Dutch Packaging Design

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).

Until recently, direct bottle printing was really only an option for glass bottles. But that’s changing. Today, there are a number of options for direct printing bottles, both glass and plastic. Yet another step forward in sustainable packaging design techniques.

Read more on the next wave of bottle and container decorating here.

At Dutch website Groene Offerte you’ll find loads of interesting packaging design related articles, opinions and other stuff (all in Dutch). Especially the serie ‘Food for Thought’ gives entertaining and remarkable examples of packaging design in all its aspects, good or bad.
Groene Offerte is established for the complete design industry. The site is set up to grow: more and more contacts, knowledge and new insights. In this way Groene Offerte wants to help and encourage the design industry with their key role of this industry in the sustainable development of society and economy.

Food for Thought at Groene Offerte (all in Dutch).

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

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).

In De Etende Mens (Food Culture: Eating by Design) Premsela explores how design can enable us to make the changes to our food chain that are necessary to ensure a healthy future. Mediamatic’s High Density Aquaponics Edifice and the Diesel Kantine (a collaboration with João Negro) are featured in the exhibition.
The exhibition De Etende Mens showcases work by designers who concern themselves with the relationship between design, food, and (the origins of) what we eat. Curated by Marije Vogelzang, the works on display map people’s complex relationship with food and make visitors aware of how our food is produced.
Throughout the year, Premsela offers educational activities in connection with the Designhuis exhibitions for students in Dutch secondary and higher education. De Etende Mens is on view until January 6, 2013 at the Designhuis in Eindhoven. The exhibition is open from Tuesday till Sunday, from 11.00-18.00. Entrance fee is 5,-. Go to the Designhuis website for more information.

A recent study by Accenture, ComScore and Dunnhumby USA shows the importance of an attractive webshop in relation to actual purchases in-store. Shoppers who visit websites for consumer packaged goods brands before setting foot in a store spend up to 37% more on those brands in-store than those who didn’t come to these websites. Web visitors also returned to the store more often to buy the brand: 3.2 buying occasions per month against 2.3 for non-visitors. Site visitors also spent more per month in the product category of a brand whose site they’ve gone to.
Read the complete study here.
More on (online) shopping and packaging design here.

An entirely new brand called ‘Via Organica’ launched a complete new range of organic pet food. Focus of Via Organica is primarily on the Dutch retail channel and secondly the Bio-supermarkets. Stepfive created a new packaging design with a fresh and modern illustrative look. There are several strong color variations for each different categorie and every one of them has its own typical illustration. For now Via Organica only involves organic chicken food, the next step will be food for all kind of pets.

Again a wonderfull asset for our bookshelf, “packed” with inspiration: THE ART OF PACKAGE DESIGN. A recent assembly of international designers is creating highly outstanding and savvy designs to complement the nature and function of a product. Editor Wendy Xu included the Atelier LaDurance Japanese Denim packaging in the publication that is about innovative packaging designs that functions beyond ‘simply product wrappers’. A creative treasure published by Gingko Press: www.gingkopress.com

At this years CES 2011, Fulton Innovation makes the power of wireless energy visible. The video above shows light up wireless animated cereal boxes powered by inductive coupling technology. The idea is to have wireless power available in everything, from tabletops to grocery aisles to parking garages.
A pretty cool innovation and an excellent way to push packaging design to the max.