For three years I was Art Director at LH Media House, an audiovisual production company. Freelancers joined for a single shoot and still had to deliver something on-brand by Friday. Nobody had time to learn a system.
I went through all 214 open jobs on the Contra board today and sorted them by what clients are asking for. My count, with categories that overlap at the edges.
Not every label should be generated. This one was painted.
For Vinícola Panceri's “Pássaros” line, every varietal gets its own bird. On the Moscato it's the Saffron Finch, common in the winery's region, perched on a Begonia aconitifolia whose green and red play against the colour...
Hot take: a skincare line doesn't need a new design for every product. It needs a system.
When Zest Rituals came to me, there was a handful of products and no structure holding them together. On paper it was a packaging brief. In practice it was product architecture.