Capsule 18: Brands We’d Love to Work With

In celebration of turning 18 this year, the Capsule team takes a look at some of the things we have learned on our journey to adulthood. With a mix of brands we deeply admire and brands we think could use a little TLC, we're discussing the brands that we'd like to work with this week.

18. Mall of America

MOA is making great strides, but will face even more competition for attention. With our network and creative ability to connect previously disconnected possibilities, Capsule could help them continue to be highly relevant.

17. Las Vegas

"As a city and a place of celebration, we see a need to bring the happiness back to a city devastated by fear, anger, death and destruction. The brand of Las Vegas needs nurturing, care and an infusion of positive energy to appropriately it step into a new future. We can help this new future come to life." - Aaron Keller, Managing Principal

16. Moleskine

Moleskine is a brand that started with notebooks and has now extended to a whole line of well-made office accessories. They have a brand that feels more traditional, but their products have become more varied and vibrant, and are used in a variety of creative industries to capture unexpected thoughts and ideas. Designer, Beth would love to work with this brand to better align the new and old of the brand. "It would be great to work with them to develop a look that still nods to their traditional origins, but imbues the brand with a younger, more vibrant aesthetic that speaks to creativity and the modern day workspace," she said.

15. Volkswagen

The cars (and motorcycle) in the Volkswagon Group represented a great range with generally a good reputation...until VW’s diesel pollution control scandal. Account Manager, Dave thinks this rebranding challenge would be an exciting opportunity for Capsule. "It would be interesting to engage in a VW rebranding conversation to find a way to gain back the trust of consumers, to not just move the company past the scandal but to demonstrate true change embodied by the brand moving forward."

14. Warby Parker

“They disrupted the eyewear industry and are founded on an important mission: to provide vision assistance to those who can’t afford it. Everything, from their digital to their in-store experience is on-brand and stress-free. Working with them on a design-thinking campaign would be a dream.” - Maddi, Marketing and Project Coordinator

13. LaCroix

Account Manager, Rachel would be excited to partner with LaCroix on the future of their brand. "We drink a lot of LaCroix around the office and it’s a great product, but I’m not a fan of their busy design. It would be fun to redesign their look to be more refined and playful."

12. Shinola

"As a brand and a philosophy, the advancement of this mission would be of great pride for Capsule. We see great potential for this team to add more brands and advance their mission far beyond the shores of Detroit." - Aaron, Managing Principal

11. Lego

The company faltered in the early 2000’s when they expanded into video games and theme parks. Refocusing on the brick in 2004 returned them to profitability but they are flirting with digital again by combining bricks with video games in Lego Dimensions. "Lego’s strength is traditional 'brick and mortar' play. They should stay focused there and pull future generations back to analogue play rather than pushing their classic product into the future of digital. It would be interesting to be involved in the Lego brand discussion and potentially packaging." -Dave

10. Pepsico

We see great brands in their portfolio and great potential in how they feed the world. We would certainly be able to offer the Pepsico family of brands some signifiant advancement forward.

9. Duluth Pack

Our designer, Beth grew up using Duluth Packs, and as their brand has become more popular in the past few years, she's seen a lot of new competitors crop up. "They would be a great brand to work with to help them establish themselves as the original Duluth Pack makers, and emphasize the heritage nature of their brand with a broader toolkit of badges and supportive visual language that could speak to the MN Northwoods I know and love. Plus, it would be great to redesign their moose badge in a simplified but heritage manner so it would stamp more effectively into leather."

8. Craigslist

"I’m aware that Craigslist’s design is completely utilitarian and I can appreciate that they’ve stuck to the basics for so long. But with a new skin, the website (and app) could be a lot more pleasing to the eyes and still maintain its emphasis on functionality." - Michelle, Designer

7. Valleyfair

Valleyfair is a Minnesota mainstay, and whether you like rollercoasters or not, you can’t deny that rebranding a theme park would be a lot of fun and an interesting challenge. A new brand could breathe a lot of new life into the park, and get people excited about visiting who might not have been since their 9th grade field trip.

6. REI

REI is an admired company that prides themselves in their wide offerings and excellent customer experience. We would love to partner with REI on research and strategy to understand the inner workings of this successful brand.

5. AARP

We agree with you Kitty Hart. This brand needs a serious face lift. Our Director of Client Experience delved into the critical need for a name change as the most critical need in order for the brand to be memorable and resonate with its core audience in her blog post back in August. We'd love to lend a helping hand in this naming process and branding shift. Read more about Kitty's thoughts here.

4. Twizzlers

While it doesn't stop us from keeping our office stocked with this sweet treat, we never fail to offer our critique on what we consider to be one of the worst packaging refreshes ever. Twizzlers fanatic and Creative Principal, Brian Adducci shares that he would love to take this brand under our wing and save their packaging. "Their 'Stay-Fresh' resalable packaging structure was a major step back from the previous design and does the exact opposite when it comes to usability and freshness. We would be more than happy to find a new solution for this brand."

3. Pringles

“I love Pringles and for me, it’s impossible to have just one. But whenever I reach my hand in the can to grab another coveted chip (or five) my hand is always squeezed uncomfortably in the walls of the tube and I'm left with uncomfortable aches and scratches. Battle scars are cool, but I would love to work with the Pringles team to reinvent their packaging method and improve the user experience.” - Maddi, Marketing and Project Coordinator&nbsnbsp;

2. Make Up For Ever

"I would love to work on a beauty brand someday, and one that I think could use a refresh is Make Up For Ever. This is a high-quality, well-respected makeup brand that can be found at retailers like Sephora. Their brand is perfectly fine, nothing is glaringly bad, however, it’s just a little blah. Makeup can be a very fun, individual, transformative, beautiful thing, and none of those qualities are represented in their brand. It would be a very interesting challenge to rebrand this makeup company." - Kayla, Designer

1. Amazon

Amazon is taking over the world and will only continue to integrate themselves into every industry in our lives. Research and Strategy Associate, Lucy thinks "it would be fascinating to get a look into the internal Amazon company and see where we can help elevate their brand."