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Method Foaming Hand Wash

Moire

Fresh work by PART OF ME:

"The packaging design for Moiré were created from the world of the moiré effect phenom - a visual perception that occurs when viewing a set of lines or dots that is superimposed on another set of lines or dots."

Speedo LZR Packaging

Designed by Portfolio Center student Jimmy Stones:

"Prior to the 2008 Bejieng Olympics Speedo launched the LZR RACER - the most revolutionary performance swimming suit ever made. In order to leverage positive news of the record breaking achievements of LZR athletes and position Speedo as the brand leader of swimming, I opted to redesign the entire LZR series. The packaging line took on a more modern look with white/silver colors and minimalist typography emphasizing the world breaking times each Speedo athlete achieved. Every package featured a world record time and story which tied back to a LZR website. On the website, users could study training schedules, review/buy product, interact on live chats with athletes, and most importantly keep track of personal LZR times in a member section."

Vera Wang Retail Packaging

Monahan & Rhee has recently designed the identity and packaging for Vera Wang's first retail store in Soho, NY. More photos of this stunning packaging after the jump.

Upcycling Packaging: A New Business Concept

   

By Ted Mininni

Entrepreneurialism is alive and well in America. Just ask Tom Szaky, the founder of TerraCycle.

His big idea: a commercialized liquid plant food made from biological waste—or as Szaky calls it “worm poop”, in reused soda bottles from school recycling programs, after making donations for them. Cleaning the bottles, slapping homey labels on them, and fitting them with trigger sprays other manufacturers couldn’t use, or didn’t want, enabled Szaky to finally bring his product to market.   

In a recent Brand Packaging article dubbed: “Spinning Garbage into Gold”, Szaky shares some terrific ideas that ought to inspire a new generation of business owners.

Szaky dropped out of Princeton and worked at the new business for three years until finally securing some retail distribution, thanks to Wal-Mart and The Home Depot. He hasn’t looked back. His philosophy: constantly finding ways to develop consumer products and consumer product packaging from consumer waste. Even better: refusing to price his green products at the high end of the spectrum, as some of his competitors are. “Since we’re not doing it, we’re gaining a lot”, Szaky is quoted as saying. 

TerraCycle now enjoys distribution as a staple in thousands of retail lawn and garden departments, adding products like deer repellant and compost bins to their original plant food product. According to the Brand Packaging article, the company is now developing consumer products in many categories: household cleaners, reusable totes, office products, and even Christmas ornaments.  

On the packaging front, a Stonyfield Farm challenge to TerraCycle to find an alternative use for the company’s polypropylene yogurt cups (since they aren’t recycled much), yielded the invention of planting pots, with Stonyfield funding the entire collection program, thank you very much.  

When Honest Tea began funding TerraCycle to reuse its used drink pouches, Kraft’s Capri Sun and Kool Aid brands likewise, joined the effort. Net result? Recycled drink pouches manufactured into accessories now being sold at Target. As Szaky pointed out, for brands like Capri Sun, his reuse of their packaging solves a major problem since their packaging isn’t recyclable, and would end up in landfills. 

High volume consumer brands: Balance Bar, Clif Bar, South Beach diet bars, Chips Ahoy and Oreos have subsequently come aboard. What TerraCycle is doing isn’t recycling in the classic sense. The company refers to its reuse of packaging as “upcycling”. Definition: ‘creative use of the shape and characteristics of existing packaging instead of crushing, mulching, melting it down or reforming it’. 

Szaky loves what he refers to as his “Sponsored Waste” initiative. “You get paid for your raw materials and then you’re paid for your finished product.” While TerraCycle still sponsors collection programs in schools and churches, the company sees Sponsored Waste as its future. Apparently there’s money in collecting and repurposing packaging for new products: TerraCycle has posted a 300% growth rate for the past four years. 

Questions:

• What other kinds of consumer products would you like to see made from recycled waste and repurposed packaging?
• Do you think more businesses will emerge based on the TerraCycle model?
• Do you think we can eventually eliminate most of our garbage by thinking in these terms?

I’d love to hear from you. Please comment after the jump.

Lunar Vine

 

Death By Colour’s design for Lunar Vine caught my attention with its stained glass ornaments and strong colour palett, which certainly lives up to the name of the studio. After some trouble identifying the vinery, I learned that the wine packaging was not a real product at all. It’s what kept Micheal Lonergan busy when the projects at work weren’t piling up on his desk. If you happen to have some time to burn, with the economy the way it is, consider following Michael's example. Design something extraordinary, to keep yourself occupied, inspired and to keep your portfolio fresh. Here’s Michael’s description of the project:

 “Lunar Vine was born from trudging through Tesco's wine isles every Friday night with my girlfriend. I had always loved wine label designs  such as Blossom Hill and many others. But none of them really jumped out at me from the shelves. I think a wine bottle should say a lot about what it is. The fruitiness and flavours that are inside etc. But most of the wine labels out there are bland and play it safe with abstract landscapes or animals from where the wine originates. So I decided to address that with Lunar Vine, with the vivid Colours used, I think it would stand a better chance of being purchased than some of the more established wine brands out there. The name Lunar Vine was inspired by the use of sunlight in the production of wine. And how at night on a full moon they are still getting that small bit of sunlight from the moon - hence Lunar Vine."

Before & After: Shredded Wheat

 

(Photos © Davis Design)

Davis Design was recently hired to revitalize the Shredded Wheat Cereal line – which had become inconsistent, cluttered and non-descript. Shelf impact was minimal, and the brand looked dated and generic.

The new design is bright and fresh and really hero's the product. It looks contemporary, but the type still feels crafted and authentic. I love how all the elements align, even on packaging of different sizes. Very nice. The new line now creates serious shelf impact.

According to Davis Design:

"Minimizing on-pack communication points instantly focuses attention to the brand, product name and flavor variety. Refined typefaces and simplified images ensure easier recognition and selection on shelf. Retaining previously established variety colors ensures that packaging remains recognizable to traditional purchasers, but appears contemporary enough to attract new consumers."

Organic Drop

Mogo Company markets the only polish line of ecological cleaning detergents called Organic Drop. It’s a full range of cleaning products that are completely organic, hypoallergenic and serve the same functions as any other traditional household product. Brandy Design from Warsaw designed the packaging for the whole line. In the centre of each design there is an Organic Drop logo. The background of the label is comprised of the name of the product repeated in different sizes. Thanks to the simple typographic layout on a white background, combined with the white material used for the packaging, the overall design alludes to immaculate cleanliness.  All of the packaging in this line is 100% recyclable and do not contain any toxic substances. The typographic design also allowed the use of simple printing techniques to minimize the cost of producing the packaging.