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The molded pulp cartons are not only recyclable
and reusable, they hold the best packaging
design of all.
Egg Carton
Joseph Coyle (invented 1911)
Loved this packaging design as a child, well before I knew the profession
existed. Milton Glaser’s Baby Teeth typography, illustration by Seymour
Chwast, and perhaps the first black packaging in the food category. A design
that used space and color brilliantly. Although it broke convention in the ‘60s,
it would be equally effective today.
Screaming Yellow Zonkers
Milton Glaser/Seymour Chwast
This 1970 Roger Ferriter packaging design, created when he was working for Herb
Lubalin, revolutionized how women perceived pantyhose. The word mark designed by
both Ferriter and Tom Carnase epitomized outstanding type design. The possibilities for
the packaging design’s afterlife contribute to its significance in the annals of design.
FUN FACT: On the morning of Ferriter’s presentation to Hanes for a new low-cost pantyhose
launch, he compressed a pair of pantyhose in his fist and noticed that the package could be an
egg. Just as quickly, he realized that “egg” rhymes with “leg” and by adding the popular mid-
century marketing boost of giving a product name some French-sounding twist, he incorporated the
“l”(french for “the” when followed by a vowel such as the “e” of eggs) and arrived at L’eggs.²
L’eggs Pantyhose Egg
Roger Ferriter
Another clean, simple design that hits the mark.
Germanium
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Great brands communicate visually and not verbally.
And those that speak most eloquently speak with
simplicity. They strip away all the nonessential
elements. They pare their choices down to a precious
few, but as a result, every one of these choices has
to work that much harder and in concert with each
other to make simple into effective. That’s what
impressed me when I first saw CK One. It was, to my
recollection, the first true dual-gender fragrance.
Prior to this brand, it was thought impossible for
a product as hyper-personalized as a fragrance to
appeal to both men and women. This brand identity
succeeds because it did not talk to the consumer, it
talked to the experience and allowed the consumer
to either accept or reject its authenticity. This brand
stands for something. This package reflects that. And
that’s enough.
CK one
Calvin Klein (In-house)
To my mind, this is the brand that made bottled water a multi–billion dollar business. Sure, other
water brands are older or larger, but none have been more effective at elevating one of the most
ubiquitous things on the planet to true prestige brand-badge status. People who buy Evian are not
buying water. They are buying status. And only design can make this happen.
Evian
Tridimage
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C’mon, I challenge you. Try to think of a better package.It owns a
color. It links that color to its proprietary and universal name. It owns
a shape. It’s simple. In fact, it requires no logo, no words, no imagery
at all, and still it tells a compelling story. The package unmistakably
signals the product inside. It could hold nothing else. It could be
nothing else. The package engages all the senses with its tactile,
visual, and fragrance cues. Even if you were shopping in the dark,
you could easily find this product. It’s easy to open. It’s 100 percent
organic and biodegrades faster than any other package substrate.
It goes to prove that God is a really, really great designer. But He
also leaves traces of his handiwork everywhere to inspire us. Own a
color and a shape. Simplify your message. Engage all the senses. Be
responsible to the earth. Be courageous.
Orange
Mother Nature
Who has a Microsoft emblem permanently inked on their bodies?
Where are the Oreo tattoos? Only this brand—and its iconic badge-
and-bar emblem—codify its loyal brand enthusiasts into a tribe. You
probably know that Tribe Harley is not all head-bangers. There are
more than a few Fortune 500 CEOs and responsible clergy members
who can think of nothing more liberating than donning their Harley-
branded black leathers and proudly riding their hogs. Are there better,
cheaper bikes? Most definitely. Are there other bike loyalists? Sure.
But none with the feverish loyalty of Tribe Harley.
Like many brands, this one has strayed a bit in its history. I recently
counted more than a dozen Harley logos. But I understand that current
management is committed to reining this growing beast back to its
core essence. In building a great brand, you have to be a very specific
something to a very specific somebody. All too often, big CPG brands
seek to be everything to everyone and as a result, they end up with
the concept that the greatest number of people hate the least. This is
the kiss of death to great branding. In being something to someone,
you can’t be afraid of pissing someone else off! Harley embraces that
rule—and its loyalists reward the brand for it.
Harley-Davidson Motorcycles
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Having been an Apple loyalist since there were flying
toasters—anybody remember them?—I could not wait to
get my iBook home so I could open the box. I was already
impressed with the outer carton, which had immediately
engaged me at the point of sale and motivated me to
buy the product, knowing full well that I was paying a
premium to other brands with better features. Again,
true to all other Apple products, I anticipated how the
product and all its components would sit flush to the
surface inside zero-tolerance, precision die-cut wells.
I anticipated the completely intuitive way things were
organized inside, encouraging me to immediately begin
exploring. What I did not anticipate was what makes this
my favorite package: I opened the carton and was greeted
by the fragrance of fresh-picked fruit! The original iBook
package had a small sachet of fragrance perceptually
coded to the product color—in my case, tangerine. By
fully engaging all the senses, the iBook has earned its
place as my all-time favorite package and reconfirmed
Apple as my all-time favorite brand.
Macintosh iBook
Jonathan Ive
As mentioned, it’s much easier to be creative with a tiny specialty brand than a global
category leader. Just look at how many specialty brands are highlighted in this book!
Although huge, monolithic, category-leading, billion-dollar brands may move more slowly,
their identities are often most creative. In fact, I’d argue that it takes much more creativity
to effect a change in brand perception when you are working with deeply engrained brand
recognition and tightly defined parameters. Heinz has done just that.
Like Coke, Heinz has a heritage that stretches for well more than 100 years. The white
keystone label shape with the all-capitalized Heinz logo in its arched top area has been a
consistent carrying device all these many years. Amplifying its heritage, Heinz has never
been dusty or retro or kitsch. It has always remained tried and true to both itself and its
consumers. And once trust is built, it then gives the latitude to explore. Several years ago,
Heinz began adding whimsical phrases like “Caution, Slow-Moving Condiment,” literally
making a negative brand experience into a celebration! Great brand identities are at
the same time reassuringly familiar (visual shorthand for our grab-and-go culture) and
refreshingly engaging. Balancing these two extremes is where the creativity comes in.
Heinz Ketchup
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I woke up alone from a voodoo nightmare in an old
and assuredly haunted New Orleans hotel room at
3 AM—probably because of the rich and deliciously
fried food I had consumed (it could not have been
those SoCo Hurricanes!).
I was sick to my stomach and desperately thirsty.
Seeking a cool drink, I ran the tap. The water went
from tepid to downright warm and smelled of sulfur.
There was only one thing that would settle my sour
stomach and my jangled nerves, and I had to have it.
Out into the humid after-hours I went looking for a
vending machine. I was immediately swept into the
sweaty sensuality of Bourbon Street, where every
manner of beverage awaited. I wanted only one
thing.
I was pushed into a tiny bar and asked the bouncer.
He pointed me to a red coffi n cooler (remember
those?) at the very back of the room. I opened it and
was immediately embraced by a refreshing fog. And
there, in a bed of cracked ice, was the last green-
tinted, red-capped, contoured bottle. Ahhhhh.
Coke’s identity is almost undeniably the most
powerful in all global branding. Surely there is no
magic in the color red or the Spencerian script or
the voluptuously curved bottle shape. Admittedly,
there are other colas that taste better. What makes
Coke a great brand is simply the fact that this
product and its iconic identity have for so long stood
the test of time while remaining ever relevant.
Great design like this is memorable, transferable,
and—with proper care—virtually immortal. Believe
me, if I had opened that cooler and found a Pepsi,
I probably would have drunk it, but I would never
have remembered the story.
Coca-Cola Classic Bottle
Earl R. Dean
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