JOE LACEY
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Joe Lacey

BLOG
/bläɡ/ noun – a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style. Yep, that's my blog!

Silly Putty

6/13/2018

 
Original Silly Putty, Fluorescent Silly Putty, Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty, and Glitter Silly Putty.
Original Silly Putty, Fluorescent Silly Putty, Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty, and Glitter Silly Putty.
Redesigning An American Classic
1989 Binney & Smith Silly Putty packaging.1989 Binney & Smith Silly Putty packaging.
Silly Putty first major toy packaging commission. Until then, I was doing a lot of product rendering, concept boards, and a lot of line art. To tell this story properly, I need to start with a brief history of Silly Putty packaging.

Binney & Smith (Crayola, LLC.) acquired Silly Putty in 1977. The look pretty much stayed the way it was originally introduced in 1951, retaining it's iconic television frame and two blonde haired kids. Up until 1989, they were still producing Silly putty with this packaging. The nineties were rolling in and it was time for an update. I couldn't believe I was going to be the the guy who got to take this on! Granted, there were several attempts in the '70s at updated packaging, Silly Putty Man featured a Marvel-esque superhero fighting off space pirates and limited run holiday packaging from the early '80s. But they never radically changed the packaging for the original Silly Putty until 1992. I had just finished my studies at Syracuse University and was ready to go full-time into the world of freelancing. I had an interview for a full-time job at an ad agency in Harrisburg, PA, then the phone rang.

"Hey Joe, you wanna work on the rebranding for Silly Putty?"
"Sure!",
I said. "When does it start?"
"We need the art in a couple months, gotta redesign the characters... Come in on Thursday, we'll talk about it."
"I'll be there."


I hung up the phone and cancelled my job interview. I couldn't pass this up!

Silly Putty Packaging
Original Silly Putty. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Original Silly Putty
Fluorescent Silly Putty. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Fluorescent Silly Putty
Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty
Glitter Silly Putty. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey
Glitter Silly Putty
The first round of the redesign was Original Silly Putty, Fluorescent Silly Putty, and Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty. The main focus was on Original Silly Putty, as it would dictate how the others were to be handled. The kids were still blonde, striped shirt, baseball cap and sun dress. I decided to make the kids' heads look like a ball of egg-shaped Silly Putty. A pattern of boomerangs was used as a nod to the 1950s origins of Silly Putty. The back was b&w line art where I was able to include my name. A year later I illustrated the packaging for Glitter Silly Putty and a stocking shaped holiday four-pack of metallic putty.

When the newly designed Silly Putty was released in 1992, David Letterman held up the The Original Silly Putty package I had illustrated during one of his skits about funny warning labels, proclaiming, "Use of this product may cause extreme silliness"... or something like that. I never saw the episode, so if anyone out there knows where I can see it, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! The fluorescent Silly Putty package had a cameo in the Seinfeld episode The Big Salad which aired on September 29, 1994.

For you collectors out there, these packages appear to be extremely rare. I have searched the internet for several years and have yet to see them posted anywhere. I've never even seen them for sale on ebay! I have quite a few of them and even some huge press sheets of uncut boards given to me by the art director at Binney & Smith. I had planned to wallpaper a room with them. Maybe someday, I will.

In 1997 the packaging was again re-designed with new characters of which I was not involved. Silly Putty continues to go through many package revisions and was inducted into the National Toy Hall Of Fame in 2001.
Rest of article continues...

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The Model Magic Wizard

4/23/2018

 
Model Magic™ Wizard for Crayola's Air Dry Model Magic™ Modeling Compound. Character design and illustration by Joe Lacey.Model Magic™
The Model Magic™ Wizard was designed for Crayola's Air Dry Model Magic™ Modeling Compound. I wanted him to be very whimsical with a "chunky" look as if he were sculpted from clay. I first intended to make him out of real clay and have him photographed, but the art director said that wouldn't work. I'll talk more about that later.
 
I looked at a lot of older illustrators for inspiration. Andrew Loomis, who wrote many art instruction books, and Vernon Grant, the illustrator famous for his gnome characters as well as the creator of Kellogg's Snap!, Crackle! and Pop!® were two obvious influences. I didn't go though a lot of exploration and he sort of "magically" happened and was approved with no changes. Wow! that was easy! Or at least that's what I thought.

So, why not make him out of clay? It is Model Magic™ after all? Well, the package was produced quite a few years ago and the flexographic printing process had it's limitations. Printing the art onto a plastic/foil bag and with limited colors was the reason he became a painted illustration.

I ended up painting him twice. The first painting had more tones and textures and felt more like a basic character. The art director felt he needed to look like he was made out of solid white clay with more dimensional elements on his hat. Even with this direction, I pushed it a bit to include a few more darks around the face just to keep the character from fading out.

Model Magic™ Wizard for Crayola's Air Dry Model Magic™ Modeling Compound. Character design and illustration by Joe Lacey. Pencil sketch on paper. 8
Pencil sketch on paper. 8" x 7"
Model Magic™ Wizard for Crayola's Air Dry Model Magic™ Modeling Compound. Character design and illustration by Joe Lacey. Ink on paper. 8
Ink on paper. 8" x 7"
Model Magic™ Wizard for Crayola's Air Dry Model Magic™ Modeling Compound. Character design and illustration by Joe Lacey. Model Magic Wizard Version #1. Gouache on bristol board. 14.5
Model Magic Wizard Version #1. Gouache on bristol board. 14.5" x 9"
Model Magic™ Wizard for Crayola's Air Dry Model Magic™ Modeling Compound. Character design and illustration by Joe Lacey. Model Magic Wizard Version #2. Gouache on bristol board. 14.5
Model Magic Wizard Version #2. Gouache on bristol board. 14.5" x 9"
Below is the original packaging and a digitally restored version using a scan of the second unused painting. Despite all the concerns about the limited printing capabilities, the new wizard printed still ended up printing a bit dark and murky.

I was hoping that he would become the official Model Magic™ mascot. But he was used only once and for a very brief time. His debut opened and closed on this one package. Still, he holds a good place in my heart and the job was a lot of fun. It's nice to finally see him looking his best in this restored version! He's a happy little guy.

To see more of my art, please visit my website.
Model Magic™ Wizard for Crayola's Air Dry Model Magic™ Modeling Compound. Character design and illustration by Joe Lacey. Restored packaging using the the second version of the gouache painting.
Restored packaging with second version of painting.
Model Magic™ Wizard for Crayola's Air Dry Model Magic™ Modeling Compound. Character design and illustration by Joe Lacey. The packaging as it was originally printed came out dark and murky.
The packaging as it was originally printed.

AVON Kids Package Design

3/17/2018

 

Just Like Daddy & Mommy

AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy bath products. Package art and design.
I was in the middle of my contract, working on a series of zany fruit character themed illustrations for AVON's Kids Naturals bath products when I was commissioned to design and illustrate the Just Like Daddy Grooming Kit and Just Like Mommy Pedicure Set.

The boy's grooming kit is an updated version of the 1968 AVON Scrub Mug, a liquid soap decanter that resembled an old fashioned shaving mug and brush, but now with a toy safety razor, mirror and "manly" aftershave. The  girl's themed companion pedicure set came with an inflatable foot bath, brush and soap. Each box featured a hidden picture game.

To see more of my art, please visit my website.

AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy bath products.
AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
The box sizes, shapes and general layouts were all pretty much determined prior to me working on the sketches. The project moved along smoothly and I did not have to do too many explorations for the look of the kids. The girl was by far the most challenging. She had to scrub her toes, wear a robe, be in the bath and still read very similar to the boy. I think the whole job was done in about two to three weeks.

First draft of boy characters. AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
First draft of boy characters.
Pencil sketch layout for boy's grooming kit. AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Pencil sketch layout for boy's grooming kit.
Pencil sketch layout for girl's pedicure set. AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Pencil sketch layout for girl's pedicure set.
Vector art created in Adobe Illustrator used as color guide and painting base. AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Vector art created in Adobe Illustrator used as color guide and painting base.
Final art rendered in Adobe Photoshop. AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Final art rendered in Adobe Photoshop.
Final art rendered in Adobe Photoshop. AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Final art rendered in Adobe Photoshop.
AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy bath products. Package art and design.
Bath Time Fun! Hidden Picture Game
The boxes were a pretty good size, so I suggested that a picture game would work nicely on each box. The layout really lent itself to this. It also gave added play value to each kit. I designed a bathtub themed hidden picture game that would be appropriate for little kids. Each has the same game, but the games are color coordinated to match the boxes. And, whenever I get the chance, I like to put a dachshund or two into my illustrations!
Rough pencil sketch for side packaging of  AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Rough pencil sketch.
Final art for boy's version of game for side packaging of  AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Final art for boy's version of game.
Final art for girl's version of game for side packaging of  AVON • Just Like Mommy /Just Like Daddy children’s bath products for boys and girls. Package art and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Final art for girl's version of game.
    Joe Lacey illustrator

    Joe Lacey

    I produce illustrations and creative idea solutions for toys, packaging, publishing and advertising.


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