TheDieline.com

Before & After: FTD Shippers

Before:

After:

 

Designed by Chicago based Optima Soulsight:

"Faced with growing competition, FTD needed to revitalize its floral business. Optima Soulsight sought to bring freshness to the historic brand. After delivering flowers for a century, the iconic FTD Mercury Man is a well-liked and recognizable figure. By leveraging the icon’s global awareness, the team developed an identity that was compelling, credible and immediately familiar.

Drawing from FTD’s strong black and gold equity, Optima Soulsight introduced black as a primary color element on the package. The emphasis on black — an unusual choice for a flower company — created a simple and striking backdrop for FTD’s richly colorful floral arrangements. Each delivery now has a feeling of luxury.

We also revived the Mercury Man by reversing out the logo, making his known silhouette bolder and more dynamic. Instead of using a traditional corrugated brown cardboard box to house the flowers, Optima Soulsight transformed the outside of the shipper into a beautifully designed gift experience. The beautiful shipper also became an eye-catching advertisement – the ideal place to bring the brand icon to life. We then created a unique floral pattern for the inside of the box and the bouquet wrap. The box was lined with gold organza and the Mercury Man made another appearance on the delicate gift cards and floral care booklet — creating a holistic premium experience."

Student Spotlight: GrowYourOwn

 

Adam Paterson and Santi Tonsukha from the Royal College of Art Industrial Design Engineering created “GrowYourOwn” packaging for fruit and vegetable seeds for novice gardeners:

"Using user centric research and the natural properties of 100% recyclable corrugated cardboard, they created new packaging that was simple, clear, sustainable and approachable. The project won ‘In-Book’ award for the D&AD Student Awards 2009. A single piece of 100% recycled corrugated cardboard is the package.

Research showed that users didn’t use all the seeds in a pack at once. The new packaging is easily re-sealable. Insights also suggested that an allotment grower generally doesn’t want to grow/eat a large number of crops of the same variety. The new packaging can hold a variety of seeds, separately, in one pack, utilizing the corrugated structure of the cardboard as natural dividers.

With previous seed packaging, distributing the seeds evenly from the pack was very hard. By using the corrugated structure the seeds are held in thin rows, which are the perfect ‘v’ shape to allow them to be
very easily and controllably shaken out.

It can be tedious and boring laying out rows of seeds whilst trying to maintain equal spacing. The new measuring tape style, which the DIY savvy customer can easily relate, makes it much quicker and easier.
The tape, with its embedded seeds, has 10 cm markers on it, making it easy to simply pull out the desired length, tear it off and lay it in the ground.

The packaging for bulbs is reminiscent of brown paper sacks, creating a mental link with what the consumer is used to seeing/buying the fully-grown vegetable in.

The natural matte colour and aesthetic of the cardboard creates visual differentiation from the other packages that present too much information and can be overwhelming and intimidating as a result."

Tison Incense

 

When you can visually explain a product's purpose without words, you've got a solid concept for packaging. The burned-looking edges of Tison incense packaging clearly explain the product's function - to burn as incense. I discovered this concept for Tison incense from the portfolio of Quebec student, Louis Beaudoin. He is a recent graduate of UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal). Incidentally, the students at UQAM are putting out some pretty solid work in packaging. Sylvain Allard, who is professor of graphic design at UQAM, runs a great blog that often features his own student's work in packaging. Worth a look: packaging | UQAM

 

Fire Design

Fire Design, a french company, makes unique, artfully designed fire extinguishers. Roughly translated from their site:

"Innovative concept and unique in Europe, the Fire design is a security apparatus that enables you to combat any outbreak of fire and protect domestic and your family best.

A fire of any kind is very quickly the extent and can turn into fire, so the Fire design must become an inescapable subject of your decoration. Coupled with a smoke detector, you can ensure the safety of your loved ones. Depending on your wishes, it will melt in your decoration or captivate all eyes.

More than a fire extinguisher, Fire design also offers a range of guarantees and new services in the world of fire safety in particular."

More images after the jump.

Studio Spotlight: Hattomonkey

   

A wonderful selection of work sent in by Hattomonkey, a Russian design firm. More after the jump!

Jonathan Adler Salt & Pepper Shakers

Adorable packaging for Jonathan Adler's new salt and pepper shakers. Each box is inspired by the shape of the products. See the fish and penguin shakers after the jump.

via print & pattern

Kingdom Animalia

enormouschampion launched in May of 2008:

"We are based in Brooklyn, NY.  We're a husband and wife team (Jason and Jordan, respectively). The concept of the line was created by us, together, but the animals themselves along with the designs of the Animalia boxes were drawn and designed by Jason. The animals and their packaging were all made in the USA.  The boxes are made of recycled cardboard, and offset printed. One element of the design system is that there are a few facts about the real life animal on the box. 

There are 15 different animals in this collection. They are made of sustainably harvested wood and are solid maple. The finishes on the animals (including the paint, stain, and beeswax sealer) are all non-toxic and very low/no VOC. All of the finishes are also made in the USA. They were laser cut and hand finished. The animals retail for $80.

They are meant to be decoration for a nursery, bookshelf, and the like.  They are not, however, toys for children."

More images of their beautful Kingdom Animalia line after the jump.

Designer Spotlight: Candice Leick

Beautiful work designed by the talented Candice Leick while working at Duffy & Partners. All projects are here were done during her tenure at Duffy:

"Hi, I’m Candice Leick, a Minneapolis-based graphic designer. Previously, as a member of the Duffy & Partners design team, I was responsible for a number of packaging, brand identity and interior design initiatives. My client list includes American Eagle, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Susan G. Komen, Whole Foods Market, Thymes, and many others. In 2004 I graduated from the Minneapolis College or Art & Design where I spent a year in the school’s DesignWorks studio. My work has been recognized by several organizations and publications including: The Art Directors Club, The Type Directors Club, OneClub, AIGA, Communication Arts, and Print Magazine. This gun’s for hire. I'd love to hear from you."

16 more images from her portfolio at Duffy after the jump!