Favourite Packaging Round Up

As per usual I like to look at some of my favourite packaging designs that have materialised over the last couple of weeks. The first is the new Ikea food packaging. Nothing flashy here but it carries on the theme of plain and simple but still quality. I can confirm that the crab paste is quite nice but we all liked the moose head shaped pasta which is so much more interesting than boring spirals or bows.

When it comes to sustainable or recycled packaging, this has to be one of my favourites at the moment. Ajiri Tea is a Kenyan black tea which is handpicked by small farms in Western Kenya. The word Ajiri in Swahilli means "to employ". Each of the boxes has a handmade label made from dried bark from banana trees and these are also made by Kenyan women.

Even the cellophane bag inside is decorated with twine made from dried banana bark and beads made from recycled magazines. Also the box itself is made from 100% recycled stock. Not only is it a great design but the company donates 100% of its net profits to the Ajiri Foundation which are used to pay for school fees for orphans. Shame a lot more companies do not do the same!

I have included the next one not because its a good design but because of a television programme I saw recently. There was a special edition of Panorama last week which looked at sports energy drinks which are basically no good at all and have no extra benefits. One particular brand called Powerade which is owned by Coca Cola tried to get around this issue by bringing out a no sugar variety. The problem with that is, how can it still be classed as a sport drink with no sugar in it? But they still claim that it is a great way to stay hydrated which is of course like good old water straight from the tap. So it made me smile when I saw that Pepsi have now brought out Pepsi Kick as a new energy cola with no sugar but extra caffeine. Again, it's not really an energy drink and in fact contains too many other additives to be treated as nothing more than an unhealthy alternative to water.

Briefly, a concept design for a Californian wine which is based around the phrase, looking at the world through rose tinted glasses......

Kaleidoscope who are based in Yorkshire recently designed the new packaging for Jaali Bean. A range of curry sauces and kits which have a great rich colour palette to them as well as a thoughtful type treatment. I also like the jar itself as it makes is so much easier to spoon the product out instead of having to bang the bottom of the jar trying to get the sauce to fall out. Plus it makes it more cost effective as you would tend to not use it all in one serving. I also like how it still has that traditional Indian style but also there is a hint of the latest designs for Waitrose, which have a similar treatment on their tinned vegetables.

Design Myths

Whilst scouring through the Design Week site this week I noticed another interesting article from John Spencer who is the Creative Director of Spencer du Bois.

Myth: The logo is dead

Every now and again someone has a go at inventing something that makes no sense at all - like ‘brand worlds’ without logos. The logo has evolved over millennia into the magical thing it is today. And it’ll keep on evolving. The logo is the pinnacle of the designer’s art. Long live the logo.

Myth: ‘A brand is a promise wrapped in an experience…’

Most definitions of brand are incomprehensible, pretentious or just plain daft. Here’s another one, ‘Brand is not a product; it is the product’s source, its meaning and its direction, and it defines its identity in time and space’. Hmm. Brand is forever being ‘re-defined’ but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s anything you want it to be, and that no one in the real world really cares.

 Myth: Young designers have all the best ideas

Doing something creative, people are inclined to think, needs the freshness and exuberance of youth. But it would seem there are two types of creativity – conceptual and experimental. Some designers, the conceptual ones, do their best work early in their careers while others, the experimental ones, develop over time. So good ideas have nothing to do with age. And that’s that.

Myth: There are ‘creative types’ and there’s everyone else

The latest scientific research has shattered the myth of ‘creative types’ once and for all. It turns out that creativity isn’t a ‘gift’ that only some of us have but a catch-all word for an assortment of distinct thought processes that everyone can learn to use better. Apparently it all starts with a fluttering of neurons in the prefrontal cortex. Blimey.

Myth: Brainstorming works

Brainstorming, or ‘thought showering’ if you’re the sensitive type, was invented in the 1940s by Alex Osborn, founder of BBDO. It’s become the most popular creativity technique of all time. There’s just one problem. It doesn’t work. Decades of research have shown again and again that brainstorming groups come up with far fewer ideas than people who work alone and pool their thoughts later. So brainstorm this idea; work alone.  

Myth: Research wins over instinct

Henry Ford said, ‘If I asked my customers what they want, they simply would have said a faster horse.’ Design is bedevilled by people who allow market research to make their decisions for them. I always tell clients, if you really want to be out of the ordinary, be brave. Trust your instinct - it’s usually right.

Fact: Good design is honest

Dieter Rams defined good design by saying, ‘It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.’ He also said, ‘Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and meaningful.’

Tea or Coffee?

Its an easy choice for me. Tea at home and coffee when we go out. I have tried before to recreate a perfect cappuccino at home but never quite mastered it. I can get the right temperature and the correct consistency of froth or creme but I have never managed to get the right coffee beans yet. I have even bought ones form Starbucks and Costa but still it doesn't taste the same. So I end up spending a lot of time in Costa Coffee mainly which serves my favourite coffee.

But it isn't just a case of going to your favourite branded coffee house and expecting the same every time. I wish this was true but it is mainly dependant on the barista preparing your coffee that counts. Because a cup of coffee these days is quite expensive, you want it to be right. Just think how many times you have had a bad pint in a pub and asked for a replacement. Costa might be my favourite but I tend to go to the same branch because I very rarely get a bad coffee.

To relate this experience to design, I have always liked the Costa logo with the middle 'S' symbolising the steam emanating from a hot cup of coffee. It is a familiar comforting brand for me and is one of the few that I would like to remain the same. Recently, Slice Design, has designed some new packaging for  Costa which will be seen in supermarkets as well as their own stores. Thankfully they have stuck to the core brand guidelines and retained the logo and colour scheme. The director at Slice says that Costa is so well known and has such a recognisable set of equities you don't need to over complicate it.

Also featured on the pack is going to be a set of helpful guidelines on how to recreate the Costa coffee experience at home. I think in the next few days the coffee machine is going to be released from the confines of the cupboard and a bit of experimenting will be taking place. Although not too much as I do want to be able to sleep at night.

State Of Play This Week

Well you know the common phrase that says 'it will all work out in the end'? Well I hope that comes true soon because as per usual the best laid plans fall at the last hurdle. At the moment I should be in the capital city working for Dew Gibbons but instead I am on childcare duties. Where my wife works has recently been taken over by an American company and they have decided in their ill informed wisdom to change too much too quick as per usual. In short, the plans we had made for Karen to be at home whilst I was in London have not worked out as she was informed that no more holiday requests would be honoured for the next couple of months whilst they were re-organising the business. So all that hard work I put in with applying for placements and trying to network my way through has failed.

Don't get me wrong, I do love our daughter to bits but it alters your life in ways that you don't at first imagine. The annoying fact is that all the companies that I want to get experience from are all based in London and not only is the childcare aspect difficult but also from a financial perspective it is becoming less likely that I will ever get there.

Someone did say to me a few months ago that as someone who is a lot older than the usual graduates that you will find it near impossible to get your foot in the door. I'm one of those people that if told I can't do something it makes me even more determined to prove people wrong but lately it has got me thinking. There have been several other agencies that I have had interviews at and I thought that a placement was on the cards but then I find out through the joys of social media that someone else has beaten me to it on several occasions. Again, this isn't a case of sour grapes or a time to criticise anyone else's work but in nearly every case, their portfolio of work was no better than mine so it must have been for another reason. Is it a case of my face doesn't fit? I may be no oil painting but I am not the elephant man either! Is it because I am too tall? Yes, there are times when I have to duck a lot more times in a day than other people! Could it be because I am too big in general? Space is always an issue in a small studio and I might take up too much room!

There are only so many times you can pick yourself up again and try even harder before it gets too laborious and frustrating but as always, after a day of beating yourself up, I am in no way ready to throw in the towel just yet. Now for the big headed, self promotional part...........I have a talent. Yes I know it's hard to believe but I genuinely think that I will make it in the end, it's just going to take me a lot longer than others.

So when I am 70 years old and on my 10th Degree course, at least I can still enter the D&AD awards!

Always Something New

Just when you think you have contacted every packaging design company in the world for a placement, you always come across another one you haven't heard of. Whilst looking at the Design Week website yesterday I came across the rebrand of the Chicken Tonight range of sauces. Not one of the most sexy brands out there but I enjoy looking at these rebrands because they still have an enormous shelf appeal to the consumer and have a strong presence in all the major supermarkets.

Path Design are based yet again on London and having looked at the designers who work there, they have a wealth of past employment in the best branding agencies. Such as JKR, Zigurrat, Design Bridge, which gives them a distinct advantage over some other design agencies. Some of their other great design work includes........

For some reason, the CV and Portfolio have already been sent off!!!

Top Ten Brands and how much they own!

Current State Of Play

Just as a quick update, here's what's going on at the moment.

I went down to Bristol last week to the Arnolfini for a talk by Pearlfisher's Karen Welman. Definitely worth the trip down there as it was another inspirational talk and also found out a bit more about the West of England Design Forum who hold quite a few regular events. Plus the area around the gallery is a great place to hang out and people watch.

This week I have to get lots and lots of designs finished for the Festival Market next Saturday which is proving a bigger task than I first realised. I have all the ideas sketched out and formalised but its one thing to create one picture but having to hand make a dozen at a time is quite time consuming but once I have worked out some basic cutting patterns it will hopefully get quicker.

I have managed to secure a couple of interviews in the next couple of weeks, both for real jobs.The first one is this Wednesday for a Graphic Designer based in Leicester. It's not that far to commute to and it would give me some much needed experience. The second job is for a Consultant Engineer position based in Birmingham. It's basically something I have done before which is dealing with audio visual equipment and working with electrical schematics to design the complete sound and visual setups.

On from that, my second placement starts at Dew Gibbons in a couple of weeks which I am looking forward to. I haven't managed to get around to designing any more packaging designs at the moment as my coastal dreams work has been taking up all my time. But, there are only so many hours in the day and I can't do everything so it's worth concentrating on getting this off the ground first and then once it gets a bit of momentum, I can look at starting my own studio then.

Right, back to the scalpel!