News Round-up
01.02.13
A review of the news that rocked the packaging and design world in January ’13
A review of the month in passing – for those of you who were snowed in (or snowed under) this January.
Cogs of Industry
This week, the winners of the Product of the Year Awards 2013 were announced, and included items from ‘super’ brands like McCain to ‘startups’ such as Rocktails. The consumer-voted awards seek to reward manufacturers for their quality and innovation – check out the full list of winners here.
Mooo-ve over yoghurt, Müller are poised to extend their UK portfolio into butter later this year. A £17m butter plant is set to open in Shropshire and aims to produce over 45,000 tonnes of butter per annum.
Shhhh – this January everyone was talking about The Quiet Shop. Based on the insight that the world is a noisy place nowadays, the concession within Selfridges department store explores products from the likes of Heinz and Levis sans logo.
The horsemeat scandal which struck several supermarket chains earlier this month picked up some pace this week when it emerged patties from Burger King have also been found to contain traces of cheval. As a result, the fast food chain faced a ‘whopping backlash‘ from fans on Facebook and Twitter.
Commentary Corner
This month, American Airlines unveiled their new brand identity courtesy of Future Brand. The first rebrand in over 40 years, in short, it divided opinion. Whilst some praised the company for moving to a sleeker, more contemporary design, the likes of Massimo Vignelli (who designed the original logo) was less than impressed.
We celebrated the birthday of Bibendum (aka the Michelin Man) and implored you to read all about the advertising phenomenon which is still going strong 100 years later.
As design research specialists, we know how important it is to involve consumers in the innovation process. Read this case study on Tetra Pak’s Dream Cap spout to see how research can inspire structural pack innovation.
Pretty Packaging
Nivea recently underwent a global redesign courtesy of Yves Behar / fuseproject. The new design aims to strip the brand back to the basics and uses the blue tin as its primary inspiration. Ralph Gusko, Executive Board Member for Brands at Beiersdorf, explains “the new NIVEA design language was created from the ground up to offer consumers a tangible experience of our brand values before they even open the packaging. It’s pure and authentic – like the brand itself”.
This is the Big Brand Theory according to designer Ewan Yap. A sort of Name That Brand meets packaging design – see how many you can name by clicking here.
Ooh Ooh Ah Ah! is an apt name for this banana based jam, and features bold, differentiated packaging designed by Peck & Co.
A playful design from Lavierna & Cienfuego for Delhaize. Souper!
And Finally…
This week, Foster + Partners revealed that they are exploring the possibility of 3D printing on the moon. The architect firm is working alongside the European Space Agency and researching how to build four-person lunar residences using lunar soil. Read all about it here.
Cork is set to be a key trend in 2013 – something which this rather delightful packaging for Wines Of The World wholeheartedly taps into.
The roundel ‘did the rounds’ this month as 100 years of the London Underground were celebrated by 100 artists with 100 works of art. Check them out in their entirety here.
Name That Brand…
Last week we featured the brand Mondaine. This week, try this for size:
If you fancy playing the full game version of Name That Brand, click here.