Eye on Packaging
Exploring the latest in packaging design. Insights on marketing and branding, along with photos of exceptional packages from around the world.
Counterfeit drugs - bad things in "good" packages
Counterfeiting seems to be the theme for today. Just as I was posting the recent story about Philip Morris suing over counterfeit cigarettes I came across a very interesting speech on counterfeit drugs. It was given by Roger Bate, to the Harvard Medical School, Department of Population Medicine, Drug Policy Research Group. Counterfeiting is, of course, a matter of great interest to everyone ...... Read More
Comments (0)Sweet! Nice design work
Here’s a nice collection of packaging design compiled by graphic designer Stu Greenham. Nice variety of things, good pics. Indeed, Greenham has great taste — definitely worth checking his blog, Design Woop. ...... Read More
Comments (1)Stylish and sustainable syringe packaging
When it comes to packaging design, it’s natural for most people to be attracted more to the glamorous, visually striking consumer categories - fragrance, food & beverage etc. For that reason, when someone does something really compelling in a more functional sector it’s all the more impressive and noteworthy. Here’s a great example of just that kind of breakthrough. It ...... Read More
Comments (0)Attitudes toward sustainability
Interesting video interview of Steve Kelsey, from London based pi global. He talks about the three different types of attitudes companies generally fall into regarding sustainability. Take a look: ...... Read More
Comments (0)Whisky from 1909 Shackleton expedition discovered
According to a recent news story from the U.K., explorers have found cases of whisky left on Antarctica during the 1909 exploration of the continent by Ernest Shackleton. In that early 20th Century expedition, Shackleton and his team braved the largely unexplored continent to venture closer to the South Pole than any one ever had. For this achievement, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII. A ...... Read More
Comments (2)Anheuser-Busch builds beer-can house for Superbowl ad
Anheuser-Busch will feature a house — and everything in it — that are built out of more than 14,000 aluminum beer cans in a Superbowl ad entitled “House.” Personally, I love the beer can chair and grandfather clock … although I have to say that papering the entire house in beer-can wallpaper is pretty sweet too. Fun stuff. There’s a guy who’s truly ...... Read More
Comments (1)Bubblewrap's golden day
In all the excitement over the 75th anniversary of the beer can, I alllllmost missed the birthday of another important icon of packaging — bubble wrap! Yep — that stuff we love to twist, poke, jump on and occasionally even use as void fill is celebrating the big half-century mark this Monday, January 25. To commemorate the occasion, the inventors of bubble wrap, Sealed Air has all k ...... Read More
Comments (2)Energy transfusion -- literally!
Ha! What can you say about an energy beverage called “Blood” - and packaged in its own transfusion bag? Tongue-in-cheek fun in a very appropriate aesthetic. Not sure how this works out in a cup holder though! Get it at UrbanCollector.com ...... Read More
Comments (2)Long live the beer can? Yes!
This month’s story on the 75th birthday of the beer can is particularly interesting to me - I like beer, packaging, and history, so what could be a more natural combination. Like many older Generation X-ers, I collected beer cans in the 1970s, when the fad swept the country and sent millions of kids scouring the bushes for gleaming hulks of bygone eras. And as is the case with so many other ...... Read More
Comments (1)Design for enormous Neil Young boxed set gets Grammy nomination
-Gary Burden’s design of the Neil Young Archives, Volume 1 has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package category. Kinda’ funny though that super hippy Neil Young would consent to a package that appears to use about 20 pounds of material to package an artform that’s more often digitally downloaded these days. Okay — I was jus ...... Read More
Comments (8)Divided nation unites around new Color of the Year
- After some four decades of violence, members of the World Turquoise Federation (WTF) finally put down their brightly-hued assault rifles as Pantone announced this morning that Turquoise is the Color of the Year for 2010. Pantone — the Global Authority on Color — announced Turquoise as the winner, in a press release saying “Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invig ...... Read More
Comments (2)Packaging design: What's the hook?
- In popular music, one of the most vital concepts is the idea of the “hook” — that clever, unforgettable little idea that locks the creation into your mind and keeps it there until you can’t stand it anymore. It’s the calliope intro to Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown,” the guitar riff to Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean,” o ...... Read More
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