Tag: packaging design

coffee

Coffee Packaging Favors Bold And Splashy Over Minimalistic

Ashe

As a fan of maximalism and coffee packaging, this article is a match made in heaven. I’ve been collecting coffee packages for the past few years and I’m thrilled to say visual personality is at an all time high.

If you’re looking for a dose of artistic inspiration, check out this compelling article from the (newly revived!) Fresh Cup Magazine. The author takes a look at several specialty roasters and how they’re using packaging/branding to stand out on a visual level. There are some truly gorgeous examples of coffee packaging here, particularly Couplet and Felix Roasting Co.. My retro-and-classical loving heart is a-flutter.

This approach is style meeting substance. Not only is powerful visual design a must-have for any brand that wants to stand out, minimalism has garnered a rather meager reputation over the years. Too much of specialty coffee is modeled after the wine industry in terms of exclusivity and an ‘in the know’ attitude. Many of the roasters in this article hope that a fun, splashy approach will encourage people to get into a new passion.

Do you have any favorite coffee packaging designs? I’m always on the look for more bags and boxes to add to my collection, so let me know in the comments.

coffee, industry news

The Classic Coffee Cup Gets A Clever Makeover

Ashe

The coffee cup is an iconic staple of day-to-day life. It’s also loaded with unsustainable bells and whistles that create a lot of waste every year.

Just how much waste? According to a study by The Guardian, the UK alone tosses over 2.5 billion paper coffee cups every year. Even worse, a mere one out of every four hundred cups is actually recycled. That means towering landfills, worsening air quality, and, of course, the omnipresent threat of irreversible climate change. Being presented with yearly figures like these makes sustainability conversations feel like a useless loop. It’s all a lot of positive fluff with little to actually show for it.

This redesign to the classic coffee cup has a few thoughts on the matter. Fast Company shared an interview with the creators of this Kickstarter-backed coffee cup, hearkening to Chinese takeout and origami in its lid-free and sleeve-free design. It’s easy to fold and unfold, without fear of spilling, and cuts into the dismal statistics left by wasteful coffee culture.

One of my favorite details are the lovely animal-focused prints by Alexis Kandra, chosen specifically to keep buyers mindful of the very environment they’re supporting. Now that’s mindful packaging design.

alcohol, beer

Get Buzzed On Good Art: Beer Can Appreciation Day

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Better late than never! This beer can art appreciation post cropped up last year, but it’s a whirlwind of inspiration.

If you know anything about me and this blog, it’s that I love packaging design. It’s a deceptively simple creation we easily take for granted, blending appealing colors and psychology into one…well, package. It’s not enough to just look pretty. Packaging design needs to communicate intent. It needs to stand out from the others on the shelf. It needs to have some artistic flair to make you want to show it off or even keep it around. That’s a tall order, one many breweries have risen to.

This fun list from Just Beer App shows off fifteen unique can designs and what makes them special. They go into the details behind each brewery or pub, then cross-reference how they get across their identity visually. Some local designs use environmental shorthands to show their love for a particular city or state, while others craft original characters to represent the ‘character’ of a unique brew. I’m pleasantly blown away by Noble Rey Brewing Co.: their design creates a full illustration if you stack each beer can on top of the other.

This is a great time to mention I designed a seasonal beer can this year, which I’ll be showing off here soon. In the meantime, get buzzed on some good art.