Packaging Digest

It may be hard to believe, but the early days of personal computers are old enough to be “vintage.” Okay, maybe one wouldn’t apply that specific term to a 1980 Apple computer, or an old dot-matrix printer. But the fact remains that the artifacts of that formative period are approaching three decades old.

And like any era, packaging is one of the best indicators of styles, priorities, and technology. One of the most entertaining to look at too.

With that in mind, here’s an awesome history of PC game packaging. Enjoy!

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I stumbled into these really cool packaging templates from Italian designers. Many of them are very unusual shapes -- they’d be great for personal projects or as inspiration for pro designers looking to get away from the standard rectangular box.

The site offers these templates as EPS files that you can download for free. (yep, there’s that magic word … “free!”) The company also offers vector packs that include EPSs of many more package designs (as well as other interesting things). You have to pay for those, and the prices are in Euros. But they look like they might be worth a look.

As for downloading them, after you&r...Read More

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With the long Labor Day weekend approaching here in the States, there are almost certainly going to be many opportunities to partake in extensive testing of beverage packaging … most notably, our friend the classic crown-cap beer bottle. 

But as a vital part of the international packaging community, you can’t just drink a beer the same way the rest of the schmoes at the party do. You’ve got a reputation! You’re supposed to know all the nuances and important details of packaging … including beer packaging. 

Especially beer packaging. 

With that in mind, here are some great tricks to impress your friends as you conduct your exhaustive “research” sessions during the holidaze. 

How Aussie Girls Open a Beer Bottle

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Okay, so it looks a lot like Pac Man ... exactly like Pac Man as a matter of fact. And it doesn’t really even have much to do with packaging once you get beyond the intro.

But hey, Dogwood Alliance's Packaging Man should at least get some credit for making an effort at an entertaining way of informing the world about the need for recycling and sustainable packaging.

And just like the original Pac Man, Dogwood’s game is superb at evaporating loads of time that might otherwise go toward distasteful activities like phone calls, TPS reports, and emails from The Man.

Dogwood Alliance

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Packaging in a blender – Will It Blend? Those of you who love watching online videos have almost certainly come across the ongoing YouTube series Will It Blend? put out by Blendtec blenders. In the show, company founder, Tom Dickson, stuffs things into a blender to show off his product line.

Not surprisingly, the process generally makes lots of awful noises, smoke, horrible mixtures, and sometimes even some sparks and fire. I’ve noticed a few of the things he grinds up in his blender are packages. And thus we have the perfect segue for end-of-the-week time wasters in my blog. Check these enjoyable little gems out: 

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The city of Brisbane, Australia has found a clever way to make a point about the waste and litter created by packaging. For their annual Riverfestival this year, they’re building a huge art exhibit … created entirely from discarded packaging pulled from the Brisbane River.

According to the Riverfestival website, an average of 350 plastic bags and 700 plastic bottles are cleared from the Brisbane River each and every week. Some of that will be transformed into the cities’ art exhibit, called “Out of the River...imagine.” Here’s what Riverfestival site says the display will include:

"Across Brisbane's skyline, plastic bags will be transformed into 350 kites flying from the Goodwill Bridge and throughout the Cultural Forecourt at South Bank … Visitors to South Bank will notice spectacular costumes...Read More

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This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Mason jar. Quite a long time. And yet it’s hard to believe that these common food preserving devices aren’t even older. Seems like they’ve been around forever.

It’s also easy to take for granted the Mason jar’s role in packaging. Before you could routinely pluck fruits or vegetables off the grocer’s shelf any old time, these heavy glass containers were the only way many people could be assured of having such niceties all year round.

So take a moment and pay homage to this wonderful piece of packaging. First, take a look at the beautiful colors and textures in the first jar of this video:
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It's amazing how just a little twist - no pun intended - can take an existing product and totally change it around. Here's one that came across my desk. A very clever little addition to the everday pop can makes it resealable.

And it even has room for branding and advertising messages! Clever indeed.

Check out the video below, or go to the company's website for info.

 

 

 

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Okay, here's one of the most brilliant packaging ideas I've seen in a long time. David Gardener's lamp packaging actually becomes the lamp itself, leaving no packaging to throw away. In the process, it has the look of a traditional houselamp sort of cast in stone. 

After purchasing the product, one would take the few simple components, assemble them into the packaging material, and voila -- a lamp. It's very cool. Makes one really think about that notion of "the packaging is the product."

According to online design magazine Dezeen, Gardener presented the piece at ...Read More

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We talk a lot around here about sustainable packaging, and for good reason. It’s an issue that affects everyone, both inside and outside of the packaging world.

One of the better resources on the web for those interested in the topic is Inside Sustainable Packaging by Salazar Packaging. There are plenty of good resources on the web that talk about this key subject, but Salazar’s perspective is unique – they actually sell packaging.

Now, that might make you immediately suspect that the blog’s comments would be hopelessly skewed – after all, they’re in the biz of peddling packaging, regardless of how “green” their products may or may not be.

But in reading through it, I’ve found the company’s ...Read More

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In any profession, knowledge truly is power … and money, and freedom, and all the other nice things that generally come with it. And for that reason, my post today looks at a valuable educational resource in our profession, the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP).

Among IoPP’s many roles, one of its most important is to provide education for packaging professionals. To that end, the institute offers a number of concentrated programs, serving a wide range of experience levels.

Best of all, they’re accessible. The courses are offered in prime locations throughout the country. And there are also web seminars and available in-house training.

I recently had a cha...Read More

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Apparently the ubiquitous Pringles can has reached such an exalted state of critical mass in popular culture that it's the subject of not just one, but a whole library of YouTube videos. Sample these important cultural artifacts:

Miniature People Spring From Pringles Can – Interesting concept. But where did they find people that small? And how did they get all the Pringles dust off of them???  :-)

Music With a Pringles Can – He isn’t quite Taylor Hawkins or Stewart Copeland, but not bad.
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