Brewer's Dictionaries

 

I have always seen book cover design as the ultimate package and I think the Brewer's Dictionaries redesign from Next Big Thing is a great example. 

They have really treated the book cover as a full package, using every available side to create a 3D world that mirrors the content of the books. You get an idea of the depth, history and richness of the product itself, and I think it really engages you to pick the book up and delve into its contents. I think they did a great job of making something that could seem dull and flat into what a dictionary should be; a generous, quirky assortment of curiosities that has something for everyone. 

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Bodkin Invitation

Roanne Adams designed this unusual invitation for Bodkin by Eviana Hartman.

About the invitation: "Bodkin is a woman's clothing collection designed by Eviana Hartman in accordance with the principles of sustainability.

The Bodkin Autumn/Winter '09 invitation influences ranged from the designer's ideologies to the context of the presentation as well as architect, Buckminster Fuller. The invitation arrived in the form of a tetrahedron containing an air plant with care instructions.

One of Bodkin's green principals is to work within existing spaces and with found materials. Therefore we held the fashion presentation and photo shoot simultaneously at the Horticultural Society of New York. The invite and look book were printed locally with 100% post-consumer recycled paper and eco-friendly inks."

More views after the jump.

(photo credit: Tina Tyrell, via FPO)

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Student Spotlight: Kikkoman

  

New work designed and sent in by Jon Patterson, a student at the Academy of Art:

"This is a concept involving Kikkoman. The project was to design a high-priced line of products for a low-price company. With Kikkoman chosen, the line was a conceptual brand of "fusion" soy sauces, supposed to be edgy in their own form. The bottle is representative of the sauce shape in each bottle and since the sauces were dark, there was no need to show the actual product, since none were noticeably different from each other. Keeping with the image of Kikkoman, the logo was used as a spot uv around the bottle to contrast the matte and gloss/ as well as create a grip on the base. The corks on the top are unique in that they "float" in the bottle, giving a new dynamic to how corks function in bottles."

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Unique Japanese Barcodes

 

Some very cool japanese barcodes, designed by japanese firm d-barcode, who specialize in designing these unique barcodes. Many more after the jump!

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Student Spotlight: Birth Control Stamps

  

David McGillivray, a student at at Brighton University, sends in one of his latest projects:

"The project is a non commercial brief that I completed recently at university. The brief was to create a special commemorative stamp collection for 2010. As the end of the decade will mark 50 years of the female oral contraceptive in the UK, I chose this as the focus for the stamps. The collection emulates a packet of contraceptive pills themselves with the dosage guidance forming part of the stamp graphics. The idea was to create something humorous but also something unusual that would intrigue people."

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Burgopak

Burgopak has been awarded Design Company of the Year at the prestigious 2009 UK Packaging Awards. Competing against leading companies in the packaging and design sector, the prize was awarded by a panel of top independent judges.  

Burgopak has been expanding and developing their design services, working with a variety of leading brands to present and differentiate their products in ways that are efficient, cost-effective and, above all, creative. Burgopak’s innovative packaging solutions utilise a wide range of patented sliding mechanisms and bespoke structural designs.  

Design & Packaging Managing Director Kieron Tarling, who collected the award commented, "It was a fantastic evening and a great achievement being named Design Company of the Year. This is a true testament to the creativity and dedication of our global team of designers."

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Veev

"VeeV is the World’s First Acai Spirit. Its goal is to change the way consumers think about cocktails and in the end, the way cocktails are ultimately consumed. Acai, the exotic Brazilian berry taking the world by storm, is said to be one of the healthiest fruits on the planet. VeeV is a wheat based spirit infused with Acai that includes the flavors of prickly pear and acerola cherry."

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Ecolean Packaging

 

Ecolean is a new packaging alternative dubbed as "A Lighter Approach to Packaging". 

"Lightweight packaging is our answer to the demands of the liquid food industry and consumers asking for modern and clever packages. By using a minimal amount of raw material we create a lightweight package which combines low environmental impact with consumer convenience. Saving resources is saving the environment. That is why lightweight packaging has become a heavyweight argument.

The unique, pitcher-looking design has a generous face for consumer communication. It has a perfect surface for really high-quality print. Colours and sharpness will do justice to any communicative intention and will certainly draw the attention of a fast moving consumer. 

Saving resources is no longer just a matter of looking at the waste end of a package life cycle. Equally important are the resources used at its beginning. 

Ecolean uses less raw material from the start. Our packaging material is made from a thin plastic film, part plastic (PE and PP) and part chalk (40% by weight), one of nature’s own material. That adds up to a truly lightweight package that takes less energy to produce. 

Low waste volumes also save considerable resources in the waste handling process. Light and thin as the packaging is, you will find resource-saving arguments for it throughout the whole product life cycle."

Ecolean products are currently sold in over 30 countries around the world, not yet here in the United States, but lets hope it makes its way here soon.

More images of Ecolean after the jump.

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