Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Introduced in France and South Korea, ZAG Heroez property Miraculous quickly grew an international fan-base via Nickelodeon, Netflix, the Disney Channel and Youtube. Needing a brand and packaging refresh to capitalize on the animated series’ surging popularity, Playmates Toys approached McHale Design to help develop a cohesive packaging identity celebrating the shows vibrant visual style.

Working closely with Playmates Toys, we produced packaging design highlighting the personality of each character while reinforcing a unified visual front. We leveraged a deep catalog of resources to create bold, bright and engaging graphics that enhanced dynamic product pack-out.

The packaging design came together with carefully blended luminous effects, patterns and textures. Inspired by the magical vivacity of the shows animation, the branding evokes the spunk of teen spirit while reaffirming positive themes of courage and friendship. Utilizing a wealth of enthusiastic character illustrations, the packaging successfully showcases the product with youthful boundless energy.

Legends Face Off!

The earth-shattering Monsterverse brings together the iconic properties of Godzilla and King Kong, two mega-franchises with over 40 movies combined, dating back to 1933 with the first appearance of King Kong. McHale Design’s packaging design and branding work helped amplify the experience for consumers, creating a cohesive and dynamic shelf presence and an award winner in the 2022 GDUSA American Graphic Design Awards.

Get Ready to Rumble!

Godzilla vs. Kong pits the fierce franchise movie monsters against each other to determine who will reign over the MonsterVerse. In that same spirit, Playmates Toys challenged McHale Design to develop a packaging system emphasizing the enormous scale and over-the-top action of the epic battle. We hopped into the ring and defined branding and packaging design worthy of the legendary pair, resulting in a GDUSA American Package Design Award.

Get Ready to Rumble!

Godzilla vs. Kong pits the fierce franchise movie monsters against each other to determine who will reign over the MonsterVerse. In that same spirit, Playmates Toys challenged McHale Design to develop a packaging system emphasizing the enormous scale and over-the-top action of the epic battle. We hopped into the ring and defined branding and packaging design worthy of the legendary pair, resulting in a GDUSA American Package Design Award.

Concept Sketches — Prepare for Fight Night

Working with limited assets in the earliest stages, we sketched a range of structure concepts, helping to make decisions on logo and key art placement as well as establishing dynamic packout.  Early concepting also helped determine packaging structure costs.

We resolved to push the two behemoths to the top of package to emphasize their massive size, the main contenders facing off and towering over the devastated city below. We adapted movie key art and elements for compelling shelf impact reinforcing the key story elements of action and destruction.

Concept Sketches — Prepare for Fight Night

Working with limited assets in the earliest stages, we sketched a range of structure concepts, helping to make decisions on logo and key art placement as well as establishing dynamic packout.  Early concepting also helped determine packaging structure costs.

We resolved to push the two behemoths to the top of package to emphasize their massive size, the main contenders facing off and towering over the devastated city below. We adapted movie key art and elements for compelling shelf impact reinforcing the key story elements of action and destruction.

Concept Sketches — Prepare for Fight Night

Working with limited assets in the earliest stages, we sketched a range of structure concepts, helping to make decisions on logo and key art placement as well as establishing dynamic packout.  Early concepting also helped determine packaging structure costs.

We resolved to push the two behemoths to the top of package to emphasize their massive size, the main contenders facing off and towering over the devastated city below. We adapted movie key art and elements for compelling shelf impact reinforcing the key story elements of action and destruction.

What’s the Buzz?

Step back in time to a simpler country life, where the air is clear, the land is bountiful, and cute little animals wear clothes and don’t eat each other!

Logo, branding, structure design–we did it all and enjoyed every minute of our honeyed escape. If only real life could be so sweet!

We are honored to announce that our Honey Bee Acres designs have won a 2022 GD USA Package Design Award! The critters of Honey Bee Acres are so excited that they have given us an honorary County Fair Prize, even though we missed out in the “Best Apple Pie” category. Next year!

Patterns, colors, typefaces… the Honey Bee Acres Style Guide includes all the elements and guidelines needed for cohesive shelf presence. Country themed patterns and graphics provide the brand extra visual support to thrive and grow across multiple platforms.

Baby Steps to Big-Time Sales!

Mega-retailer Walmart designated McHale Design as their branding agency of choice for S.C.I, the private label line of eco-friendly preschool toys. Showcasing the premiere quality of the product and it’s developmental features, McHale filled their Style Guide with a sweet visual esthetic that included the logo, color palette, patterns and packaging.

Let’s Play!

Following the phenomenal success of Shopkins, Aussie-based Moose Toys invited McHale Design to help brand their new preschool line. The Kindi Kids are adorable bobblehead dolls living in a rainbow-saturated world. They help ease a child’s transition from toddler life into the kindergarten experience. With this in mind, we created a sweet, playful logo along with the pastel color palette and kawaii-inspired soft brand iconography. Next, we gave package structure concepts the blue sky treatment to go beyond “real world” possibilities.

Making a Legendary Impression

Even with 30+ years of history, the Voltron brand still packs some serious punch. When the DreamWorks update anticipated a full-scale barrage on the toy aisle, Playmates Toys entrusted the assignment to their go-to design team at McHale Design.

Having developed a rabid, loyal fanbase, the Voltron brand needed dual-appeal that would resonate not only with the child target consumer but also with the dedicated adult collector. Since McHale Design had successfully faced similar challenges developing the TMNT brand, experience helped propel the design process forward.

Combine for Action

The team had to find a way to clearly communicate that some, but not all of the SKUs could be combined to create a large-scale, multi-piece Voltron, while maintaining a consistent brand identity across the entire line.

Our designers created a packaging template combining assets from the show with a proprietary, color-coded lion identification system highlighting the combinability of specific SKUs and clearly differentiating them from the rest of the line.

Armed with the success of the Netflix series, sales at Target, TRU, Walmart, and Amazon have continued to exceed expectations.

Drawing New Inspiration

Mattel-Mega Brands’ Scribble Stuff line was due for a colorful new identity so they reached out to the specialists at McHale Design to overhaul the brand with a fresh new logo, dynamic branding and package design that would position Scribble Stuff as the preferred pen of the sophisticated Fashionista!

During the design process we were mindful of the colorful impact we wanted to achieve on shelf, so it was important to allow the vibrant colors of the pen barrels and caps to come through. Intentionally placed scribbles and swirl motifs provided just the right stuff.

Branding • Style Guide • Packaging

Adventure comes in many forms! Whether blasting with water or foam darts, racing to the rescue in a Fire Truck or to the finish line in a Formula One racecar, we’ve got you covered. Walmart looked to McHale Design to create an overarching identity for their private label boys toy brand. A Style Guide with versatile logo, dynamic patterns, and an easily adaptable modular trade dress system allowed for diverse packaging applications. The brand redesign resulted in a powerful and unified shelf presence in the toy aisle.

Aiming for Clarity

We created a clear branding hierarchy showcasing the action-oriented fun. Coordinated pattern colors represented different segments and helped pop the product from the packaging. Simplifying the multitude of feature callouts and utilizing angles to exaggerate movement, the focus was all on the toy.