HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Julius Reicher, president of Julius & Joe's here, reflected on his 15 years of experience. He decided there was consumer demand for a new line of high-quality product.
Long before the launch in fall 1995, however, package design became an integral part of product development, which took more than two years. Reicher sought an attractive, informative package that allowed an unobstructed view of the seasonings. He worked closely with a team from The ZAK Agency, New York, led by Alido Pavan, creative partner, and George Giunta, creative supervisor. Giunta said the agency had a team of four working on the package design for more than a year. "We explored an incredible range of potential packages before Julius Reicher chose a traditional glass jar," he said. First, Reicher settled on a tall 6 ounce jar because it was 50% larger than most competitive products, had a "presence" on the shelf, and was large enough to hold a label containing "a lot of information."
"Glass was selected because it was weighty and substantial, appropriate for a premium product and attractive for customers interested in reusing it. It offered the clarity we wanted to allow customers an unobstructed view of the seasonings," Reicher said.
The colors and graphics of each blend's label were designed to suggest the region influencing each flavor. The label had to contain information about the contents and attractive imagery. Most of all, Reicher said, he liked the large transparent areas that allow customers to see the product. "Because the product itself had integrity -- no fillers, no additives -- we chose a straight-forward approach naming the product and designing the label. Having a clearly visible product was important."
On The ZAK Agency's recommendation, Reicher turned to American Label Co., East Hanover, N.J., for production. All prepress processes were performed on state-of-the-art computers and film processing equipment, with The ZAK Agency sending art work by modem. For maximum clarity on glass, a high-quality co-polymer film was selected. To make the colors stand out, a white base was silk screened and the graphics were web-letterpress printed in a four-color process on 200 line screen plates, made in-house, with two additional colors. American Label's proprietary coating allowed the Julius & Joe's Unique Seasoning label to resist abrasion.