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ROUNDUP
Keep Calm and Carry-On
Travel-savvy pros give their best tips for making your next business trip a stress-free journey.
"I always recommend traveling with carry-on luggage to avoid additional fees at the airport while saving time. Go with one color palette for your wardrobe so you only need one pair of shoes, one pocketbook, and one set of jewelry. Wear your sports jacket on the plane so you are ready to dress up without it get- ting wrinkled.”
Linda Ferone, Director of Catering DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Tarrytown
“I keep an extra travel set in my suitcase permanently, so I never have to worry about forgetting things: phone and laptop char- gers, memory sticks, toiletries, collar stays, ear plugs to help me get a good night’s sleep, and a tiny first aid kit. I also always pack one extra shirt and tie, just in case I spill a drink or food
on myself. And I keep a running list of anything that I need to pack or take with me, and I check it before I leave the house. It’s saved me from forgetting my passport more than once!”
Chris Sabido, Co-Founder of Emerge, Tarrytown
“First, I roll everything. Using that approach, I can fit five days’ of clothing in a nineteen-inch carry-on. I always wear my bulki- est items, such as jackets and boots, on the plane. I skip the laptop bag and instead carry an oversized shopper-type tote for extra space—zipper closure required.”
Stacey Tank, SVP and Chief Corporate Relations Officer Heineken USA, White Plains
“Most importantly, invest in good carry-on luggage. Wheels are a must, and compression technology is a big plus. Pack as lightly as possible. Stick with one color scheme—it makes mixing and matching much easier. Have one set of travel-size toiletries all ready to go in a small bag. That way, you’re not scrambling before the next trip. As items run out, replace them immediately.”
Debbie Harwin, Founder of I Need My Space Larchmont
“I keep a travel makeup bag packed with my favorite beauty products that I know will work in any climate— including tinted moisturizer with SPF 20 and cream- based blush that I can use on both my cheeks and
lips. My other must-have item is mascara. I find that if my lashes are enhanced, shadow and eyeliner aren’t necessary.”
Meredith Hayman, Makeup Artist, Yorktown Heights
“You can’t forget the ties. And I recommend that you pur- chase business attire that does not wrinkle easily since an iron is not always available at hotels. And for people who want to exercise after sitting for many hours [in transit], they can bring gym shorts and swimming trunks.”
Paul Okura, President of CMIT Solutions of Southern Westchester, Eastchester —SS
MADE IN WESTCHESTER
Designing for Dollars
A Peekskill firm creates the logos and packaging for some of your favorite brands.
geting. For example, Arcanna was hired by food-manufacturing com- pany Vigo to help sell its products targeted to first-generation Latin American immigrants. Instead of using swanky, modern designs, Arcanna emulated the more tra- ditional packaging styles that are commonplace on Latin American store shelves. Arcanna’s efforts have helped consumers connect with and buy Vigo-branded foods.
As the US grocery market is valued at more than $900 billion, the competition among brands for even the smallest slice of this mas- sive pie is fierce. Companies have to pay retailers for shelf space and
then hope their product sells. Bob says proper packaging is the only way to differentiate yourself. “Your graphics have to stand out and, more important, your brand has to stand out.” Enter Arcanna.
Foodtown, a Northeast supermarket cooperative with multiple Westchester locations, is one of Arcanna’s largest
and longest-running accounts. Foodtown hired Arcanna to redesign the packaging for
its hundreds of store-brand grocery items. At first glance, Foodtown’s private brand looked cheap and simple. “The
packaging on all of their generic products was very boring—bland and plain,” Bob says. “They didn’t have a lot of design skills, and they weren’t really a homogenous brand.”
Through researching the super- market industry, the Frissoras understood that store brands were likely to significantly increase in market share in the near future.
To take advantage of this, they upgraded Foodtown’s old, generic packaging to sharper, higher-quality designs. Instead of “templating” the new designs, like many other pri- vate brands had done, Arcanna cre- ated individually designed product packages to compete head-to-head with their national-brand counter- parts. They also helped reinvent the Foodtown brand and design style. “We made Foodtown’s products more appealing to the mass market, and, in many cases, customers now prefer the private brand over the national brand,” Bob says.
Arcanna’s redesign of Foodtown’s product packaging was so popular that other supermarkets now sell Foodtown’s private brand in their own stores. “We’re not here to make pretty packaging,” Steve says. “We’re here to make packag- ing that sells.”
—AH
Whether you’re watching a speedy NASCAR race or drinking a cold bottle of Aquafina, you are not just enjoying a race or
a drink—you are also being fed carefully crafted logos and pack- aging designed to make a lasting impression on you. The iconic logos for these two popular brands were designed by Peekskill-based The Arcanna Marketing Group, a pack- aging design company that
has created and redesigned
the packaging and logos for companies—both national
and store brands—for more
than two decades.
Bob Frissora and his son, Steve, founded Arcanna in 1989 after Bob and his two business partners split from their New York City advertis- ing firm. In 1992, they moved the company to its current location in Peekskill.
The Frissoras assert that they are not graphic design- ers applying their artistic
capabilities to the commercial world—their designs are based on product-specific research which, they say, ultimately results in increased sales. “A lot of it has to do with getting to know the con- sumer, because you can’t design in a bubble,” says Steve. Such exten- sive research helps them build packaging that appeals to the spe- cific demographics a product is tar-
Debbie Harwin photo by Stacey Ewald
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