When "Yes, and..." leads to a ROARING success

The brief hit my desk: Design Cryovac’s flagship trade show booth for IPPE (aka “The Chicken Show”).But this wasn’t just any project. The stakeholder had reluctantly shifted from a top agency to internal designers. The pressure? Immense.

The challenge:

• 4 conflicting booth panels (branding, e-commerce, automation, smart services)

• Disjointed stock photo “inspiration” that felt like a visual salad

• A skeptical client who doubted internal teams could match agency quality

I started with “Yes, and…”✅ Tried following the brief exactly → bland results✅ Attempted cohesive vector graphics → still disjointed✅ Then pivoted HARD:

The “Carnivores” twist:Revisiting Cryovac’s iconic animal campaign (“Looking this good is no accident”), I flipped the script:🦁 Lion eyeing vacuum-packed steak: “Carnivores will go wild”🐺 Wolf leering at pork chops: “These three little piggies look good to me”🧀 Mouse coveting cheese packaging: “Even carnivores need snacks”

The result?

#DesignThinking #TradeShowMagic #PackagingInnovation #CreativeCourage

Dead silence on the Teams call… followed by:“Wow. This is the best booth we’ve EVER had.”15-year trade show veteran: “Man, this thing is COOL.”

Lesson learned:Sometimes the boldest ideas come from:1️⃣ Embracing constraints (“yes, and…”)2️⃣ Mining past successes for NEW angles3️⃣ Presenting the messy journey (not just the polished result)

What’s your “yes, and…” moment this week? 🚀