Over the past two decades, we’ve come to understand the consumer’s ability to be motivated by brand experiences that provide an element of enjoyment. This knowledge enables us to develop design solutions that visually extend the brand promise and trigger emotions that impact purchase decisions.

Through our collaborative pre-design research process, we work with our clients to uncover and identify a brand’s most distinguishing and equitable attributes, determining which will resonate best with consumers on an emotional level. These attributes, when interpreted visually, define a brand’s key enjoyment assets, which serve as the basis for creative strategy development and design execution.

By appealing to consumers through a brand’s key enjoyment assets, we’re able to help our clients strengthen the image of their retail brands and lifestyle licensing programs, establish brand loyalty, increase market share and gain a significant competitive advantage in their respective categories.

The Power of Enjoyment

Today’s consumers are motivated by the experience associated with the brand promise. They often purchase a specific brand because of how it makes them feel. They choose products and services that provide enjoyment. In their minds, these positive, gratifying experiences enhance their lives.

Emotionally connecting consumers to a brand is essential. Connecting with consumers through enjoyment is powerful, bringing favorable associations to mind at every touch point. The promise of enjoyment can elevate a brand to the top of its category – or, possibly, to “iconic” status.

Our History

Design Force was born out of a passion for brand design more than two decades ago. After earning a BFA in Graphic Design from Tyler School of Art, our president and creative director, Ted Mininni began working as a package designer with a toy company in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, spawning his interest in both the discipline and the industry. Shortly thereafter, Ted moved on to a mass-market plush toy manufacturer, spending half the year in Taipei, Taiwan, and the other half in the U.S. At this time, Ted became educated in product development, manufacturing, market research, and how to appeal to consumers through strategic design development.

After contributing his design expertise to a handful of the industry’s leading toy manufacturers, Ted decided to found his own design consultancy in the fall of 1990, in Southern New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. Design Force quickly established itself as one of the premiere design resources servicing the toy industry, having developed the brand identity and package design for a number of high profile toy brands in a variety of categories.

As we refined our expertise in package design development, we also expanded our client base to include well known consumer product manufacturers in the food and beverage, consumer electronics, home entertainment and video game industries, with a particular focus on brands that provide consumers with an element of enjoyment.

The new millennium brought with it new opportunity for growth. Companies in the licensing and entertainment industries in need of standardized packaging for their intellectual properties began to solicit our design expertise. This was a natural segue for our design team as many staple toy brands at this time were establishing themselves as successful lifestyle licensing programs. But our growth didn’t end with the design of cohesively branded packaging programs for these licensed properties. We began to develop entire licensing programs, including creative strategy, trend themes, design elements, product concepts and the style guides themselves. And, with that, a new area of focus was born.

Our company has evolved considerably since its inception, and continues to evolve even today. As with every strong brand, we’re a work in progress. We’re constantly re-evaluating our research and design processes, updating our knowledge of the industries we service, and maintaining awareness of new technologies and methodologies as they relate to our disciplines, so we can continue to provide our clients with the expertise and the results that they’ve come to expect from Design Force.