Dieline’s Friday Wrap-Up: ‘Healthy’ Redesigns, Plastic Booties, and Why You Should Get Paid To Pitch
by Bill McCool on 05/26/2023 | 3 Minute Read
We’re keeping it short and sweet from the get-go, guys, as we’re a little under two weeks away from the 2023 Dieline Awards at HOW Design Live in Nashville. Do we already know who the winners are?
Yes. Yes, we do.
And we’re even interviewing some of them now because that awards' content doesn’t write itself, kids.
Anywho, welcome to the link buffet.
Welcome to My Nightmare
The new Liquid Death commercial is pure David Cronenberg body horror because as I was watching it, I was literally clenching my ass cheeks as they shoved plastic bits and doodads into a human.
How To Wellness Grift
Tip of the cap to Design Taxi for hyping me to the existence of Matt Rosenman, a health food branding expert using TikTk to transform junk food brands into something deceptively healthy looking. It’s a little obvious, but Rosenman’s videos are pretty insightful concerning the visual cues that make up the wellness space. Like Reese’s Pro-Plus? That’s pretty on the nose.
Stay Alive
This redesign for Big Country Brewing, written up by Rudy, is very Land, and, well, that’s because Land did the actual redesign.
Stay Land, Land.
There’s No Such Thing As Free
Working for free is stupid, and no one should do it. As a younger person, I did it plenty. But I won't do it again.
But—not so dirty secret—I’m also not a designer, and as we all know, when you’re a design agency or studio, you’re going to do some pitching. And it’s not paid work, which is deeply, deeply dumb, irresponsible, and morally dubious. If you’re a museum or a big brand and you’re circling the wagons around a few studios to work on your latest whatever, you should 100% pay those people for their time. That should not even be up for debate.
Anywho, It’s Nice That has a good piece up with some fun stats—apparently, 64% of agency and studio employees say that pitching is pretty bad for your mental health as it’s time-consuming and costly. To which I would say, no shit.
Are We Having Funyuns Yet?
Did you need a picture of two-way baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani joylessly eating a bag of Funyuns? I know I did.
The Final Countdown
I’m not sure that “work hacks” exist. Case in point, Fast Company’s latest piece on “scary hour,” or the 60 minutes when you try to catch up on all the work you’ve been putting off since forever ago.
Not that I’m trying to out myself, but if you’re a supreme procrastinator, every hour is “scary hour.”