Last year there were still a few design agencies and food photographers present. Unfortunately, this 4th edition of the Packaging Innovations Event in Zaandam has become more and more a representation of the printing industry. Of course it’s always nice to meet colleagues in the profession to speak with, but you can barely still call it ‘the most innovative and inspirational packaging event’. Next year, a new opportunity?
See more at: www.easyfairs.com
The countdown to the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil has started, so merchandising and marketing campaigns are running overtime already. Zwanenberg Food Group asked Stepfive to create an original packaging design for their ‘soccer snacks’ in The Netherlands and to support the Dutch soccer team in Brazil. And so we did. The result: a carton stadium which can be used as a blow soccer board game! First take out the plate with the delicious snacks of course. Then cut out the goals with scissors. When this is done, the stadium is almost ready to use. Just take two straws, a little ball and let the games begin!
Wondering how far you can push your packaging design to the limit? Designer Ewan Yap presents his ”Big Brand Theory” on Behance with some major and iconic brands (think Heineken, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull etc.). His beautiful work is an experiment in brand aesthetics, and also informs us on the cropability of logos in terms of image cropability.
Check out the cropability of a brand (or the guts to leave things out).
Have we given up on changing consumer behavior around package material recycling? Or, are there tools that we can use to ‘move the needle forward.’ Earth911 thinks change is possible.
Read more at Packaging World
An inspiring and interesting brand new book by Dutch publisher BIS Publishers out this month about ‘the essence of retail branding and design’.
”Retail mirrors society and as society is constantly changing, retail has to be able to anticipate these changes in order to maintain its right of existence. In short; act, react or suffer! This book covers all the facets of retail branding, holistic formula development and the essential one-to-one relationship with your customers.” -> Buy at BIS Publishers or view large and read at ISSUU
The iF product design award was introduced in 1954. Each year the iF award attracts more than 2000 entries from 37 countries, which are then judged by experts in the respective fields. This Product and Material yearbook features the best in international product design, focusing on newly developed materials and the innovative use of existing materials.
”The primary role of packaging is protection, whether that be primary packaging to reduce oxidation, moisture change or insect/microbial access or transportation packaging to reduce crushing or other damage in distribution. It is more than coincidental that packaging usage per person is higher in the developed world and food availability is much greater. The benefits of (diverse) packaging are obvious to us but less so in many developing countries. Both use and quality of packaging is important to reduce food loss and impact sales.”
Read more on packaging design and food loss at Packaging Digest.
A niche topic, a clear defined target group, a sharp program content, up to 80 stand units, a low entry fee et voilá, the ingredients that’ll make ‘Foodpacking Event 2013’ into a special event. The exhibition will take place on October 9 and 10 (Wednesday and Thursday) and will be held in ‘High Five’ in the ‘Jaarbeurscomplex’ in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
This event has been given the subtitle: High knowledge event on packaging in the food industry.
Read more here (Dutch).
According to Unilever’s top manager in Europe Jan Zijderveld, ”Poverty is returning to Europe”. Unilever, best known for popular brands like Knorr instant soups, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Lipton teas and many more, will cut package sizes due to the Euro crisis and still earn decent money. ”We know how to do it, but in the European boom years prior to the crisis we forgot.”
Read more in The International Spiegel.
Starting points in this packaging design for a Dutch women’s fragrance were elegance and prestige, combined with a natural look & feel. This led to a series of bottles in different shapes, with different caps in a wooden look.
