BUSINESS STRATEGY + product design & developmentProtect Our National Parks – Product Line
WHAT & WHY
Lantern Press serves their wholesale customers through location-based, custom artwork they print-on-demand. These products are then sold at those customers’ gift shops and stores. The company desired to expand into the gift industry with less-localized products that could be sold to a wider customer base (wholesale & B2C) and be made in bulk.
BRAND
Lantern Press
MY ROLE
Leadership
Business Strategy
Creative Direction
Art Direction
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Product Designer & Developer: Karin Pascho
Art Directors: Josephine Kimberling, Jill Labieniec
Illustrators: Steve Konz, Dan Schlitzkus
Designers: Jill Labieniec, Trista Sydloski-Tesch, Abby Scheurman
Copywriter: Francesca Merlini
ABOUT THE WORKCHALLENGE
Determine a theme and product line to be the company’s entry into the gift market and also be sold to their current customer base.
Develop a line of products with a new manufacturing method for the company which touched multiple orgs.
GOAL
Successfully deliver a new product line on time and on budget.
Determine a product line theme and keep it on brand.
Determine the roles needed to create the line & stay within budget (product design & development, illustration, packaging design, project management, etc.)
Write job descriptions and determine roles & responsibilities
Interview, hire & train the teamDetermine project milestones & deadlines and keep the team on track
Continue to successfully deliver the needs of the core business (art customization & print-on-demand)
RESULT
The theme “Protect Our National Parks” capitalized on the intersection of a trending theme and brand DNA, which resulted in a successful entry point into the gift industry, B2C sales, and resonated with current customers in and outside of National Parks.
In order to create a more robust product offering and stay on budget, we included products the company could manufacture themselves.
I hired the team and we successfully delivered a new product line on time and on budget.
The product line continued to expand each year, proving its success and became evergreen to the brand for a number of years.
Lantern Press partnered with “1% for the Planet” to donate a percentage of every sale to National Parks, aligning the brand to its own message to “Protect Our National Parks”.
The creative team continued to deliver on the core business, successfully.
The Work
National Park Collage + Puzzle Product
We started by creating a collage of all
63 National Parks
This quickly became a top seller. Capitalizing on a decade of illustrations, it made an engaging puzzle and a beautiful art print. The positive response in the market signaled that additional products within this theme could be successful.
The Work
We then expanded into more products.
The high-quality products created for the “Protect Our National Parks” line included: Puzzle, mini puzzles for each national park, sticker sheet pack, set of 3 journals, box of 63 postcards, playing cards in a wood box, water bottle, coloring book, memory game, set of 3 mini magnet sets based on parks per region, mug, art prints.
All artwork © Lantern Press. All Rights Reserved.
