BJ’s Multi-Brand Retail Cart Display
CLIENT: BJ's Wholesale Club
ROLE: Art Director & Graphic Designer
DELIVERABLES: Retail cart display, structural CDU design, custom dielines, packaging artwork, retail signage, production prototypes, creative guidelines, and cross-brand creative direction.
CHALLENGE & APPROACH: What began as a four-product display quickly expanded into a full retail cart after the buyer saw the initial prototypes. With Chef'n alone unable to fill the larger assortment, we partnered with Farberware and KitchenAid under the Lifetime Brands portfolio. The buyer wanted the entire cart to maintain the Chef'n look and feel, despite featuring products from three different brands. With no existing packaging or CDU guidelines in place, I developed the creative standards, collaborated with designers across the portfolio, and reviewed every display before production to ensure the finished retail experience felt cohesive, consistent, and unmistakably Chef'n.
Prototype First
Before production, I created custom dielines and hand-built four working CDU prototypes for the BJ's buyer. Seeing the concepts at full scale helped communicate the vision, gather feedback early, and refine the structural design before moving into production.
The Shake Test
Every prototype earned its unofficial "shake test" before heading to the buyer. If the products couldn't survive an enthusiastic shake in my office, they weren't ready for shipping—or the sales floor.
Buyer Approved
With the prototypes complete, I applied the clean, simple artwork the buyer had requested and shipped the finished hand-built displays for approval. The concepts were approved, and the project appeared ready to move into production.
Designing Through Change
Shortly after the buyer approved the initial concepts, my timeline changed in an instant. The sales rep came down the hall with an urgent request: "Can you update the artwork in the next 30 minutes? The buyer is pitching the retail cart to her boss before he leaves for a two-week vacation, but he wants to see packaging that better communicates the products before approving the expansion."
Chef'n is known for innovative kitchen tools that aren't always immediately recognizable on the shelf, so I redesigned the packaging to feature large in-use photography that showed each product in action. The updated direction earned approval for the retail cart and became the creative foundation for the entire program.
One Cart. Three Brands.
With the retail cart approved, the project continued to evolve. Chef'n's original four-product assortment changed, and the expanded cart required additional products to meet BJ's merchandising and price-point requirements. Farberware and KitchenAid (also Lifetime Brands) were brought in to complete the assortment, creating the challenge of presenting three distinct brands as one cohesive retail experience.
Since no creative standards existed, I established the visual guidelines for the entire program, art directed and reviewed work across multiple designers, guided revisions, and approved every packaging design and CDU before production. The result was a unified retail display that maintained Chef'n's visual identity while seamlessly integrating products from all three brands.
Finalized CDUs & Packaging
Finalized Cart Signage
Finalized Dielines
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