All This Crap Looks the Same

Having worked with wine now for about three years one of the subjects that I've generally become interested in is packaging.  In the wine industry so much relies on the packaging because of course there's very little you can do with a bottle of wine.  I've noticed however that as more and more organizations try to push the envelope with packaging, the more it all starts to look the same.  I recently was in a super market and I noticed that nearly all the wines in a certain price point had the exact same look and feel, from the typeface being used to the shape of the label to the feel of the paper.  This particular example isn't all that uncommon in the world of packaging, as certain types of products are all going to have some similarity to them given the limitations in which the product can be presented to a consumer.  What gives me the creeps though is how it seems that lately the entire spectrum of consumer goods is all starting to have the same look and feel.  Which is to say they don't look like much of anything....

First of all, when did every design agency decide that all of our products needed to look like they come from some 1950s TV show's image of the "future"?

I guess since every image of the future shows everyone wearing the same silver jogging suit and eating processed meals out of a box, we might as well just get it over with and start designing all our crap to look like that.  

I can't tell if this cologne is designed for a world in which humans or robots are the dominant force.  But if the products we design today aren't super-futuristic, they're sickeningly faux "retro".

They say if you're not moving forward then you're moving backwards, unless you work in the field of packaging and advertising in which the only key to success is recycling style every few decades or so. 

Chances are if it was ugly then, it'll still be ugly now.  Except now it will be ironically ugly.  But it doesn't matter if products are designed to reflect the style of tomorrow or of yesteryear, they are all designed for people in Sweden.

Scandinavian culture has given us lots of wonderful things, but I didn't really expect us to need to make buying groceries any more hip than it really needs to be.  

Or any more boring.  Seriously, this looks like what a depressed Norwegian hipster DJ would buy at the convenience store in the not so distant future of 2011.

They've even managed to make milk more boring.  Milk.  

Also, what's the deal with everything being color coded?  

It seems as if every designer expects the human race to eventually be reduced to grunting and pointing every time they want something.  And I guess they think we all want pastels.  These products look more like they're designed for children and yet they're supposed to appeal to modern, sophisticated adults?  

I guess you could make the argument that some adults just want everything to be simple.  But sometimes it looks like we're making everything so simple that it looks like stuff we could make at home.

I mean seriously, part of the appeal of buying special things is the idea of it being special, one-of-a-kind, out of the ordinary.  This stuff below looks like someone with a little too much time on their hands at home started putting their junk in plastic baggies.  

I guess you could call this "minimalism", but to me it just looks lazy and boring.  To be fair, there are true pioneers in packaging that take the minimalist route, like Apple, but this is just weird.

Still, I'd rather take some of these extra minimalist products over some of these items that just put a bunch of crap all over the place.  

I think I'd like my coffee to have just enough copy on there to get me through one cup in the morning.  This much crap all over the product is supposed to seem "whimsical" or "thought provoking", but to me it just comes off as "seizure inducing".  And speaking of crap being all over the products nowadays, what's the deal with every item having an entire novel's worth of copy on there?

I'd hate to think that someone shelled out all that tuition for "art school" and now designs products using the basics of Microsoft word.  Still, these products with lots of copy on them could conceivably be deemed better than these products that put the labels on there in copy that makes us seem like we're infants.  

 

If I'm the type of consumer who is willing to shell out $14 for a wheel of cheese I'd like to be given a little more credit that I know what I'm picking out and that I don't need it spelled out for me in big block letters like the eye chart at the Orthodontist's.  

As you can see, all of these products are different.  Or are they strangely the same?  While each employed a different aspect of the modern design movement they all have the same ugly, horrible, boring core that makes them simply loathesome to behold.  The truly sad thing is that in some individual cases this type of design is kind of cool and can be totally unique.  In an isolated incident I could totally see myself purchasing any one of these products and thinking they were cute, cool or funny.  However, if you take all of these together and look at how the entire culture has jumped on this same bandwagon, it just seems tired and forced rather than how it was originally intended.  

Are there exceptions to the rule?  Of course!  There are tons of really original companies out there who designed their products to be cool and artsy and fun and unique, and achieve this goal by the strength of their character not because they followed the mold of the modern, faux retro-uber minimalist-scandinavian-simplicity wagon.  

Here's a list of companies I like that I think have gotten this concept right for the modern era.

Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma County -- probably the most recognizable image in the wine world that comes with a whole identity and feel for the brand built right in.

Clover Stornetta Dairy -- Their pun-tastic billboards are a California staple.  Imagine pitching something like this in a modern ad agency today.

Rogue Brewery in Oregon -- This is packaging that doubles as art, is irreverent, and of course "Rogue".

Bonny Doon Vineyards in Santa Cruz -- These packages are so clever and funny, and they ooze the personality and wit of the owner, Randall Graham.  

Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA. -- These folks know how to do retro in a classically modern way.

Francis Ford Coppola Winery -- A Hollywood director should know something about style.  

Anyways, I don't pretend to know the first thing about marketing, style, packaging or advertising.  I only know what I like and what I can perceive in the general culture.  I just think that this sort of thing goes towards what my favorite blogger BikeSnobNYC refers to as the general "woosyfication" of our world.  If you don't think that's true, then can you please tell me what this is supposed to be....

Update Sandwich

A quick rundown of how things have been going the last few months...

I recently joined the wine club of a winery in Sonoma called Matanzas Creek.  Matanzas Creek is the only winery/tasting room in Bennet Valley, one of the newest AVAs granted official status in Sonoma County.  I can't recall what prompted me to seek them out, but I hadn't been to Bennet Valley and it seemed like a nice alternate place to explore rather than my home stomping grounds near downtown Sonoma.  First of all, Matanzas Creek is a beautiful winery.  And I know that they're all beautiful, but this one is different in that it's the only winery in the valley - tucked in its own little enclave that you might not discover unless you got lost.  I was to learn that Bennet Valley has tried very hard to retain its rustic and isolated charm, and that Matanzas Creek is the only winery with a tasting room because they own more than 20 acres of land.  The winery's claim to fame aside from their wines is their lavender fields which dominate the front view from the tasting room.   I've since been back several times and have enjoyed all the wines I've tried.  The girlfriend and I took her parents there and they loved picnicking and smelling the flowers.

I've also taken over as the lead of the tasting room I work at in Napa.  Those of you with keen eyesight and knowledge of the area might be able to spot the winery in this photo, which I took from the lookout at the Pet Cemetery on Atlas Peak Road.  The "lead" position is somewhere between a tasting room pourer and a manager, but I'm getting lots of exposure to new responsibilities and spending more time learning the behind the scenes activities of a winery.  

The weather has been fantastic here in the area lately as well.  Its been a nice cool summer, which may mean difficult times for the grape growers, but it sure is fun in the evening.  I've been riding my bike down to the Sonoma square after work to get a relaxing beer.  I like taking pictures of the back alleys that lead to the main square.  

We also had our big company picnic at my favorite vineyard in all of wine country, MacMurray Ranch in the Russian River Valley.  It was really nice to have a day for the entire winery staff to get together, especially considering that many wineries are just struggling to get by in this climate.  I'm just glad we've got some good tasting $10 wines that pay the bills!

It Never Rains in California? Amgen Tour of California Stage 2 Recap

After four years of February rain the organizers of the Amgen Tour of California, the state's largest sporting event, finally decided to move the event to May in order to showcase the beautiful weather of the sunshine state.  The gods blessed them with more rain. Still, this did not dampen the spirits of the thousands of spectators who lined the course from Davis to Santa  Rosa to see the tour wind through Napa and Sonoma counties.

Having ridden many of the climbs in question on today's stage I was especially excited to watch the pros ride through.  I had seen many stages of the Tour of California before but this would be the first time I could actually ride a bike to see the juiciest part of the race, so I woke up the morning of quivering with anticipation, and actual butterflies.  The dilemma of course was how best to watch the stage.  I could ride up to the intersection of Cavedale and Trinity roads and then return via bicycle...like a man.  Or I could pussy out and take my car.  I decided to label my inevitable decision to drive as "smart" rather than girlish, and my foresight to include a change of clothes no less than genius.

Here's some photos and videos to recap the day...

I drove up to the race via Cavedale road.  This in hindsight made no sense as Cavedale road is a much less direct route to the top of Trinity grade but the gradient is much more compatible for a bike.  So I ended up passing 20 stalwart cyclists in the rain and giving them little encouraging taps on the horn, which seemed to say "haha" every time.  After nearly getting stuck in the mud on the side of the road I found a place to park and walked down to what I knew would be the best viewing area, a steep right hand curve.

This series of bends was where I saw the majority of the spectators, although there were some that took to the high ground for optimum viewing as well.

There was motley assortment of characters from local towns and some for far-flung exotic locales like Wisconsin.  There were even visitors from the Caribbean.  

There were many intrepid cyclists from both Napa and Sonoma counties who battled the elements to be there at the summit and catch the action, but none were so prepared as these guys.  They had actually stashed a cooler under a camo tarp behind a tree.  They may have gone home cold after standing for two hours, but at least they were going home well lubricated.  

But the grandest of all the spectators was none other than the viking-esque spectator known only has "helmet man".  Here he is descending from on high like a Norse god leaving the vaulted halls of Valhalla.  

And then, as quickly as he descended to the mortal plane to hang out with us plebians, he returned from whence he came.  

By this point the spectators around me and I had thought of every ironic and semi-funny way to remark how wet and miserable we were and it was about time for the race to arrive.  We saw the long line of official vehicles and motorcycles before the two leaders came through.  These guys were not very well known and would certainly be caught by the main bunch coming up right behind them.  It wasn't more than a minute before we all saw what we came to witness -- Lance and Levi and the Radio Shack team pulling the rest of the peloton behind them.  Having tried to take lots of photos at these races before and each time being disappointed with the results (see that orange blur? That's Dave Zabriske eating a banana!) I decided to record the favorites via video.  I will say that I made a conscious decision to be merely an observer on video as to protect the journalistic integrity of the moment.  You can see how long that lasted.  

Now that everyone knew I was a crazy person I decided to stick to photos.  I think this is Chris Horner in this picture.

And I'm pretty sure you can see George Hincapie's butt in this picture.  

I had to go back to video for again though for the autobus group of all the sprinters that had fallen behind.  After completely making a fool of myself in the last video I didn't think it could get much worse.  That was until I saw Mark Cavendish a few lengths off the front and this popped out...

I don't know if he heard me or not as I didn't receive one of his trademark salutes in reply.  Although the other spectators up the road said he seemed to be smiling.

After the group of straggling sprinters it seemed as if it was all over, but a highway patrolman informed everyone that there was still one last dropped rider on the road.  Luckily our Caribbean friends were able to boost his spirits with some of their trademark island enthusiasm and zeal.

I was inspired by these spectators to change my upcoming vacation plans to visit their homeland sample some of their delicacies, such as "grog".  I never saw the helmetman again, so I'm going to assume he transformed back into human form elsewhere.  Despite the rain it was a beautiful stage and an awesome thing to see so many happy people celebrating bikes and racing and drinking beer and being fit and cool.  I feel proud to be a part of a real great California event and I look forward to seeing the race again next year.

Serpent Sunday

I've started a new friendship with a snake that likes to sun himself in the afternoons on the road leaving the winery.

  The first time I saw Benny (that's what I've decided his name is) I nearly ran him over.  After stopping to take a picture I was able to herd him off the roadside with my bike pump.  Today I nearly ran over him again, leading me to believe that Benny is one dedicated serpent when it comes to sunbathing.  

Here he is beating a hasty retreat after I passed over him with my shadow.  

Research on the interweb has led me to believe that Benny is a Pacific Gopher Snake, or Pituophis catenifer catenifer.  Its a nice little reminder when I see animals at work that the wine industry is more than tasting rooms and tanks and barrels, that the product that we sell comes out of the ground from living things.  Benny is a natural part of the system that surrounds the winery, and I'm happy to work for a company that understands and appreciates the natural order of things and gives me such a nice place to work.  It'd be nice though if Benny asserted his role in the food chain more often and helped us out with some more gophers.  

Wine Tasting Review -- Prager Port Works

One of the things I've noticed after working in the Napa Valley for a year now is that its easy to become a little jaded.  Every new winery I visit seems to be more amazing then the next, and each one has either some sort of amazing caves, some really fancy technology, beautiful views, or architecture that pushes the envelope.  With the sheer number of wineries here in the valley it makes sense that each one would try to distinguish themselves from the pack.  But in a way it reminds me of my catholic junior high school -- everyone wore the same uniform and looked very similar, but we all tried to wear the most outlandish pair of basketball shoes just to be cool.

With this being the case, it was awesome to finally visit our neighbors across the street at Prager Port works.  The short story on this family winery is that it's the only winery in Napa that specializes in Port, and they've been doing so for about 30 years.  They make a wide variety of ports from a killer Tawny to a standard Petite Sirah port, even Ports using the more obscure Portuguese varieties.  Tasting consists of a 15 dollar line up of their current selection in their standing room only (they don't have any chairs or a tasting bar) tasting room.  My basic impression of Prager is that if Napa Valley is a Junior high classroom, then Prager is the kid from the other side of the tracks who still wears the converse sneakers and sits the back and yet without saying much is widely considered the coolest kid in school.

Chllorophyll?! More like, BORE-ophyll!! 

This family operation just oozes the kind of Napa Valley nostalgia that makes you feel like you're still in a sleepy little valley that just happens to produce a few bottles of wine along side the prune orchards and cow pastures.  Their tasting room alone feels more like a hell's angles dive bar then a fancy tasting room, with cobwebs and dollar bills plastering the walls.

You'd be hard pressed to find a Parker score on display in this place.

And here is the room properly age-ified for the full effect.  

My favorite wine there was their "Noble Companion" Tawny Port.  A classically brown tawny with lots of chocolate, orange zest and maderized notes, the tawny is semi-dry and made with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which just makes it even cooler.  

Prager Port works is tucked behind the Sutter Home winery (which is really just another perfect illustration of what I'm talking about) on Highway 29 just outside of St. Helena.  Tastings there are usually conducted by a member of the Prager family.  If you're looking for some different wines to taste and a decidedly different side of the Napa valley go and check them out.  Just make sure you have all your shots first.  

Wine Country: Via iPhone

As I'm currently typing with a sprained thumb I'll let some of these pictures I took using the Hipstamatic App on my iPhone do the talking.  Needless to say, it has been fun these last couple of months.

MacMurray Ranch in the Russian River Valley

The MacMurray family homestead, featuring my favorite front yard and giant tree

The MacMurray house.  The smoke is from our big pig dinner.

View of the wetlands at Laguna Ranch.  We learned about the interesting new mechanized farming techniques.

Looking towards the Pacific from the top of Two Rock Vineyard near Cotati.

The iPhone's been working out really great.  I can sorta look like a professional without really trying.  Hopefully the finger heals soon.  I'm starting to develop a claw.    

Forklift Training

"I wish I could see a forklift lift a crate of forks, it'd be so damn literal!  You are finally using that machine for its exact purpose!  That machine has been misunderstood for years..."- Mitch Hedberg, RIP

Today at work I was trained in the use and operation of a Class 1, gas powered forklift.

Needless to say, this was a pretty fun day, and a nice break from the normal order of things behind a tasting room bar talking about wine.  Wine, as we sometimes forget, is a business, and as often as possible I like to get behind the scenes and learn more about the every day creation of this beverage.  In so doing you really get to see how simple wine really is.  Despite all the high-falootin' words we use to describe it and all the romance that goes into its production, wine is still just fermented grape juice, and its everyday production is not all that glamorous.  

Training began in the morning with a theoretical overview of the machinery.  Essentially this was a review of Physics 101 and the concept of one of the most simple machines, the lever.  We learned how to inspect a load and determine its center of gravity so as to not do this...

Then we watched a series of videos to hammer the concept home that you need to keep your wits about you as you operate these 8,000 pound machines around the winery. Such as....

So needless to say, we were very careful as we practiced moving some pallets around in the back warehouse before our practical DMV style test.  What I liked most about this simple day of training was realizing how much of the world relies on this machine for its day to day operation.  Right now across the globe millions of pallets of soda, computer chips, toilet paper, lumber, coffee beans, steel, electrical wiring and pepto bismol are being lifted and taken from trucks to warehouse to distribution centers.  Being a part of this group of people that's now involved with one of the essential functions of business is pretty cool.  The best part is learning how to use it to lift pallets of tasty, tasty wine.