Bite™ Produce Bags

With the ever-growing need to be environmentally conscious, there has been a huge move to make a change in our lives wherever possible to help do our part. One way people are doing this is by using reusable grocery bags. Here is a way to take that even one step further! Although we may be saying "neither" to the question "paper or plastic?", we are forgetting all the individual plastic bags we use for our produce. {Bite™} has come up with a solution, designing these amazing reusable produce bags. Here is a little fact off of their website that is more than convincing that this is a great idea: "500 billion (1 million every minute) plastic bags are used each year and are contributing to the endangerment of our environment." SOLD! They even have a drawstring to eliminate the need for twist-ties. These bags are machine washable, durable, lightweight, and made in the USA.

Dieline Finds

Here are some of my recent favorite package designs found on {The Dieline}. The hanger tea bags are so cleaver and I love that {Method} came out with laundry detergent! Can you believe that all you need is 4 pumps for 1 load and you don't have to deal with large bottles, messy caps, or heavy boxes of powder detergent!

Creative Concepts and Clever Packaging

Here are some pretty creative concepts and packaging found on {Packaging | UQAM}. I am unable to translate the descriptions, or else I would have included them - but I think they are pretty self explanatory.

Quite amusing if you ask me...

I found this a while back and have since been thinking about whether or not it would be a good idea to post. Ideally I should probably stay away from anything that can be seen as inappropriate (condoms) or offensive (brutal leaders), but then again that just isn't me. So {here} it is, I found this to be extremely amusing and hope you will too! If only their parents had used protection...

Faves from {The Die Line}

BEFORE AND AFTERS

RECENT DIE LINE PICKS
These are just a few of my favorite package designs found on {The Die Line}, a great blog/resource for anyone interested in a variety of package design. I have included the before and afters / re-branding that I though were pretty effective and well executed, as well as some overall well-design products and packaging. Seems as though I have been thinking along the same lines as {Pattern of Life} lately...

Diesel - "Only the Brave"

A clever packaging solution for Diesel men's fragrance - Only The Brave. It is named after Diesel founder Renzo Rosso’s "Only the Brave" charitable foundation, and the bottle is modeled on Rosso’s fist

Passing Notes

{Passing Notes} was started by Abbie, a designer who embraces the thrill of the first folded note. Her intimate design boutique has a personal approach to design - design that touches the heart. She feels that as the ways of communication get more and more distant, we crave things that connect us in a small way, hence "passing notes". She speaks to those who appreciate the value and beauty in the imperfect, inconspicuous, and overlooked details in life.

This is one of her wedding designs with a golf theme. All components were so well thought out and tied together beautifully - through color, theme, pattern, design, style, materials, texture, etc. Love the favors being golf ball soaps! My favorite part is the departure from traditional monogram designs and the creation of one that worked so well with the whole system and did not just look like it was added on in the end like so many wedding invitations do.

In terms of branding, packaging, signage, and many other elements that went into designing the look and feel for {Sketch Ice Cream}, this one takes the cake. Once again, a very well thought out design that carries out beautifully in all the different forms of products, packaging and marketing collateral. Sketch celebrates our interpretation of ice cream – slow churned and undisguised by colors, additives, artificial flavors, stabilizers or extracts other than pure vanilla in every bite.

Lastly, I also wanted to point out the design done for {Lola Home}. A very clean and simple solution that speaks well to the brand and line of products. Lola creates a beautiful balance between luxurious furnishings coupled with rustic charm - which i believe is represented well, especially in the signage for the store exterior.

Beautiful work from {Passing Notes}!

A Green Lifestyle

In honor of Earth Day, which really should be everyday, I thought I would post some of my favorite re-usable and recycled products that help us do our part to save the environment. It is up to us to get ourselves out of this mess we have created around our planet. When there are patches of plastic the size of Texas in our oceans, when dead fish are cut open only to find lighters and trash in their stomachs, when birds are being wrapped up in plastic and dying - it is all a rude awakening - or at least it SHOULD be for us all.

From top to bottom:

(1) I love this idea of having re-usable storage bags for fruits, veggies and herbs. Cloth bags like these keep produce fresh for much longer than plastic grocery bags and are obviously better for the environment. These were made by {WonderThunder} - a great idea and a beautiful design!

(2) Re-usable/washable sandwich and snack bags - I don't know why I never though of this before! Such fun colors and designs, who wouldn't want one!? The Lunch Skins set is by {3 Green Moms} - they carry other great products and fantastic prices! They also carry the wonderful cornstarch spoons called Popcorn Ware, which is actually the kind of utensils at the take-out section of Whole Foods (man, I wish we had one in San Luis Obispo).

(3) {Bamboo re-usable utensils}! Perfect for children's lunchboxes or taking lunch to work :) I have to get myself a set of these!

(4) Re-usable {hot drink cozies} - take it along with you to your favorite coffee shop instead of using and throwing away their cardboard ones each time. They come in many great designs and colors too!

(5) {Bottle cap thumb tacks} make an easy, but fun craft project and a great way to re-use your favorite bottle caps!

(6) These great re-usable stainless steel food containers are a great way to reduce waste. They are available at {Go Green in Stages}.

(7) Last, but not least, this is a great DIY project for all ages! These fun night lights by {Mariposa Avenue} are made out of recycled soup cans! With a coat of paint and a drill, look at what you can create!

Allison Newhouse ~ Cruet & Whisk

This fun identity system was designed by {Allison Newhouse}. Allison is a designer for {Duffy & Partners}, a design firm that I have previously posted work from. Great work. I love the way this identity/brand carries through on the different promotional items and packaging for Cruet & Whisk.

Pisco Reservado Packaging

Though Pisco might not sound like the most tastey drink...it is apparently the traditional drink in Chile. The reason I posted this, however, is not for the contents of the bottle but for the packaging itself. I think it is very well done. Nice use of typography and graphic elements that carry onto the design of the box that the bottles come in. This was designed by Edward Pearson from {GRAFIKART}

Thymes ~ Gorgeous Packaging

Although I already talked about {Duffy & Partners}, one of their projects was my absolute favorite and I felt it deserved a more detailed post of its own! The work that Duffy & Partners did for {Thymes} is the most beautiful set of cohesive packaging I have seen in a while. With a large line of products, each piece is design with extra care and attention to detail that is specific to that product. One of the parts that stuck out to me the most was even the bar soap was imprinted with the design of that particular set. Great work!

Duffy & Partners

Designing to make a difference, {Duffy & Partners} is proud that their creativity and creativity in general is being welcomed in millions of homes around the world. They explain that design has never been so appreciated, as it is today. The world we are currently living in, has been presenting consumers with many more choices than at any previous time in history. Design has the great ability to inform smart decisions - helping us find our way through what would otherwise become clutter. Duffy & Partners, in my opinion, has perfected branding, design, corporate identity, and packaging. Their work has the ability to carry a brand through many different platforms. This strategic thinking is what makes them so successful. I chose some of the ones that stuck out to me the most, as well as some of the logos I particularly liked, but be sure to check out their site for much more of their work.

Christian Lacroix Evian Bottles

These {Christian Lacroix Evian Snowflake Bottles} are a great idea to have on tables at a wedding reception! They are much more elegant than the average plastic water bottle. Though many just go with a simple pitcher, this could make for a nice alternative.

Pistacia Vera / Dean & Deluca

Considering the fact that my very extensive package design project during my last year of college was for a boutique bakery of my dreams, when I saw a post about this bakery, {Pistacia Vera}, on {Paper&Inkling}'s blog - I was immediately drawn to it. The packaging soooo beautifully done and so elegant - but that is not all - the building from the outside, the interior design, the dessert displays, the way coffee/desserts are served - everything is down to an art and a gorgeous one at that. Although Ohio might be a bit far for me to travel to go to a pretty bakery (which I am sure serves delicious sweets as well), but this is just what I think all bakeries should be like.

Pistacia Vera - in a way - reminded me a lot of {Dean&Deluca}, another boutique bakery and also market, that carries out wonderful design from their packaging, displays, store decor - interior/exterior design - their website...not so much :(.

Paper&Inkling - Tastefully Inspired Days

Again, another shop I stumbled upon on Etsy :) Seriously the absolute best thing that ever happened to the worked of handmade art and design! This work is by {Asako Sprague}, a graphic designers, originally from Tokyo, Japan - but is now living in the Mid-West. Her inspiration comes from everything she loves - being in nature, hiking & camping, flower arranging, cooking, baking, window shopping, browsing books at Borders, being in the country, vintage/antique shopping, gardening, etc. She designs, prints, and packages all of her stationary herself.

Check out her {blog} for more of her work and work that inspires her.

Studio Ten and a Half

I have a true love for package design and these two pieces I saw in the portfolio of {Studio Ten and a Half} really spoke to me. They are an independent graphic design firm, based in London. Whether they are working on large projects or small, they are dedicated to producing unique yet effective solutions. They work on brand identities, editorial design, exhibitions, corporate literature, signage, packaging and websites. Studio Ten and a Half was founded by Charlotte Bolton and Jessie Earle in 2007. They met while working at London's {Pentagram}, moved on
to to work at other agencies, then moved back to London to start their own company.

I love the crisp, clean, and simplistic design of the {Heidi Klein from England} packaging with the beautiful touch of tissue paper with a subtle design. It is cohesive yet adds a slight touch
of something to break up the two-color solution. This solution represents a store that values
high quality.

The second set of packaging is the identity for {1860}, a tailored range of suits by Greenwoods Menswear. I loved that they incorporated the traditional chalk markings of tailors, which was intended to put an emphasis on the heritage of the company. The identity was then applied
to their packaging, promo pieces, and the annual brochure. I find this solution to be very
elegant with a bit of a personal and traditional, yet somewhat contemporary feel due to the
chalk markings.