Category Archives: News

Graphis honors MOI for brand work.

We are pleased to announce that our branding work for Bellwether Farms has been awarded a Gold Award in Graphis Branding 6.

Graphis Branding 6 presents the work of some of the biggest names in design today. Hundreds of images from the year’s award-winning branding campaigns are displayed in a lavishly produced publication and on their website. Graphis publishes the world’s most significant and influential works from the greatest talent in Design, Advertising, and Photography.

49 design agencies from 18 countries (22 from the USA) were selected for Platinum and Gold awards. Only three firms from California were recipients. To see all of the award-winning work for Bellwether Farms, visit: http://www.graphis.com/entry/d02e2090-4b30-11e2-a2c9-f23c91dffdec/

Selections of the work of Mark Oliver, Inc. are in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress. It has received more than 450 international and national awards. Mr. Oliver is a recipient of the AIGA/Santa Barbara Fellow recognition. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Brooks Institute http://www.brooks.edu/.

How to make a wine standout in a crowded store aisle.

Windrun Wines

WIndrun Wines is a boutique Santa Barbara County-based négociant solely focused on producing select Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines sourced from the finest vineyards in California. Their mission is to provide high-quality wines at everyday prices. Possessing a clear understanding of who they were as a company, WIndrun requested a brand relaunch that would fuel the wine’s recognition on a store shelf.

What wine should one buy? How does a consumer make that decision? Do they buy by the label appearance, by price, by recommendation, or by knowledge? What grabs attention in a confusing and over-saturated wine aisle? Understanding how this process works and then creating a brand that stands out is what MOI did for Windrun.

The creative process began after researching and assessing the competition, analyzing consumer and industry studies, and surveying key distributors and brokers. Visual cues were explored and developed that positioned Windrun as a friendly, easy-to-approach purchase and a high-value premium wine. Divergence from the competition and overall simplicity were the keys to the design. The type selected was elegant while a friendly color palette set the contrast to competing brands. Extraneous elements were not included, and an austere, super-premium look was strictly avoided. The label was printed with flexography which provided superior reproduction at an affordable price.

The distinctive label has been well-received and had the desired effect of bringing greater notice to the wines. Nothing makes a wine shopper happier than discovering a great bottle of wine for a good price. But first they have to see it.

Bellwether Farms branding & packaging: a short case study.

Bellwether Farms branding

“The teller of stories has everywhere and always found eager listeners” Stith Thompson, “The Folktale”

Bellwether Farms Yogurt Flexo printed yogurt cups.

Bellwether Farms is California’s original sheep dairy. The family-owned creamery, located in the hills of western Sonoma County, is an award-winning pioneer in the production of sheep and cow milk aged farmstead cheeses and yogurts. The objective for the team at MOI (Mark Oliver, Inc.) was to create a memorable branding program that projected the character of the Callahan family farm and the artisan quality of the products.

Bellwether Farms Ricotta A sleeve over the cup creates a prominent billboard. A warm ivory color adds to the natural look of the line.

Our solution was to create a brand story which conveyed the hand-crafted qualities of the products. The use of charming illustrations and a muted color palette had the advantage of not only reflecting the values of the country farm, it also kept the reproduction to an affordable three-colors. The art was easily reproduced on a variety of structures and stocks using flexography or lithography. It graphically stands out on a web page.

Bellwether Farms Creme Fraiche The lid of the cup is printed so the product can be identified once opened.

Bellwether Farms Fromage Blanc

But mainly, we created a stylish and approachable brand which stood out from a crowd of look-alike products. We went the opposite direction from the competition. We zigged when everyone else zagged.

Since the rollout of the brand and packaging, Bellwether Farms has grown to be one of the most successful producers of artisan cheeses and yogurts in the country. As an added bonus, the branding and design have been recognized with dozens of awards from every major magazine, website, and competition, receiving most recently a Gold Award for branding from Graphis.

Bellwether Farms Cheese Wheels These artisan cheese wheels are shipped whole to specialty shops and retailers. After considerable searching, we found a food-grade paper stock that was opaque enough to print on, that would also adhere to the surface of the cheese, and could easily be cut without tearing. The cheeses are sliced along the radiating lines, providing the consumer with a brand label on the piece they take home.

Credits: Illustrations by Sudi McCollum; photography by Alan Campbell and Eric Gordon. Photography © of the photographers.