Do we like portion control, matt varnish, foil substrates, recyclable packaging, reseal, you decide.
The same can be said of design, there are only so many colours and fonts and caricatures that any industry can come up with, we just recycle what feels fresh for the here and now. There are of course the occasional pieces of work so good that it steps out of the boundaries are per my previous blog Twinkle twinkle little STR but by the by companies will follow trends within the marketplace. Below I have grouped some of the current trends I see. You decide if they are as good as the Heineken bottle or not.
Bold and crazy
Every industry and subsequent shelf is packed full of competition, so being bold and unashamedly crass or should I say refined crass seems a new tact deployed by many a marketer, get your consumers attention and laws of average say that at least 1 in 10 people who pick up will purchase. Bold and crazy usually takes place by the 3rd ranked product within a sector who are prepared to take a risk.
Art meets Caricature
Long ago when Quentin Blake was illustrating many a Roald Dahl book little did we know that this would no longer be a rarity and caricatures would come marching into mainstream design. With the success of cartoons such as the Rugrats, Peppa Pig and Horrid Henry every other design seems to have bouncy disfigured characters that have no real relevance to us the consumer. It pains me when marketers and agencies sprawl randomness over designs with no real purpose.
It's all in the typeface
In my opinion these are only a small step up from 'Art meets caricature', although imagine a micro step, a step so small that you would probably trip on it, but by definition a step none the less. The reason for this step up is that they have explored the use of the font and they don't look Mac based but whilst trying to keep the design fresh and simplified they've left me wanting more, very lazy work.
When designing a new product some of the first questions should be
what is my substrate?
how does this form the pack?
what strengths can it play?
below is two perfect executions.... funny how great design instantly creates a range of products that work.
Soup du jour
Following on from the two wonderful designs above the guys at Pencil have taken it to another level. This design is 3 colours, product becomes your variant and all incorporated in a style that is brilliant in application and quirkiness. total understanding of your product and the sector...done and dusted next brief please.
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