DESIGN | susan-jennings-design

susan jennings

I'm passionate about CPG design as a powerful tool for brand communication, collaborating with cross functional stakeholders to bring strategic visions to life, and leading and mentoring designers and agencies to achieve their full creative potential.

I helped this boutique pasta brand refocus its packaging to its strongest point of differentiation -- its exceptionally high fiber content -- by elevating Fiber Pasta as the primary brand message. Strengthening the branding and unifying nutritional claims to one area helps shoppers quickly understand the unique nutritional advantages while improving overall shelf impact.	Design concept for Cerebelly Clever Bars, fruit- and veggie-forward snacks for kids. This exploration demonstrates a modern way to integrate ingredient illustration into the product presentation.	Design concept for Nature's Touch Smoothie Popz, new innovation one-bite frozen fruit smoothies. I leveraged the graphics and communication to help the consumer understand the unique product and usage.	Swiss Miss had been focused on communicating "premium", when sweet treat shoppers are really looking for fun and variety. My design refresh plays that up with larger flavor banners, varied typography, and larger flavor cues with lots of movement. A brighter blue background overall cues less serious, and feels less like a winter-specific occasion, for a bigger sales window.
Swiss Miss wanted to amp up the fun and flavor communication of their holiday LTO's, which are meant to bring holiday fun but looked too much like the core line. My solutions were a resounding success with a big increase in holiday store distribution and sales.	Keto made huge inroads a few years ago, and Duncan Hines was right there. The Keto line was designed to feel better for you without looking diet-y. With thoughtful photography direction, food looks just as yummy and satisfying as sugar- and carb-filled mixes. These Keto mixes have flown off shelves since their introduction, prompting additional sku development each year since.	Keto made huge inroads a few years ago, and Duncan Hines was right there. The Keto line was designed to feel better for you without looking diet-y. With thoughtful photography direction, food looks just as yummy and satisfying as sugar- and carb-filled mixes. These Keto mixes have flown off shelves since their introduction, prompting additional sku development each year since.	Angie's in-your-face brand has always popped off shelves, but it needed some refinement to compete with other better-for-you brands. I reorganized the logo hierarchy for better impact, added yummy photography, and re-worked the color palettes for better appetite appeal, improved shoppability, and even more positivity.
Before & After. Consumers prefer my more legible and appetizing redesign nearly 2 to 1.	How to keep Angie's simple brand architecture and color palettes, but use them more competitively? Angie's Pink pops off shelves with a big product image for appetite appeal. That's how! Finally, I simplified the gaggle of call-outs with a single, overriding message: Just 4 simple ingredients. Boom.	When Dolly Parton puts her personal stamp on something, you know it's great. Dolly's Valentine's Sugar Cookie kit shows everything inside the box, with a finished creation and lots of Valentine's festivity on-pack.	We couldn't put Dolly's own breakfast syrup in just any bottle - using the structural size limitations of our bottling plant, we invented a whole new guitar-shaped bottle just for Dolly.
How do you make pancake mix EPIC? Great photography and styling, and of course an epic flavor with blue frosting and sprinkles.	Evol was disappearing into a sea of white better-for-you packaging and searching for a reason to buy. My team and I did an immersive audit of modern restaurants to catalog lighting, finishes, colors and materials before I applied that learning to this package. I brought in upscale finishes, modern lighting, and much more natural food styling to update these better-for-you comfort classics.	How to take Evol Bowls into a new category: Meals? Use an entirely different shape. A square plate points the protein straight at the viewer, and thoughtful food styling clearly differentiates the various food components behind it.	I turned up the heat on Vlasic Pickles with Sweet Heat and Xtreme Heat innovation. Finding the right graphics and language to communicate heat levels was the key to differentiating these hotties.
The Ultimate platform is plant-based food for flexitarians, so we put it in a pub-like setting and got up close and personal with photography for optimum appetite appeal.	Extending the Ultimate platform to Bowls, I wanted to show off all the great plant-based ingredients of this gorgeous food. Using a raised fork and outstanding food photography helped do that best, inside a black bowl that really makes the food pop.	Once upon a time, Slim Jim was just a red box with a yellow and red logo. My "flames" redesign and logo update brought depth and energy that better reflected what was happening in the snacking category, bringing Slim Jim into a new era. A variation of this design remains today.	I created a new pillar for Hungry Man with Double Meat Bowls, setting it apart from its flat-plated siblings by standing up the meat in the bowl, really putting on display the double-portion offering.
When you already have Hot Fries, you have to take Fire Fries to their fiery next level. I added flames and fiery yellow lettering to bring this new innovation to life.	Daiya dairy-free had a very basic set of offerings. I extended the brand to include pizza, cheese slices, and cream cheese, with mouthwatering photography.	Artisan was a new innovation for Nut Thins, introducing seeds that offer added mouth-feel and nutrition. I changed up the mainline architecture and used earthy but distinctive background colors to play up the uniqueness of this line.	When Fancy Feast -- a white brand -- wanted to play in the natural category, I knew we had to leverage color in a way that would propel this upscale pet food brand. A colorful, painterly circle helps the white cat pop while creating an overall bullseye.
This new Häagen-Dazs product line focused on unique ingredients with distinctive origins. My design highlights those ingredients and their origins for a first-of-its kind ice cream line.	To compete in the gluten-free bread freezer case, Three Bakers needed to add product visibility strategically -- to show the product, but no frost or crumbs. At the same time I established a unified benefits banner for quicker read, and enlarged and simplified flavor names.	Building on the increasing popularity of "mini" indulgences, Nestlé created the Lil' Drums sub-brand for Drumstick, with my design highlighting flavor variety and appetite appeal. Lil' Drums' popularity has had great staying power and is sold in markets around the nation.	Dole wanted to jump in the prepared smoothie game with these vitamin-infused frozen smoothies (just add milk). I leveraged the ubiquitous handwritten name on to-go cups to reference an in-store experience, while well differentiating the three offerings with color and yummy photography.
Bolthouse wanted to leap out of the dreaded "drawer of death" where carrots go to die. Here I'm highlighting the fun and versatility of baby carrots with an inventive window shape.	My logo design for the Sims PC game was a playful nod to the home lives of its characters. It would go on to be the most successful title in PC gaming history for decades.	RadioShack was looking to better compete with national brands when they tasked us with redesigning their battery lineup. These concepts added a modern look and feel, leveraging shape and color to drive differentiation between pillars.

susan jennings

Design concept for Cerebelly Clever Bars, fruit- and veggie-forward snacks for kids. This exploration demonstrates a modern way to integrate ingredient illustration into the product presentation.

Design concept for Nature's Touch Smoothie Popz, new innovation one-bite frozen fruit smoothies. I leveraged the graphics and communication to help the consumer understand the unique product and usage.

Swiss Miss wanted to amp up the fun and flavor communication of their holiday LTO's, which are meant to bring holiday fun but looked too much like the core line. My solutions were a resounding success with a big increase in holiday store distribution and sales.

Before & After. Consumers prefer my more legible and appetizing redesign nearly 2 to 1.

When Dolly Parton puts her personal stamp on something, you know it's great. Dolly's Valentine's Sugar Cookie kit shows everything inside the box, with a finished creation and lots of Valentine's festivity on-pack.

We couldn't put Dolly's own breakfast syrup in just any bottle - using the structural size limitations of our bottling plant, we invented a whole new guitar-shaped bottle just for Dolly.

How do you make pancake mix EPIC? Great photography and styling, and of course an epic flavor with blue frosting and sprinkles.

How to take Evol Bowls into a new category: Meals? Use an entirely different shape. A square plate points the protein straight at the viewer, and thoughtful food styling clearly differentiates the various food components behind it.

I turned up the heat on Vlasic Pickles with Sweet Heat and Xtreme Heat innovation. Finding the right graphics and language to communicate heat levels was the key to differentiating these hotties.

The Ultimate platform is plant-based food for flexitarians, so we put it in a pub-like setting and got up close and personal with photography for optimum appetite appeal.

Extending the Ultimate platform to Bowls, I wanted to show off all the great plant-based ingredients of this gorgeous food. Using a raised fork and outstanding food photography helped do that best, inside a black bowl that really makes the food pop.

Once upon a time, Slim Jim was just a red box with a yellow and red logo. My "flames" redesign and logo update brought depth and energy that better reflected what was happening in the snacking category, bringing Slim Jim into a new era. A variation of this design remains today.

I created a new pillar for Hungry Man with Double Meat Bowls, setting it apart from its flat-plated siblings by standing up the meat in the bowl, really putting on display the double-portion offering.

When you already have Hot Fries, you have to take Fire Fries to their fiery next level. I added flames and fiery yellow lettering to bring this new innovation to life.

Daiya dairy-free had a very basic set of offerings. I extended the brand to include pizza, cheese slices, and cream cheese, with mouthwatering photography.

Artisan was a new innovation for Nut Thins, introducing seeds that offer added mouth-feel and nutrition. I changed up the mainline architecture and used earthy but distinctive background colors to play up the uniqueness of this line.

When Fancy Feast -- a white brand -- wanted to play in the natural category, I knew we had to leverage color in a way that would propel this upscale pet food brand. A colorful, painterly circle helps the white cat pop while creating an overall bullseye.

This new Häagen-Dazs product line focused on unique ingredients with distinctive origins. My design highlights those ingredients and their origins for a first-of-its kind ice cream line.

To compete in the gluten-free bread freezer case, Three Bakers needed to add product visibility strategically -- to show the product, but no frost or crumbs. At the same time I established a unified benefits banner for quicker read, and enlarged and simplified flavor names.

Building on the increasing popularity of "mini" indulgences, Nestlé created the Lil' Drums sub-brand for Drumstick, with my design highlighting flavor variety and appetite appeal. Lil' Drums' popularity has had great staying power and is sold in markets around the nation.

Dole wanted to jump in the prepared smoothie game with these vitamin-infused frozen smoothies (just add milk). I leveraged the ubiquitous handwritten name on to-go cups to reference an in-store experience, while well differentiating the three offerings with color and yummy photography.

Bolthouse wanted to leap out of the dreaded "drawer of death" where carrots go to die. Here I'm highlighting the fun and versatility of baby carrots with an inventive window shape.

My logo design for the Sims PC game was a playful nod to the home lives of its characters. It would go on to be the most successful title in PC gaming history for decades.

RadioShack was looking to better compete with national brands when they tasked us with redesigning their battery lineup. These concepts added a modern look and feel, leveraging shape and color to drive differentiation between pillars.

SJ