Prestigious Award Honors Anthem's Package Design of Safeway Brand "The Snack Artist"

Anthem Worldwide, part of the brand development division of Schawk, Inc., whose integrated global network provides innovative solutions to articulate, unify and manage brand impact to create compelling and consistent brand experiences, announced that its San Francisco office has been distinguished by Print magazine as a winner in the 2012 Regional Design Annual.

The Regional Design Annual, now in its 33rd year, has become the most comprehensive survey of graphic design in the United States, and one of the longest running graphic design competitions. In addition, it is the only design competition organized by geography. Anthem's award for its packaging design of Safeway brand The Snack Artist was honored among the 2012 winning entries in the Far West region.

Tom Holownia, managing director of Anthem Worldwide's San Francisco office, commented, "We are pleased that our package design of Safeway brand The Snack Artist received this mark of distinction. By creating strategic packaging design that influences the consumer's path-to-purchase, Anthem is helping its clients redefine the rules of engagement at retail to win the battle at shelf."

Holownia added, "Safeway continues to bring the kind of innovative thinking to the marketplace that disrupts the status quo and begins the process of reshaping industries. During Anthem's continued partnership with Safeway, we have helped one of the most progressive private label retailers in North America to create brands with stopping power to stand out on shelf and drive growth in the private brands business."

Deborah Smith Read, creative director at Anthem Worldwide, added, "Anthem's creative team understood that competing with national brands, product type by product type, wasn't viable. The team's strategic approach was to instead create one snack food 'power brand' that encompasses all categories, and brand-block it so shoppers can't help but notice it on their way down the aisle. Inspired by the fun of the products themselves, we created a line to compete with the big brand players, and a mysterious snacking aficionado -- The Snack Artist -- was born."

Read continued, "Inspired by the shapes and flavors, The Snack Artist embellishes each chip and cheese puff into a front panel masterpiece. A common background color across all categories becomes his canvas, with product art that is slightly tongue-in-cheek but always light-hearted. The design keeps a consistent voice, even when highlighting the packs' re-sealable feature, which is unique in the category."

Winning entries will be featured in the December 2012 Regional Design Annual issue of Print magazine, http://www.printmag.com/.