Botanical Bakery

I found this lovely packaging on a blog. It caught my eye because of the bright and cheerful colours, and the hand-drawn/cut type. It is nice to see packaging for this type of product moving toward a more hand made and low-fi style of design.

The overall feeling is that these products are very friendly, maybe even good for you! The personal feel is a great link to the consumer, and will keep a customer returning again and again.

Botanical Bakery

Colour Mixer...

I came across this really helpful website via the Lovely Package Blog.
It creates colour schemes from a wheel and will find similar colours, and then those that contrast, compliment etc. It generates the codes for each colours, and allows you to adjust the contrast you want between the colours generated. This kind of application will come in really handy when creating suitable and well balanced colour schemes

Colour Scheme Designer 3

ABC...

This is a gorgeous piece; an ABC of brand logos...very smart, simple (practically already done for you!) and I wish I'd thought of it first! Designed by Jason Dean and available for $50 a print.






Either the U or V is missing...

Lovely Logos...

I have found a new website to worship;
This is a blog about logos and logo design - quite interesting for use graphics geeks.
I found a really interesting post from last october that looks at the negative space used within logos. The majority are really interesting, and use simple but very clever techniques to create an amazingly effective logo. Here are a few of my favourites:


The shape created by the leg and arm is in the shape of Australia. Subtle but so effective.


This incorporates two very different items and makes it into one complete symbol.


I like the present here, very simple


I like this because it incorporates image and text to create a symbol


This is a bit weird and looks squashed at first glance, then the cleverness becomes clear.


This is one I've seen before and this is SO clever. Until someone pointed it out, I'd never noticed it before. Well done FedEx, well done.


I've seen this logo dozens of times - we always seem to be buying yet more beer and wine in France! I feel a little ashamed to say that I had never noticed the C shape! it only dawned on me when I saw it in the greyscale; usually it is red and blue, which I think probably prevents you from seeing the C. I like it, and now have a lot more appreciation for it!

Pantone Potatoes...

Clearly this is a design that every designer, printer etc will appreciate, I do however see a flaw. There is no indication of the flavour; the blue and green - Salt & Vinegar and Cheese & Onion or vice versa? The brown- Worcester sauce? Beef & Onion? Steak? I like them, but packaging needs to be clear and informative, which this certainly isn't.



From Thoughtful

(Someone guessed salsa for the red, and cucumber for the green...had they eaten crisps before?)

Writing on the wall...

This stuff is amazing...I seriously wish my house was painted in this stuff because it would a) be so much fun and b) so easy to design at anytime. This is Idea Paint -
"IdeaPaint is a single-coat, roller-applied paint that can turn any “paintable” surface into a dry-erase surface. Essentially, IdeaPaint can create a whiteboard environment wherever your ideas might take form (walls, columns, doors, refrigerators, bathrooms, etc.)—but it’s less than half the cost of a traditional whiteboard and better performing. IdeaPaint is also the most environmentally friendly dry-erase product on the market, with limited packaging, transport and materials required."




The packaging is also rather good - simple and to the point. The graphic elements in the logo represent exactly what this product is about. Generally pretty bloody good! The only down side is it costs $175 for 50 square feet...which seems like quite a lot. Never mind, a girl can dream right!?

A cup is more than just a cup...

There is not much like a Red Starbucks Cup in November to make you feel just a little bit festive, and just a little like christmas is taking over the world. I purchased my first Red Cup beverage of the season today, and in all honesty I did feel cheered. It made me think just how much a colour can affect you're mood and attitude toward a product. Normally a cup is just a cup, whether its from Starbucks, Costa or that random coffee place you get your morning caffeine fix from, cup; but in some instances a cup is much more than a cup; just as packaging is so much more than a wrapper. The packaging can make or break a product, it is your first impression and as well all know, first impressions count! The exterior is the bench mark for everything held within. You expect a product with basic colours, information and imagery to be a basic product. Something that is more dressed up and decorative is usually A) more expensive and B) a better product, possibly the best product.

I have recently come to realise that perceptions and first impressions are important, or at least more important than I used to think. I have been working on several briefs that all require interaction with the consumer on a very close level; the designs they see will give an impression of what the product will be like whether I as the designer want it to or not. We as consumers have come to expect just as much from the packaging as from the product itself. As a designer I realise that the work I produce gives a first impression about me; who I am, what I like, whether I'm good at what I do...I put a lot of trust in myself to choose briefs that will showcase my abilities and enhance my attributes. I am not sure whether I trust myself that much. It is hard to accept that in a few months time I will no longer be a student. I won't have the security of someone telling me when they think I'm doing it wrong for my own benefit. The real world is going to be a bloody scary place when I'm done with uni, I just hope that I am up to the challenge.