10 months ago
The design concept above, by San Francisco-based Renee Walker, recently won Rethink the Food Label, a competition that asked designers to make the health info on packaged goods easier to understand. Mounted by the UC Berkeley j-school’s News21 program and Good magazine — with powerhouse jurors, including “liberal foodie intellectual” Michael Pollan and anti-sugar crusader Robert Lustig — the contest isn’t part of any official push to revamp packaging but could serve up a heaping of inspiration to the FDA, which is in the process of revising the national nutrition label. (via Infographic Of The Day: A Food Label That Actually Teaches You About Food | Co. Design)
Thanks to fuckyeahpackaging for the find.
via fuckyeahpackaging
1 year ago
It’s not exactly purposeful, but it is interesting: Here’s some shots from a retrospective of food photography currently showing in New York. This artist - Marco Ugolini - filled supermarket baskets with products and packaging from the same colour, with eye-popping results.
It resonates with us at the moment, as we’re currently doing battle with a much-loved Irish food brand with historical but unappetising links to the colour blue…
via szymon
1 year ago
Click on the picture to read a fascinating (if slightly obsessive) history of the Lego brand and their pack designs. This 1958 pack shows the Christiansen kids playing with their grandfather’s toy - while the next ten years saw a move to a Scandanavian “modern” design style that dominated both their packs and products till very recently.
via karenh
1 year ago
New Work Alert! Java Republic’s The Other Bean for Kids launched today.
1 year ago
Packs that really light up the shelf…
We’ve often talked about how successful consumer packaging is designed to act as a beacon to over-stimulated consumers from the tiny platform of a supermarket shelf.
Well, if the vision of a company called eCoupled is to be believed, that metaphor may become literal. They’ve created prototype cereal boxes that light up when placed on their proprietary powered shelf.
This company is actually in the business of finding practical applications for their wireless power technology - some of which could be quite useful - but we’re pretty sure that flashing, screeching packs would quickly evolve from appealing to annoying.
Thanks to @movingbrands for the find.
(Source: crave.cnet.co.uk)
Creative cartons: Why brand-led disruption delivers at every level
We only occassionally post about another agency’s work… but this beer brand from Landor in Sydney really resonated with our philosophy on maximising a brand’s personality in every possible communication channel.
When we created the Java Republic brand, there was no budget to do anything other than physically get the beans to the coffee houses: So we used every packaging opportunity - including the shipping carton - as a means to explain *why* their coffee was better.
With Lovells Pure Lager, Landor started with a brand personality that was strikingly different, and then expressed that distintiveness by every means possible - including a set of quirky packing-case cartons.
In a category where the consumer’s typical purchase has evolved from the six-pack to the slab, the carton has become increasingly important - and Lovell’s decision to deliberately underplay their otherwise sophisticated visual language gives them real standout in store.
The upside-down bottle is something of an acquired taste - but overall, this is a suite of superb brand communications for a brave and bold client.
1 year ago
A 2010 Highlight: Our packs for Java Republic Loose Teas featured in “Really Good Packaging” Book
Here’s another 2010 highlight - Rockport Publishing selected one of our pack designs for inclusion in their worldwide best of book: “Really Good Packaging Explained”.
If you fancy a cuppa now you’ve seen the packs - you can buy them here from Java Republic’s website.
1 year ago
Frustration-Free Packaging
Another find from the New York Times: Amazon continues to push suppliers to supply “frustration-free” packaging for their customers.
In the online world of consumer goods, packs don’t have to work as hard to catch attention as they do on a busy shelf - so it’s a natural evolution that products sold through this kind of channel can be shipped in simple, functional packs.
But for the rest of the market, the primary purpose of packaging is not to contain the goods: It’s to sell the products they carry. For certain categories, this can mean a battle with sharp tools to try and actually get at the product when you get them home!
1 year ago
A Greener Champagne Bottle
Interesting NYT article on how the Champagne industry is trying to lower the carbon footprint of their iconic bottles. (I wonder what’s the carbon footprint of a glass Coke bottle by comparison?)
It’s interesting that the Champagne producers are painting the story as an ecological one: Designing a lighter bottle shape will also cut millions off their production and shipping costs. Perhaps Champagne drinkers prefer to think they’re saving the planet, rather than adding to the bottom line at Crystal…
1 year ago
Using the power of branding to sell… carrots
This is a great find by the folks at redesign:related :
A co-operative of US carrot farmers has commissioned a brand and packaging agency to add “brand appeal” to baby carrots. The agency - Crispin Porter + Bogusky has come up with the wonderfully manic campaign: Baby Carrots: Eat’em Like Junk Food.
You can read the USA today article about the campaign here - and see the pack designs above this post.
While we can debate the merits of inflicting the hardcore branding practices of snack foods on an innocent vegetable, their plans to have the packs available in chilled vending machines has to be applauded.
What do you think?
via redesignrelated
