Creating identity in the most challenging environment for communicating: the point of purchase.

Targeting Solutions

Who We Are

Szylinski Associates is a design firm specializing in brand and package design, focused on crafting compelling identities in the most critical communication space: the point of purchase. In collaboration with our marketing strategy partners, we deliver integrated solutions that include research, strategic analysis, brand management, product development, and naming. From concept to presentation to development to final art, our goal is to provide design excellence and unmatched service at every stage. Established by Ed Szylinski in 1989, the company is composed of talented, creative designers who blend analytical precision with intuitive insight to create impactful, results-driven solutions.

Ed Szylinski

Visual Insights

Before founding Szylinski Associates, Ed Szylinski honed his expertise as a designer and manager with several renowned design firms and corporations, including Gerstman+Meyers, Inc., Clairol, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. His work spanned a diverse range of industries, creating designs for brands as varied as soup and cologne. In 1989, Ed established Szylinski Associates, driven by an organic, service-oriented design methodology that evolves to meet the unique needs of each client. With a balance of intuitive creativity and analytical precision, the firm fosters a collaborative environment where individual talents and strengths thrive. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Ed has developed award-winning designs for major brands such as Lipton, Ralston Purina, and Kodak*, as well as creating design systems for a wide array of industries, from an industrial cleaning service to a life insurance company.

Methodology

Exploration

This concept development phase for Canoe Cologne showcases the range of ideas our process can produce. Our objective was to refresh the brand rather than completely reinvent it. Our methodology starts with a team of skilled individuals, combining research, analysis and open idea exchange. Our analytical and intuitive approach seeks to increase and expand parameters rather than impose a rigidly structured problem solving process on a design challenge. From pre-design research to final design presentation, we focus on goals and how we can achieve them from traditional and not so traditional perspectives. We look at the past, the present and the future, often reconciling contradictory requirements, to uncover innovative solutions. The creative process is more than a problem solving process for us and experimenting can be a key factor in achieving designs that are both unique and appropriate for the brand.

Blue Sky Award

Innovative Thinking

To support our own philosophy, we established at Carnegie Mellon University a $2,750 award to recognize a junior undergraduate student in communication design who demonstrates thinking ‘outside the box’ in the solution of a design problem. The award acknowledges that often the most innovative solutions arise from ideas or concepts that are unexpected, unusual or even downright crazy and recognizes the courage and unique perspectives required to propose such a solution, even if it doesn’t always prove successful. The awardees:

Stellar Clients

Relationships

Our client list features a diverse range of international companies, each with unique needs and challenges. One particularly noteworthy project involved a client who required us to incorporate product information in three languages across many of their products. This added complexity was met with our team's expertise in multilingual design, ensuring seamless integration and consistency in every detail.

Synergy Between Partners

A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Employees, Partners, and Clients

A profound thank you to all the talented people we have been lucky enough to connect with on our long history that literally enabled us to survive and flourish. To Sal Sabaj who connected us to Nelson Rosado, a production genius with a state-of-the-art facility, whom we thank for turning our prototypes into works of art, our designs into printable art and helping us segue into the computer age and connecting us with American Home Products that led to Reckitt and Coleman and ultimately to Johnson & Johnson and to Joe Gregory, whom we thank for beginning a decades-long relationship and who connected us to the talented and creative illustrator Stephen Shirack. Thank you, Stephen, for exquisite images. To Frank Castaldi our first employee and perhaps the most talented designer anyone could hope to have. To Rita Caliendo, our second employee who could not have been more valuable and who connected us to our third employee, Jillian Mazzacano. Jillian, your creative vision and intuitive understanding of client objectives became a driving force behind our success, we thank you. To Heidi Christensen, a key associate and wonderful designer with an incredible range of skills. To Nazneen Qazi, proofreader extraordinaire, so helpful in our early years. To Joe Lombardo, Roderick Cruz, Alex Pennington, Bob Cruanas, Diana King and Camille Maravegias for the brilliant designs they contributed to our legacy. To Ken Goldner whose expert technical advice saved us from disaster many times when our computers (or their operators) created a roadblock to meeting deadlines and for connecting us to David O'Neil and Brandi Parker. Thank you, David and Brandi, for your unique and superb contributions. To Ellen Lubell with her public relations skills and for connecting us to Wendy Weiss. Thank you, Wendy, for connecting us to countless companies with your marketing acumen. To Faith Tomases (connected to us by Camille) for her way with words and to Alan Klein for his marketing knowledge. To Ellen Lieberman and Alan Benasaraf at Brenner Photo for our portfolio photography. A thank you to First Pioneer Properties, our landlord at 115 West 23rd Street for helping us settle into our first really nice space. And finally, to our clients, whose trust and confidence in us have been the foundation of our journey—and in particular, Revlon, Unilever, Ralph Ferrante’s Global Brands, and Bayer Healthcare who helped us cultivate long-lasting relationships that continue to inspire us.

Contacts

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Creating identity in the most challenging environment for communicating: the point of purchase.

Targeting Solutions

Who We Are

Ed Szylinski

Visual Insights

Methodology

Exploration

Blue Sky Award

Innovative Thinking

Rachel Chang

Hayoun Choi

Katherine Frazer

Hannah Ho

Jennie Lee

Hannah Lesser

Michael Loffredo

Joe Mallonee

Kai Okorodudu

Jasmin Palermo

Aurora Parlagreco

Christopher Reyes