My jaw dropped when I got the call.?Mixhers had the chance to get a box in the hands of Olivia Rodrigo’s team during her stop in SL,UT on the Guts World Tour. I’ve got a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30. One of those is to see all my top artists in my Spotify Wrapped. Olivia secured herself a spot on that list last year when her GUTS album launched. As a creative, I admire her ability to connect and make me feel everything she sings.
The brief? Create a PR box containing 4 of Utah’s hottest brands. Mixhers, Crumbl, Swig, and HydroJug. My mind began whirring with ideas of how to make this box speak to Olivia, a former resident of Utah during the filming of HSMTMTS. This Is The Place. . .of PMSing women, sugar junkies, and big jugs??Bad copy aside, I was beginning to piece together a picture of how all that is Olivia could come together with the beauty of Utah’s arches and city skylines and the iconic brands in the box.
We had a compressed timeline and a lot of people came together to pull off this project. Here are a few honorable mentions.
7/18:?
Order hat and tank top from our local favorite, The Shirtstop
7/26:?
Got the shirt and hat in hand. Received engraved Hydrojug, Swig gift, & Crumbl gift.
7/29:?
Met Brett Brown from Wasatch Container at the gas station to pick up the box.
7/30:
Assemble box, craft handles on box last minute (with a gift bag from the basement), take photos and content.
July 31:?
Arrive at the Delta Center back entry, talk to a billion security guards, and hand off box and loads of cookies to the team.
In the end, Olivia didn’t pop up on stage in our swag, or gush on social about being welcomed to Utah with a rad box. And I’ll be honest, I spent a few days feeling a little down. When you pour yourself into something that brings life into your creativity, it’s a little hard to not get the outcome you wanted. However, I learned a few things.
1. Creativity flows when you shake things up. It’s good to throw yourself into fast-paced projects that are “off-brand” every now and again—dive in headfirst into something different.
2. Passion projects are important. It’s been a hot minute since I took the time to design something for me. While this project was technically for the team, it was so aligned with my personal design style, and obviously my love for Olivia (and her branding) that it felt like a passion project. It reinvigorated my love for design.
3. Our community is amazing. So many people dropped everything to pull this off. I created the hat design without knowing that hat was out of stock for months—literally everywhere, but Derek found ONE.?Measurements were wrong on an insert, Brett was able to help us to pivot immediately. If any one player didn’t pull their weight, we couldn’t pull this off.
At the end of the day, this was one of the most rewarding and fun projects for me personally. And I got to knock off a 30 under 30 goal. Olivia was my last show I needed to see, and SHE DELIVERED.
