Earlier this year, I was accepted as a mentor in AIGA NY’s Mentoring program — I’m partnered with a few designers, and I get the unique opportunity to chat with them 1-on-1 and try my best to help them grow as creatives and navigate their careers.

A topic that came up during one of our calls was how to present creative work. I said, “Hey — I got tons of old presentations and stuff — I’ll create a folder for you to dig through.” While I was digging, I was absolutely amazed at some of the stuff that didn’t see the light of day.

That’s where the title comes from. Lagan in Maritime speak is goods that have been cast overboard but marked in ownership by a buoy or marker. Despite being marked only by a float, the owner has the right to return and collect those goods later. So while navigating through the flotsam and jetsam of my old work, I found these buoys hoarded away on drives.

Two projects stuck out the most — the Cabela’s rebrand and the Zarbee’s Naturals rebrand. I chose to focus on Zarbee’s for two reasons. First, this was my last big project before leaving Ogilvy, and I got the opportunity to lead the creative execution outright. Secondly, it was my first and only work to get featured on Brand New.

I love Brand New — to this day, it’s my daily go-to site for design and brand goodies. Armin does a great job critiquing work without veering too hard into hot takes territory. The comments, on the other hand, often verge on the level of fantasy. No design happens in a vacuum.

The Zarbee’s pitch

I remember the pitch being tight from a churn standpoint — worked very closely with the strategy team. I was given a lot of creative rope regarding the pitch — which was really fun. We were pitching large rebrands at the time by making real books — we made a fucking book.

There were so many amazing little details in the pitch that ended up making it throughout the entirety of the project. From my thicc bee, I drew in a notebook and digitized to the details and tone. I’m still very proud of how the pitch turned out and even prouder because we won it.

Growing pains

Zarbee’s at the time was quickly evolving and growing. There is never a “good” time to redesign a brand. Fortunately — Zarbee’s planned the rebrand as part of their push for a more extensive market base. But to meet new product launches, the logo and identity had to be explored in lockstep with their new Adult product launch.

The first round of packaging featured the in-process brand we created for the initial pitch. There is a lot of design work in the executions that evolved and found its way to the brand guidelines. This work ended up being a bit too aspirational for the brand. We would continue to explore this packaging for another six rounds — SIX.

Look how utterly atrocious that last two are. SHUDDERS.

In the end, the entire probiotics product line was canceled, which freed me to focus on the logo design solely.

Creating a buzz

The brand positioning in the initial client pitch — hand curation, trust, and natural products served as the strategic framework for directions explored. Working closely with our strategy leads, we framed them as Modern Apothecary, Ingredients, and Curation.

Modern Apothecary

I started with the pitch logo and expanded outward. I still have a ton of heart for the Steinweiss script in this option, but it did not reinforce the bee of Zarbee’s enough.

Ingredients

A direction I explored a lot and had some strong feeling for was the ingredient illustrations. These first appeared a few months back during our initial exploration of the probiotics product.

Refining the brand

By the 5th round of design iterations, the brand and direction started to coalesce. One of my favorite things is seeing how the bee evolved.

Pollinating the Aisle

One of the most creative challenges and, ultimately, disappointing experiences of the redesign was the packaging. Qualitative packaging testing was one of the most exhausting things I’ve ever done. We’d crank through any number of directions and hand them off to the strategy team to then focus group with consumers.

Some of the timestamps on my file naming convention are 11:46 PM. It was a grind. We set up a war room in the back area of our floor — watched The Royal Tenenbaums and cranked out work.

Crafting a new direction

The entire design theory hung on the beauty of nature’s ingredients balanced with what we were calling modern apothecary. Think Kiehl’s inspired with more focus on imagery. I was consumed with the packaging — sweating illustrations, colors, patterns — working to create a cohesive language.

Losing control

As we handed over design guidance to the delivery agency — I quickly saw we were losing the craft and execution details I spent so long poring myself over. Despite my increasing reticence about the craft of the work — I focused on my tasks.

Unfortunately, we’d lose that battle. We’d also lose the battle on the Children’s and Baby front. This was Zarbee’s primary market — naturally, they had reservations about alienating their customer base.

I wrapped up the work on the design guidelines. There is a ton of great work in there.

Brand New start

It took a few more months for the rebrand to hit the market. One day I fired up Brand New and saw my chubby bee staring back at me.

Shit. I. Was. Pumped.

I’m still proud as hell of the project. I feel like I made my bones on this one. The mark still holds up and has survived one acquisition. Who knows what the world holds for my little bee.

It was no one person show though — Gina Maniscalco, Kelsey Plantas, and Erica Firestone. Had a fantastic account executive — Kristin Paulus. And the strategy work led by Dash Alison who is now Strategy Director at COLLINS.

I hope seeing how this Zarbee’s evolved can help other creatives think about how they steward projects and help designers realize design doesn’t happen in a vacuum — ever.

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This private publication is not affiliated with my employers or professional associations. Personal blog, personal opinions. Not speaking for anyone but myself. ✌️