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Brain TonIQ, dubbed "the world's first organic, botanical-based, non-caffeinated think drink", has recently won the prestigious best-of-show award award by the Paperboard Packaging Council for their unique 4-pack design, even beating out entries from Apple Computer, Lord & Taylor, and Lexus. It features four cans in a row with rounded edges, giving it the illusion that the cans are sticking out at both ends.
I noticed this yesterday while grocery shopping. Penta water has redesigned their packaging, and I am not so sure it is an improvement. Sure it has a clear label and a new sleek bottle shape, but it looses its iconic purple cap and embossed logo. It seems to have lost its character. What do you think?
I was walking through my local grocery store the other day, and was struck by this packaging for Downy Simple Pleasures' new Radiance line. I just had to pick it up. The structure obviously alludes to the product usage, but it is done in an appealing way with a strong shelf impact. The color palette, and slight metallic finish, are equally appealing to the eye, in an aisle that is usually awash with bright, bold colors and messages. The structure does most of the work here, allowing the graphics to be more subtle and understated.
According to Packworld.com:
The elements of fragrance, fabric, and fashion are uniquely intertwined in a new line of “fabric enhancers”: the Downy Simple Pleasures Radiance Collection from Procter & Gamble in a PET bottle luxuriously finished with metallic color for a cosmetic appeal....
...To communicate a sense of pampered luxury for the Radiance product, P&G design managers and packaging experts worked from an existing bottle design used for the company’s Simple Pleasures fabric softener brand and evolved the container to convey a more updated, modern feel. The bottle, injection/stretch blow molded by a proprietary supplier, includes a rippling swath that encircles the body and neck, creating a silken fabric effect. Metallic bottle finishes of lavender, teal, and rose distinguish the three varieties, which are each capped with a two-piece metallic-gold, screw-on polypropylene pour-spout and dispensing cap.
Bottle decoration, applied via clear, heat-transfer labels from a proprietary supplier, includes abstract design elements resembling henna tattoo artwork that “create intrigue and invite consumers to experience the amazing breadth of scents.
Even though I am not normally a “spa” sort of guy, I was very taken with the spare, minimalist labeling for Brooklyn-based Kathleen Lewis Beauty. Starting as a DIY soap maker, local enthusiasm for her products has grown to where she now offers an extensive line of candles, beauty and skin care products.
At Gift Fair, her discreetly-labeled products were arranged on racks of aluminum trays, giving the whole enterprise a kind of pharmacological vibe. Interesting, that her stated skin-care credo is “Do no harm.” (Same as the Hippocratic Oath!)
Graphic design for these labels was done by fine artist, James Dustin.
A nice detail, that Kathleen pointed out to me: the labels wrap around from the left leaving a gap on the right—rather than wrapping, front to back. (Sorry. It doesn’t show in these pictures.)
I must be typographically-challenged. It’s only just now dawning on me that the color area of each label represents an “L” for Lewis.
(More photos, after the jump...)
Continue reading "Good Plain Packaging from Kathleen Lewis" »
This isn't about the packaging. Well, not strictly anyway. Lacto Free's packaging is not bad; simple graphic direction, making a link to the fact that although it's lactose-free, the product still comes from cows and the use of the corner of the box to add interest and dimension.
But what intrigues me is the use of the packaging in the advertising. Too many brands are made disparate and disconnected by one company doing the structural design, another the graphics, another the advertising and another the website. Sure, this worked in the days where agencies maintain their respective expertise, but those boundaries are becoming blurred now.
With packaging on shelf as arguably the first exposure to a brand, it makes sense to incorporate a cohesive brand look-and-feel across all touch points.
This packaging from Lacto Free is not only part of the advertising of the product, it is conceptually integral to the how the advertising works.
Toupie is a line of french wines from Bordeaux with very unique packaging.
SIGGs can be found on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. New styles are introduced each year with over a hundred new unique styles in 2008.
Designed and manufactured in Switzerland from a single piece of pure aluminum
These are some new designs.
A very eco friendly bottle when considering the following:
2007 headlines posted the message: Disposable plastic water
bottles are bad news. Diseases grow in them, landfills are full of
them, and people just don’t recycle them. Single use, disposable
water bottles (PET plastic) create millions of tons of unnecessary
waste each year. According to the Container Recycling Institute,
less than 15% of plastic water bottles used in the U.S. are actually
recycled. Over 100 million plastic bottles wind up in landfills
– every day- and they take up to 1,000 years each to biodegrade!
SIGG bottles are designed to be reusable and are 100 percent recyclable
at the end of their very long lives.
achingly functional cafe packaging from BvD...
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