emotional Job] and seen as [Social Job] - Because [Underlying Reason for this job] Explanation: - User/Customer: Identify the target user or customer who is experiencing a specific need or desire. - Direction of Improvement: Determine the aspect of the user's experience that needs improvement, such as minimizing, maximizing, optimizing, etc. - Performance Metric: Specify the measurable aspect of the user experience that you aim to improve. - Object/Aspect to Adjust or Control: Identify the element or aspect of the user's environment or situation that can be adjusted or controlled to achieve the desired improvement. - Situation/Context: Describe the circumstances or context in which the user experiences the need or desire. - Desired Outcome: Define the specific outcome or goal that the user hopes to achieve by addressing the need or desire. - Emotional Job: Identify the emotional aspect of the user's experience that is fulfilled by achieving the desired outcome. - Social Job: Describe how achieving the desired outcome contributes to the user's social status or perception. - Underlying Reason: Provide insight into the underlying motivation or reason driving the user's need or desire. It's been an incredible journey of learning and growth, and I'm excited to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation with this powerful framework. #SUPERJTBD #JTBD #Innovation #CXDesign #ProductDesign #TonyUlwick

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