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 an internal designer, me. The pressure? Immense.

The challenge:

• 4 conflicting booth panels (branding, e-commerce, automation, smart services) with an overall message of "Your Trusted Partner" (I couldn't help but think "Trust Me" is a turn off.)

• 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: “Let's drive carnivores wild” 🐺 Wolf leering at pork chops: “These three little piggies look good to me” 🧀 Mouse coveting cheese packaging: “Did someone say 'CHEESE?'”

The result?

Dead silence on the Teams call… followed by:“Yes. We are going with the Carnivores.”15-year trade show veteran: “Man, this thing is COOL. This might be our best looking booth ever!”

Lesson learned:Sometimes the boldest ideas come from: 1️⃣ Embracing constraints, and respecting stakeholder's request (“yes, and…”) 2️⃣ Mining past successes for NEW angles (iterate, with step, jump, leap) 3️⃣ Presenting the journey, and telling a story (not just the polished result)

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

#DesignThinking #TradeShowMagic #PackagingInnovation #CreativeCourage