JOE LACEY
  • HOME
  • ILLUSTRATION
  • GRAPHIC DESIGN
  • PAINTINGS
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT

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...
ORIGINAL AIRBRUSH & GOUACHE ARTWORK
Original Silly Putty airbrush painting. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Original Silly Putty airbrush painting.
Fluorescent Silly Putty airbrush painting. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Fluorescent Silly Putty airbrush painting.
Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty airbrush painting. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty airbrush painting.
Glitter Silly Putty airbrush painting. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Glitter Silly Putty airbrush painting.
ORIGINAL PENCIL SKETCHES
Original Silly Putty pencil sketch. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Original Silly Putty pencil sketch.
Fluorescent Silly Putty pencil sketch. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Fluorescent Silly Putty pencil sketch.
Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty pencil sketch. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty pencil sketch.
Glitter Silly Putty pencil sketch. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Glitter Silly Putty pencil sketch.
PACKAGE BACKS
Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
HOLIDAY PACKAGING
Holiday Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Holiday Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Holiday Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
In 2002 I worked on some concept art for yet another redesign of Silly Putty. Three pencil sketches of rubbery aliens, goofy birds, and a dog and cat named Stretch and Bounce, never made it past the drawing board, but it was fun to work on Silly Putty again.

I hope this article gets you in the mood to go out and buy some Silly Putty. Like the package says, it's for kids aged "Four to forever". There's nothing else quite like it!
Silly Putty concept art, Aliens. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Silly Putty concept art, Aliens.
Silly Putty concept art, Birds. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Silly Putty concept art, Birds.
Silly Putty concept art, Stretch & Bounce. Silly Putty package and character design by illustrator Joe Lacey.
Silly Putty concept art, Stretch & Bounce.

Comments are closed.
    Joe Lacey illustrator

    Joe Lacey

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


    ON SALE NOW!

    ADULT COLORING BOOKS by Joe Lacey

    Picture
    8-bit Kingdom: Medieval tales of computer technology • BUY NOW!


    Famous Illustrators of the Golden Age Coloring Portfolio • BUY NOW!


    Categories

    All
    8 Bit Art
    8-bit Art
    Activities & Games
    Advertising
    Avon
    Awards
    Beatles
    Books
    Character Design
    Christmas
    College Art
    Coloring Books
    Crayola
    Crayola Kids
    Editorial
    Fisher Price
    Fisher-Price
    Food Industry
    Halloween
    High School Art
    Illustration
    Illustrators
    Magazines
    Monsters
    Package Design
    PEZ
    Premiums
    Product Design
    Publishing
    Robots
    Seinfeld
    Silly Putty
    Sports
    Toys
    Valentine's Day
    Vintage
    Wilton


    Illustrators

    • H.R. Geiger
    • Vernon Grant
    • Alex D. Palmer

    Links

    • Candy Wrapper Museum
    • Dan Howe - Artist
    • Dachshund Rescue

    Archives

    October 2022
    July 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • HOME
  • ILLUSTRATION
  • GRAPHIC DESIGN
  • PAINTINGS
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT