Shifting Your Story — Evolutionary + Eco-Driven Design Defines Direction
Member Highlight, Arturo Calderon of ADC
Good design paired with customer connection can change the world. Just ask Arturo Calderon. Partner and U.S. Director of ADC (Advanced Design Center), an international brand + package design company. Arturo has been cultivating the brand-customer connection with one of their leading clients, Comercializadora Cantu, for over 25 years. Caldero has led Cantu’s brand evolution, helping Mexico’s #1 plastic bag manufacturer stand out and stay strong through the years as a family-owned company carrying on a legacy as one of the leading manufacturers for Sam’s Club, Walmart and other large conglomerates between the United States and Latin America.
“Design grows like time and people,” says Calderon. Calderon affirmed that even though a mission and vision stay true over time and differentiate a brand, that doesn't mean that design and story have to stagnate. “One of the best ways to show how companies are keeping up with the times is through a logo refresh. Companies like Coca Cola even do this - every ten years, you’ll see a slight shift on a bottle or billboard. When you put each logo version side by side, you can see the heart of the brand but can see the turn of time between each one.”
Refreshing a brand’s look not only shows your clients how you’re keeping up with cultural shifts and focusing on their most relevant needs, it can drive direction in big corporate decisions. Such is the case when Comercializadora Cantu, one of Latin America’s largest plastic-bag companies, decided to phase into eco-friendly bags that are made with plant-based raw materials (which in turn makes them compostable) and higher concentrations of recycled material, responding to the changing needs and values of its customer base.
When Arturo got the call, he was elated. With retailers across Mexico already banning plastic bags, Arturo knew that this disruption in such an essential part of retail turning could only be accomplished through directive design.
“When your brand is ready to change its story, it’s the job of the design to help customers keep their trust in the brand with the shift of the service or product. Our job is now to take this well positioned brand and adapt their positioning and their image to a new story.”
Turning to commercial-compostable bags made of corn and recycled materials in both trash bag and zip-lock bag designs, ADC is excited to direct the public’s attention towards the importance of buying from brands that care and the possibilities of eco-driven design. As leaders in experiential marketing and evolutionary design, it only makes sense that the visionaries of Latin America’s leading fully compostable trash and zipper-locked bags chose ADC to make their customers’ care the center of their changing brand story.