My main objective when I started at Cross in 2010 was to help the design team: rebrand, repackage and reintroduce the iconic brand (founded in 1846) to fashionable, ambitious, highly educated young people and not alienate lifelong customers.
MY CONTRIBUTION:
CONCEPT | DESIGN | GRAPHIC DESIGN | ENGINEERING TECH PACK
MATERIAL SPECS
PACKAGE DESIGN
Premium box level 1, the refill & booklet is kept under the platform. The box nests in the lid for under-glass display
Premium box level 2 (inside), the refill & booklet is kept under the platform. The box is hinged and used for sets at a higher price point
Cross Premium box level 2 (outside), displayed closed to show the Cross branding, the lid also contains a spot varnish lion head on the left
Optional level 2 box, comes with a pen stand (at the highest price point)
I designed the Foundrie 47 box in collaboration with Peter Thum, Cross launched a pen with the social entrepreneur and advocated for ending illegal gun violence. The box came with a wood-branded pen stand and a special romance booklet. The pen was designed by Ramon Kingsley and contained a piece of a destroyed AK47 and a serial number
This box was designed for the sales reps to take along to display the Cross Ball Point assortment to customers
When we relaunched the Classic Fountain Pen, Asia and European markets requested a premium under-glass display. This was for under-glass presentation only (option 1)
The second option contained a black pen stand, a leather-branded pen pouch and a Classic Cross pen (this is the one they chose to go with)
This was a sales requested Fountain Pen test kit, the box is made of Cross branded blue PU, with exposed white stitching, the white buckle on the front is an embossed Cross log in silver and an image of the iconic Cross Fountain Pen tip
This was a sales requested Fountain Pen test kit, the user could try various pen tips, with their choice of either ink (from a bottle) or a FP refill
This was my first time dealing with glass, but the manufacturer was brilliant assisting with bringing my design to life. The cap of the bottle is keyed so regardless how the cap is put on, the Cross lion head always faces the front of the bottle
Here is the rebranded Cross refills with new yellow and black colorway with grey spot varnished lion head in the background
This was a management-requested box redesign concept for the rebranding of Sheaffer after the company was acquired by Cross
Because of the price point, I designed blister packs for the Sheaffer offering of Star Wars Ball Point pens, management agreed
This is the rebranded and redesigned Sheaffer Calligraphy set package showing all the color and included pieces at a glance
LIMITED EDITION PACKAGES
Asia requested a special pen and packaging each year to commemorate the Chinese New Year. This is the Year of the Horse box, the outside is dark chocolate brown, with oxblood PU leather, adorned with white exposed stitching, silver rivets and branding
The inside contained a window in the lid that contained the romance booklet, a horse-branded pen stand, refills and a gold BP or FP pen. The package started at $300
This is the Year of the Dragon Box, with red PU adorned with gold scales and a debossed black dragon outlined in gold. The inside contained a white soft touch platform with printed red dragon and pen stand
The Year of the Goat box, this box contained a reversed etched goat symbol on an acrylic circle, with a gold debossed pattern and gold thread stitching
With the success of the Zodiac boxes, Disney Asia request limited edition, high-end boxes for specially designed pens. The first was Alice in Wonderland. I designed this box to be reused as a jewellery box with an acrylic framed logo on top along with highly polished silver accents. The inside can be seen in the accompanying image
The inside also contained a silver framed mirror and a pen platform that automatically rose to present the pen and a dark satin lining on the inside
I designed this telescoping box for the cheaper BP, the outside contained embossed heart symbols and when closed the lid stopped just short leaving a black band around the box and a circle showing the gold Alice in Wonderland logo. On the inside, the pen was held under a black box with pen pouch on a soft white platform
With the success of the Alice in Wonderland box a Cinderella box was requested, the design was similar but I removed the rising platform and switched to a silver buckle, the box was all white PU with debossed castles and decorations on the outside with a white satin platform and lining on the inside
This is the R2D2 pen journal set designed for Barnes & Noble, there was a full Star Wars line including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Darth Vader
I created this gift bag and wrapping paper for the Cross gift store, it's a branded silver matte paper with vertical varnish stripes, the wrapping paper is silver and finished with the blue bow
This was done for a Franklyn-Covey conference, 3 branded highlighters, a Ballpoint pen and a small notebook
This was designed to be sold in the Duty-Free shop in Asia, it's a Mickey & Minnie branded pen in matching boxes. Complete with Mickey & Minnie's autograph
PRODUCT DESIGN
Below you will find a few Cross and Sheaffer journals I got to design,
along with pen pouches and various stationery and business items.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
At Cross, I was hired as a senior graphic & packaging designer and then promoted to the role of
global graphic & packaging design manager and lead a global team working on print, digital, and motion projects.
Below are a few projects I’ve worked on.
DISPLAYS & POP
Needless to say, I managed to have a hand in every aspect of our business: product, packaging, graphics and finally
display design. Being this involved gave me an appreciation for all the aspects of making a quality high-end product while keeping management, investors and stakeholders happy.
