Like a true bitch, Total Bitch Soap is beautiful on the inside. The ornate packaging is another of Haley Johnson's designs.
TIDY LITTLE CONCEPTS
The consistent dialogue necessary when producing Blue Q’s intricate
products is a process that needs to be practiced, says Modern
Dog’s Robynne Raye. She notes that Mitch’s style is initially jarring
to those used to a more formal exchange. “We were looking
for exact direction and he doesn’t give that all the time,” she says.
“He says, ‘Here are some ideas, here’s what I’m thinking,’ and lets
people run with it.”
Designers are guaranteed, however, that feedback will arrive
via Mitch’s preferred delivery method—the fax machine. “Mitch
communicates by scrawling faxes,” says VSA Partners’ Todd
Piper-Hauswirth. “My fax was down once and it was killing our
relationship.” Reams of hilarious handwritten notes roll in with
sketches about current products in development, sometimes 20
pages at a time.
“I love writing goofy notes,” says Mitch. “It’s my secret
weapon.” But it also echoes the precious nuggets of copy on Blue
Q’s packaging, many of which are Mitch’s smart, tight writing.
That voice, Mitch says, creates the intimacy present in every Blue
Q product. “We’re relying on a writing exercise and the graphics
need to follow the writing. It’s a tidy little concept.”
Haley Johnson's Wash Away Your Sins products are heavenly enough to be embraced by the genuinely pious.
Perhaps the ultimate testament
to its pool of talent, Blue Q edges
toward its $10 million milestone
without having done any market research.
Instead, Mitch trusts his designers
to target their audience and
watches how products perform.
“We can sell anything once, but the
gift and beauty business is based on
the retailer repeatedly reordering
the same item,” he says. “That, or
you’re off the shelf.”
Also remarkable is the fact that many consumers don’t know
what Blue Q is—they’re only familiar with the mini-brands
crafted by the designers. To give consumers a little brand awareness
nudge, Mitch recently tapped Piper-Hauswirth to create
signage for the Blue Q Happy Center. The merchandising rack,
which Mitch describes as a “groovy, cheesy pole with wings,” will
corral products into a Blue Q retail icon.
The list of products in development
reads like an issue of The Onion.
Pimpin’ Presidents magnets
and The Chosen Keyboard stickers
(Hebrew letters for Kosher
keys); Facts of Life and Tastes Like
Chicken gums; Blue Q licensed the
Dick and Jane watercolor art for
tote bags; a new beauty line named
Hot & Flashy; and tattoo sets like
Touch My Tummy for moms-tobe.
Blue Q also cross-pollinates
bestsellers into different forms. So
Miso Pretty becomes a tattoo set
and Cat Butt becomes a tote bag,
keeping favorite concepts fresh for
consumers. “Everything is in the
design,” says Mitch. “It’s addictive
to the customers, it’s addictive to the workers.”
At Modern Dog, where they estimate about half their workload
comes from Blue Q, Raye and her partner, Mike Strassburger,
are hooked on Blue Q’s products as well as the process. “We make
more money o. snowboards, but it’s so fun and we love doing it,”
says Raye. She says this true collaboration between client and
designer has completely dissolved the traditional roles between
them: “We’re one company.”
And after 10 years of working with Blue Q, Strassburger is still
giddy when he gets to design things like HandzOff antimasturbatory
gum. “For anyone else, this would be outside stuff," he says.
“But this is the work. I’m like a guy who shoots for Playboy.”
www.blueq.com
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