Over the last several years, we’ve seen catalogs come and go. And we’ve seen many retailers jump into the game, spend a LOT of money (we’re talking tens of millions of dollars) and then abandon the model after a couple of seasons. This literally breaks my heart and makes me want to scream! Why does […]
Familial, Authentic Sunnyland Farms If you’ve never had the delicious pleasure of curling up on the couch with a Sunnyland Farms catalog, you’re really missing a treat. Sunnyland Farms is family-owned and started as a mail order company in 1948, providing gourmet Georgia Pecans, Nuts, Chocolates, Dried Fruits, Candies and assorted gifts. Now, they’re online […]
A Conversation Over Tea Over the past several weeks, we’ve looked at a variety of brands and how they approach their catalog. As you may have noticed, there are many different ways to achieve the same goals of DISRUPT. DELIGHT. DRIVE. How brands stand out in the mail, engage their target customer (or even better, […]
Doing Cartwheels for Summersalt “It can always be better.” This is a declaration that drives my creative principles. I think if you ask most creators, we all want to improve upon our previous work. We want our next work to be our best work. And the work after that to be even better. It can […]
Uncommon Goods: The Friend That Knows Just What You Need Throughout history, there have been millions of catalogs designed, printed and distributed to customers around the world. So what separates the good ones from the bad ones? Here at J. Schmid, we believe the answer to that question is actually pretty simple. Every great catalog […]
Filson: An American Tale There are a tremendous number of catalogs out there, spanning the arc from breathtaking all the way to ‘this could use a little work’. I wanted to take a moment and talk about “Filson”, a brand that has flirted around the peripherals of my upscale workwear interests, but that I had […]
Olive & Cocoa: Draw Your Shoppers In I’m a sucker for an illustrated cover, even when I’m not in the target audience – J. Peterman, Duluth Trading Company. There’s something about the artisanship, timelessness and unique look that calls to me and makes me want to see what’s behind it. At J.Schmid, we like to […]
Duluth Trading Company It’s my turn to chime in as part of our critique series, where we assess catalogs with an eye for the “Three D’s: DISRUPT, DELIGHT and DRIVE. Does the catalog stand out and grab my attention (Disrupt)? Does the book engage me somehow (Delight)? Does it encourage me to go online or […]
Crate & Barrel, A Story of Unrequited Love I absolutely love Crate and Barrel. I love the way design meets function, in each and every one of their products. I love walking through their stores, being inspired by what could be. I love that their product designers take inspiration from around the world and bring […]
