2015-2023

Chemical Manufacturing & Blending for Private Labeling

One-person Creative Department

Over 400 Unique Clients

B&B clients come from over 30 countries and ranged from small startups to Fortune-500 companies. Although some clients did provide their own creative, I personally handled more than 80%

B&B offers over 750 custom blended formulas. Every formula a specified container size, and with every container size a label - one can imagine how much art is needed (not counting marketing material distinct to each customer/distributor)

House Brands

B&B doesn't just strictly offer private labeling, they also sell a few house-brands to distributors such as JADE, PURIS, Auto Pride, and Magic Touch

One-person Creative Department

I was acting as Art Director / Creative Director, Graphic Artist, Production Artist, Web Developer, Content Manager, Motion Graphics Designer, Video Producer, Video Editor, Online Producer, Photographer, Social Media Manager, and Publications Designer

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Dropped in the middle of chaos

When I was first hired, I had to jump in the water with both feet. There was no predecessor to show me the ropes; no way to navigate the tangled mess left behind from an untrained amateur; no starting point, nearly all information was strictly tribal (nothing was documented) – I went in completely blind.

One of my earliest tasks was to transition the OSHA safety regulations – OSHA had given them a deadline that was ignored nearly to the last minute to change from the four-box diamond to pictograms. The task ahead of me was daunting to say the least.

While trying to get my bearings on regulations, I was also tasked to help customers, update labels, design new labels, create marketing art, and completely the rebuild the bbblending.com website.

It was more than overwhelming but I was treading with my head just barely above water for months on end – my tenacity and perseverance eventually got me swimming; not just swimming but figuratively speaking, I eventually built an entire aircraft carrier at B&B.

When I started at B&B, they were only in three countries but when I left they expanded to over 30 countries. B&B’s domestic revenue was around $6M when I started and grew to over $25M during my tenure, it’d be an understatement to say I had a hand in that.

OSHA Chemical Compliance

Worked closely with the lab to learn the ins and outs of CHEMDOX to bring B&B up to compliance before the December deadline. At the time, there were upwards of 3,000 labels that needed to be updated

Organized the Chaos

Created an actual system for labeling built from the ground up all while juggling multiple large projects. I mastered the art of mindset switching to adapt to the myriad of distinct clients and projects.

Created a Flourishing Brand

JADE was my brand through and through and it still thrives today (refer to my case study on the JADE Ceramic brand for details).

JADE Case Study

Bring the Company into the 21st Century

I built a brand new website to replace the one that looked like it was made in the 90's: created a sleek modern look, easier navigation, an abundance of information, and redefined B&B's optics. I acted as their IT department for a period of time until B&B got a 3rd party to take over my duties. I pulled B&B out of the stone-age by getting broadband internet, helped update their servers and network infrastructure all while being a one-person creative department.

B&B's clientele is vast but very discrete !

Due to B&B being a manufacturer, the clientele information is under NDA. The company makes products for over 400 different brands and many (if not most) directly compete with each other so disclosing any artwork is legally forbidden. This puts me in quite a tough spot in my portfolio because I’m legally bound not to be able to share my past client work for B&B.

I do hope that there’s understanding on why this is. I can only show house-brands which is a mere fraction of what I’ve been doing over the 8 years at B&B Blending.

Distinct Creative Pieces

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Completely Different Brands

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Auto Pride

The Core of All Labels

In my system, I dubbed this brand as the basis of all labels. Every single formula (released or not) will have an AP (Auto Pride) label associated with it. Complete with name, selling features, safety information, and physical descriptions. At the end of my tenure, the AP label count was just over 800.

Made for DOT

A secondary use for this label is to satisfy the Department of Transportation. There are very strict labeling regulations to transport chemicals. Some customers purchase 275-gallon totes and down-fill at their own facility so AP labels are used to identify hazards to meet DOT and OSHA standards

OSHA Compliance

AP labels also serve as a reference point for all warnings and hazards associated with a formula. Many clients will buy a formula and rename it, having AP labels that retain the B&B names along with OSHA legal text can easily be cross-referenced with the client's custom name. Prior to this, an employee would just have to "know".

Sales Tool

AP labels also acted as sort of a living catalog, I made sure the sales team had read-access to the directory so that they can reference products that would otherwise not show up until the next catalog refresh. The label is detailed enough that sales and the customer can get an understanding of what the formula does. I also went in and stamped "DISCONTINUED" in big red letters on formulas that were retired, I was told this was extremely helpful to the sales team because it took all the guessing out and gave the associate to upsell the replacement product without having to ask the lab.

Ready to Sample

Since there is no formula without a corresponding AP label, they serve as fantastic way to send out samples, whether the product has been finalized or not - the label will always be available so that even samples were DOT/OSHA compliant when shipped out.

OSHA

Safety Data Sheet

I personally made it my duty to make sure that absolutely everything that goes out the door is always compliant. Every formula has a safety data sheet that states in section 2.2 what must be printed on the label, failure can carry fines upwards of thousands of dollars per every improperly labeled container.

Professional VS Consumer

I specialize in professional labeling, meaning these hazards are for the type of person working with these substances 8-10 days every day - this is very different from consumer labeling. These warnings are to satisfy OSHA regulations, not the weekend warrior or those who'd use the product a few times a month. There's a stark difference.

Out with Old and in with the New

OSHA gave companies like B&B five years to switch from the four-sectioned diamond but no one there could make heads or tails of it before I was hired on. I came in at the tail-end of the 5-year deadline and crammed what should have been done in the span of 5-years into a matter of months. I beat the deadline by just a few days.

Strict Rules

OSHA has very strict rules on how the legal information must be presented on labels; this includes font size and pictogram size relative to the volume of the container, spacing between the pictograms, contact points, and chemical emergency references. I was able to accomplish everything with full-satisfaction from OSHA.

Multiple-sizes without Compromise

There are many occasions where a label is printed in-house. I set up “print files” for every label that needs it. These are done completely manually and I size them so that none of the legal information is ever compromised. This gives the ability for someone in the print room to print, and cut these out to fill an order. B&B uses an industrial-grade laser printer on self-adhesive high-gloss to accomplish this. This doesn’t just apply to AP labels but to every customer that chooses this tier of labeling.

As a bonus, this system also allows me to send files that customers can print in their own business to use as spares or extras; I made “print files” that would work on our industrial machine which prints 12×18 but also can cater to anyone using standard A4 paper. Just another part of the system I developed whilst at B&B.

"Your Logo Here" as a Sales Tool

I personally developed an arsenal of tools for the sales team both digital and physical. Flyers, pamphlets, e-mail blasts, catalogs, the B&B website but most notably, the “Your Logo Here” labels.

These were a fantastic way to showcase what B&B offered, flashy labels married to great chemistry. The label design was enticing enough for newcomers who were barely breaking into the industry and the solid chemistry for companies who were looking to elevate their exiting products

Adam's Polishes

It’s no longer a secret that Adam’s Polishes is now B&B’s sister company. They used to be a B&B customer but now are one with B&B. I’ve worked on a few collaborations in terms of creative but I mostly helped when their team of 4+ was overwhelmed, mostly label production. The only thing I’d like to share that’s all on my own is the motion graphic below.

This is an alternate logo the Adam’s team designed that I turned into a quick bumper, I’m responsible for everything including the sound design but not the logo itself.

COVID-19

B&B being a chemical manufacturer, we did out part in getting hand sanitizer to masses. A prime example of limited resources and an extremely compressed timeline. I was able to design a sterile, yet friendly label that was met the rigorous standards of the FDA labeling rules. B&B was able to produce thousands and thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer that had an 85% alcohol ratio, making it one of the best hand sanitizers on the market.

B&B even donated dozens of cases to the local police and fire departments. It’s still my favorite hand sanitizer today, it’s very powerful but doesn’t dry out the hands and doesn’t leave a residue.

Puris Car Care products is another staple in B&B’s house-brands. It’s mostly for international sales outside the US but that’s not to say there isn’t a US distributor. When I came to B&B, there was maybe a couple of handfuls of products in the line and by the time I left, B&B was breaking over 100 SKUs

A-line (Automotive)

Automotive Detailers

This line is considered to be a premium line with higher active chemistry and (much like most of B&B's products) is sold strictly to professional detail shops who had paint correction capabilities. The A-line is meant to be Automotive Paint Correcting.

International Regulations

Since these are international they didn't follow the same rules as OSHA but a different standard mostly headed by the EU. Although other countries had their own safety standards it was acceptable by most to use the EU's CLP standard

Multi-lingual

Many of these products went to non-english-speaking countries so the appeal had to be universal and the messages were conveyed heavier on design and pictures rather than text

D-line (Detailing)

An accompanying support line

The D-line was to delineate the difference between paint correction and detailing. Having two distinct colors in the shop can really help the workflow of a technician. Reaching for white means they're going to have a physical affect on the surface while reaching for green means they're going to clean or decontaminate.

Cleanliness is next to...

This line was primarily focused on cleaning, washing and protecting. If a technician reached for a green bottle, they know immediately that it's not made for any surface corrections.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the birth of JADE in the same breath as Puris.

Click here to the JADE case study

-Not Just Labels-

Dynamic & Interactive Graphics

Aside from labels, packaging, and other print media, I also completely redesigned the B&B website (bbblending.com). Although the site itself was no easy task due to the amount of content that needed to be generated from scratch, I’d be lying if I said I had as much fun with the website as I did making motion graphics for various uses. I’ll just leave these things here for viewing with no context as I found them pretty satisfying to watch. I made all of these including the sound design.

Non-Disclosure Agreement

Just to reiterate...

I've only shown examples of brands that are publically known to be B&B. There's a plethora of other brands and distributors that I have built from the ground up giving the same treatment as PURS and JADE. The NDA simply will not allow me to show the work I've done for B&B clients.

Please just bear in mind that in my 8 years at B&B I've created dozens of websites and over 40,000 unique files for companies that range from startups to Fortune-500; national and international; English and non-English.

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Distinct Creative Pieces

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Completely Different Brands

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