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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."

Studio Spotlight: Feedback

More beautiful wine packaging, this time coming from Feedback, a Spanish design and marketing firm. Several more after the jump.

Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Safe

New work from Raison Pure Design Group for Viktor&Rolf:

"R’Pure’s Viktor&Rolf safe project was awarded the gold lion for packaging design at the Cannes International Advertising Festival (France) in the cosmetic & beauty category.

The project’s main objective was to enrich the provocative universe of Viktor & Rolf by driving the concept of secrecy to the extreme with a metal safe featuring a sophisticated lock."

The Path to Innovation

In the world of structural innovation it is far easier to talk about innovating than it is to actually innovate. Large CPG companies are recognizing the need for structural packaging innovation but face many road blocks to actually implement it. The primary issue may very well be that their manufacturing assets are also their liabilities.  

The Need for Innovation

In today’s day and age, consumers expect more from their brands and product offerings. People’s lives are faster-paced and they need solutions to fit their lifestyles. Since consumers are increasingly faced with overload from more than 55,000 brands on shelf, compared to just 15,000 brands in 1991, companies are going to great lengths to vie for attention, provide brand value and create a competitive point of difference. Marketers are awakening to the potential for packaging to play a role in the marketing mix, beyond containment and display. Packaging has the ability to engage all of the senses due to its aesthetic, tangible and functional nature. For many products, packaging can be a lasting brand ambassador throughout the product’s use and create desirable and memorable brand experiences. Companies are now exploring how packaging can create new usage occasions and/or drive new product formulations.  

The Barriers to Innovation

Although there is the need and desire to innovate, many obstacles exist which may restrict success. One is the fact that structural innovation is not often done and most companies have limited or no experience with it. For many, their packaging is a common package form utilizing common equipment.  

Consequently, marketers are often challenged to innovate within unrealistic budgets and timelines. The realities of packaging equipment procurement, setup and qualification timelines are often not anticipated. It is expensive and time consuming to set up an efficient packaging line; sometimes this is much more extensive than product production equipment. It requires more factory space and more equipment so as to be able to form, fill, seal and pack. Unfortunately, many initiatives still place the emphasis and priority on product innovation, relegating the package options to off-the-shelf solutions or no solution at all. Adding to the complexity is the short tenure of brand marketers. It is often difficult or impossible to attain success when project leadership is constantly changing and/or short timelines are dictated by the need for success within ones’ term. These established tenures may work for product innovation but they don’t always work for packaging innovation. There is also lack of accurate predictors for packaging return on investment (ROI), making it difficult for companies to justify costs to upper management. New packaging is often implemented along with other marketing strategies making it difficult to measure its impact in isolation. Furthermore, forecast modeling based on use testing is often inaccurate as consumers may have no or limited context for evaluation. Often, long term packaging benefits aren’t understood and the deeper emotional connections aren’t manifested within the limited duration of a use test. Test markets may be the best way to predict ROI, but can only happen with manufactured products. Test markets can be time consuming, costly and are often not pursued out of fear of prematurely sharing your idea with the competition.  

Picked in June Olive Oil

Lovely work from Watts Design, Melbourne, Australia. Designed by Peter Watts.

"Watts Design, Melbourne, Australia is brand specialist creating packaging for all types of products. This example is a new brand, Picked in June, created for the boutique olive oil market that has exploded in Australia. The photography is from the actual property in Central Victoria, Australia. We thought it unique to convey the feeling of winter surrounds rather than focus on the olive grove."

Studio Spotlight: Ballester/Milia

  

A huge selection of beautiful wine packaging by Ballester/Milia, a Argentina based design firm known as the wine branders. Many more after the jump!

Branding With Color: Does it Work?

I really like the approach of crafting a brand around color. Especially in a stripped-down way, with simple, bold and modern typography, like Chocolat Factory's packaging (designed by ruiz+company of Barcelona, Spain).

There is one catch, though. Built into this super-simple, stripped down approach is its primary flaw: it can be too simple to 'own'. This popular look, if applied without enough of a differentiating element that is unique to the brand, can be generic. Color blocking is a great solution for differentiating chocolate bar flavors, but something else has to be going on to create an 'ownable' design.

Below are some examples of chocolate brands that are predominantly using color + spare typography in their packaging. I think some of them rely too heavily on color and don't make their packaging distinctive enough from other chocolate brands, while others are doing better job. Can you tell the difference between brands well enough? Are the differences memorable enough so you'll know where to go back for your next chocolate fix? You be the judge!

King of Pop

Concept sent in by Dieline reader and Los Angeles based artist. It is not meant to profit from or to exploit, but to honor an icon. He hopes that through The Dieline, his idea can be shared with Pepsi:

"I am excited to share this idea with the folks at Pepsi as either an art piece to compliment their vast collection within the Pepsico headquarters or as a limited edition run of cans leading up to Michael Jackson's funeral. Not as a money making idea but as a way of expressing the power of icons and the art of a big idea."