CLIENT

Bedoukian

DELIVERABLES

Key Cards, Brochure

The Who

Bedoukian Research was founded in 1972 by Dr. Paul Bedoukian. Prior to establishing his own business, Dr. Bedoukian had worked in the Flavor and Fragrance Industry for 25 years as Technical Director, Perfumer, and Consultant. He has written 50 Annual Reviews of the Industry for Perfumer and Flavorist magazine (1945-1994). His F&F book was Perfumery and Flavoring Synthetics, first published in 1951 with the third edition published in 1985. This book became a standard reference around the world. Paul Bedoukian founded the company to fill a niche as a supplier of high quality specialty aroma and flavor ingredients. Today, Bedoukian Research offers more than 450 Aroma Chemicals, while also providing custom manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and specialty chemical industries.

The Challenge

Following an introductory meeting where we had showcased examples of our creative services, Bedoukian Research identified a need for a polished sales and promotional tool. CCG was tasked with creating a compelling piece that highlighted the clients’ featured ingredients in an exciting way. Organized into seven families, each ingredient card design would need to include all of the pertinent information as it related to each. The descriptions in the card design would include stats such as ingredient & chemical name, family, BRI, and CAS numbers, odor description, fragrance use, use level, Log P, vapor pressure, tenacity on blotter, stability, and performance. The goal was for Bedoukian’s audience to be able to easily identify the categories that each ingredient was associated with and therefore, learn as much information about their performance as possible.

The Process

As with any new initiative, we first scheduled a complimentary project consultation which functioned as an information gathering session and a Q&A forum. Once the client approved our proposal through our efficient e-sign platform, we moved the project into our creative department. A brainstorming session was scheduled whereby we further developed our thoughts around the project’s parameters. We developed a couple of creative directions for the cover, and inside pages for the client to review. We were then able to share our ideas with them through an intuitive web-based proofing platform which allowed the client to annotate directly on our artwork.

The Solution

We chose a modern format ‘flip’ style card deck printed on a heavyweight silk stock, bound with an aluminum Chicago screw. We recommended this screw style over plastic for durability. The cards were 3″ x 4.5″ and included 38 ingredients plus a front and back cover. Bedoukian branded, the 2-sided ingredient card design showcased the ingredients with their accompanying chemical structures and included all of the information relevant to each product. Our team’s initial brainstorm had led to some ideas:

We suggested adding a front and back cover to properly brand the deck. Due to the logo’s lack of scalability and clear read, we removed the problematic ‘wave’ graphic behind the client’s logotype for a cleaner and more streamlined look.
Due to the difficulty in selecting a single cover image to represent such an array of ingredients, we came up with a way to include all of the products by developing a unique molecular pattern using each of the 38 chemical structures.
We knew we needed a clever way to differentiate each of the product families. So we created a color-coding system to denote the olfactive categories and took it a step further by developing a spectrum of tonalities within each of the categories so that every card in the deck was unique.
Lastly, we proposed adding the chemical structure of each ingredient on the front of each respective card design to act as a unique identifier and add some visual interest.

The Output

For many projects that we develop, we have the honor of overseeing them into final production. We encourage our clients to take advantage of this one-stop-shop approach because it allows us to monitor the quality and consistency of the output to ensure that the client receives exactly what we intended. We spend a lot of time fine-tuning colors on-screen, so nothing makes us shudder more than releasing final art into the abyss.

Before any content-heavy project leaves our studio, we always make sure to have it professionally proofread by our proofreading partners. Once the hard proofs were delivered to the client for their final blessing and approval, we went on-press to oversee the final production. This is where we were able to make real-time adjustments and tweak the cards that were printing a bit muddy. We ended up altering a few of the colors that looked smashing on screen, but less impressive on paper. The final decks were individually wrapped and bulk packed in bundles for final delivery.

The Results

Following the completion of this project, we submitted our ingredient card design for an award and are happy to announce that it was recognized by GDUSA and has received an American Graphic Design Award.

The feedback from sales teams, clients, and prospects alike has been extremely positive. So much so, that we’re currently developing a flavors version of the deck. The ingredient cards have been distributed at various trade shows, sales meetings, and has become an invaluable tool that provides deep insights into the high-quality products Bedoukian develops.