Calvin Klein

CASE STUDY: Maintaining the Global Luxury Brand Esthetic

At Coty I managed the production of the global launch of the Calvin Klein Man fragrance. Art direction and photography by Baron & Baron. I created guidelines for and supervised the production of magazine ads, billboards, bus wraps, in-store displays, web banners and signage. The fragrance was launched in Europe, Asia, North and South America. The challenge was to produce designs quickly for the global marketplace that stayed on brand. We had daily requests for graphics from merchants and marketing, usually with tight deadlines. Diplomacy was required when to keep all teams on brand and to meet our goals.


Calvin Klein Man Fragrance
Calvin Klein spread ad

The art directors at Baron & Baron supplied a small set of layouts for page ads. Before the campaign launched, following their spreads, we designed guidelines for a wide range of width x height proportions. After these layouts were approved by the art directors they were kept on file and ready for any sign needs in the future. This set of designs and their pre-approval sped up production tremendously and supported a consistent brand image.

Calvin Klein guidelines
Calvin Klein Man guideline

Whenever a global team needed a sign or graphic they were instructed to divide the width of their fixture by the height and find that number in the ranges on the pre-approved layouts. They would download the corresponding mechanical and were allowed to crop anywhere between the green and magenta rules for fitting. We didn’t need much for style guidelines because all layouts were pre-designed and the people in the field were only cropping. We produced signs for Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America and South America, even Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Calvin Klein billboard
Calvin Klein billboard

The billboard on the right was designed, printed and installed overnight. When you are installing in Times Square there’s no missing the deadline.

Calvin Klein collateral
Calvin Klein collateral

Counter top collateral and in-store signs for Macy’s and other retailers.