SKI AND SEA Identity Design/Branding - Ski and Sea provides housewares service for the timeshare industry. Sometimes an identity can be as simple as a consistent type treatment supported by a set of graphic elements and an attitude. Ski and Sea's identity is characterized by a palette of bright colors - there are no official logo colors - and by always cropping images into a square. Ski and Sea was the first to provide complete housewares packages, packed together and ready to install in a guest room. The developer didn't have to worry about finding and replacing dishes and toasters and teaspoons.
Product Line Names and Identities - Ski and Sea manufactures its own lines of dinnerware and silverware at two price points. The high-end products, Eterna and Perpetua, are guaranteed to be available for at least 10 years. Versa and Journa are versatile everyday dinnerware and silverware. I named the product lines. The logos are derived from Mrs Eaves, one of the two corporate fonts.
What to do for trade show giveaways (AKA swag)? Nobody needs another logo-encrusted water bottle or gimme-cap. I found these inexpensive friendly spoons in a housewares catalog and they've become Ski and Sea's signature giveaway. People ask for them and collect all the colors.
Mailers/Emailers - Designers and architects sometimes specify the housewares in resort properties. I designed and wrote mailers and emailers to resemble the materials boards these clients use when they do presentations. Where broad-based direct mail campaigns are hugely successful if they get a 3% response rate, some of these mailings get 15%. And we know designers keep them in their files because they refer to products featured when placing orders months or years later.
Christmas Cards/Ornaments - Always housewares arranged into snowflakes.
The emphasis at Ski and Sea has always been to build relationships with clients. For thanksgiving, clients always receive a little box of good things to eat, along with a note thanking them for their business. One day, one of our best clients sent an email thanking us for the goodies and enclosed a photo of the cards, which she'd kept over the years. She said, "I've also collected your cards over the past three holidays, and have now accumulated a sweet collection of delicious greetings from you!" I felt like I'd done my job that day.
