

Designed by Selim Küçükkutlu, a visual communication student from Turkey.
The concept behind this packaging is by using the "warning too hot" tapes to stress that the chilli peppers are hot stuffs.
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The concept behind this packaging is by using the "warning too hot" tapes to stress that the chilli peppers are hot stuffs.
The new logo and branding modernises the Columbine image, positioning the brand as a quality product for the mainstream market and creating brand cohesion across the range. “We wanted to communicate Columbine’s quality and stylishness while making an impact,” says Dow Design’s Creative Director Donna McCort."
“Although a trusted brand, Columbine lacked the personality needed to properly stand-out and attract the attention of younger shoppers. By giving the brand a fashionable new look, the packaging reflects the modern quality product inside and keeps Columbine right up with its competition.”
"The new Columbine logo makes a dramatic statement in today’s fashion-focused market with an artistic and contemporary arrangement of the Columbine letters in a custom-built decorative typeface. Held within a strong black circle, this creates an eye catching symbol to cut through in the competitive hosiery market, capturing the brand's unique sense of elegance and effortless beauty.
Columbine Managing Director, Alistair Thorpe, says the time is right for a rebrand. “We have essentially had the same look since 1989 and I knew a brand refresh was overdue.
“Inspired by both the pride of being ‘New Zealand Made’ and the modern designs I had seen in Europe, I wanted something that was individual but also contemporary. Knowing some of Dow Design’s work, I knew they were the company to take us there.”
Dow Design retained and reworked Columbine's traditional black and gold colours, pairing them with a style of minimal photography that features the same model across the range. Unlike most hosiery imagery, which features just leg imagery, her face is seen and reinforces the natural beauty that Columbine so values.
“We wanted to communicate that the Columbine lady is naturally chic with subtle sex appeal and the model’s face communicates an honesty to which customers can naturally relate,” says Dow’s Senior Designer on the project, Hannah Gordon.
She explains that shopping the hosiery category can easily feel overwhelming and confusing. “So, as well as creating a consistent look across the range, we have introduced a darkening background colour that lets shoppers identify the options more quickly and more easily. The overall outcome is a stronger, fashion-focused brand”.
Established in 1951, Columbine is the only remaining New Zealand based hosiery manufacturer. Headquartered in Gisborne, the family business employs 100 people and also manufactures Harlequin men’s socks. Its products are widely available throughout New Zealand and Australia at both major department stores and smaller independent retailers.
Dow Design’s Columbine offering follows recent successes in rebranding long established local brands such as Anchor, DB Export, Hellers, Primo, Fresh‘n Fruity, Brancott Estate (Montana) wines and Robert Harris. The brand design specialists are also behind the recent redesign of the Alison’s Pantry section of New World and Pak‘n Save stores nationwide, and are consultants to Auckland’s new Q Theatre.
ScandiPac AB has created a brand new serie of packaging for the chocolaterie Carli Choklad. It contains six different parts, three praline boxes (S, M, L), one for chocolate bars, one for small chocolate hearts and last but not least a gift voucher. The packaging has a gracefull decor which we have made more exclusive through spot varnished lines and by flatfoiling the logotype. Each part has its own heart that pops out from the carton and makes it even more interesting for the receiver.
Mack’s number one-product, Arctic Beer, was changed from being a standalone product, to a series including Light and Ice versions. The client wanted a modern and young look with similarities from the predecessor – while at the same time being something new and fresh.Read more
The solution extends and simplifies the elements that were the mainstay of the identity, but with more emphasis on the brand name and the cold freshness. The arctic purity, the clear and fresh water it is made of, and the brewery being the worlds northernmost, is the very base of the concept. It shows off in the clear blue color and ice sharp arrow that points you in the northern direction. It is freezing cold. It is refreshingly tasty. It is Arctic Beer.
Conception, design and realization of the Bayer MaterialScience AG Materialmusterbox with special stackable boxes made of Makrolon ®, complete communication concept with labels, brochures and web portal in collaboration with SOLO TM communication design.
In-depth research informed Mina Ghaani's decision in re-designing a widely used product, gum packaging, that is completely free of any cultural/sexual stigma. Consequently, Hyde gum redesigns an everyday object into an aide and resource that provides options, empowerment, knowledge, and information about the available health and support services for young women, specifically sex-trade workers. As the project evolved, Meriliese Cabebe, Communication Design, joined in January 2011 as a collaborator. Mina Ghaani continued to develop Hyde with a focus on the packaging and its aesthetic, while Meriliese Cabebe focused on developing the website aesthetic and architecture. The collaborative resulted in Hyde, a brand, a new perspective, a choice.
Hyde employs a luxury and high end aesthetic in order to lure in its demographic and is enhanced with quick self-defense tips on the middle sleeve, a website (www.hyde.com), and hotline (1-800-hyde) that directs young women, party girls, and specifically sex-trade workers towards medical and support resources in their neighbourhood. Hyde educates and empowers young women through offering choices and options.
McCashin’s Brewery was born in 1980 when hotelier and former All-Black Terry McCashin and his wife, Bev, bought the Rochdale Cider Factory in the small upper-South Island city of Nelson New Zealand. They had a plan to brew a distinctive, high-quality beer, McCashin’s Brewery soon became the most successful independent microbrewery in the country.Read more
Its award-winning 100% naturally-brewed beer revolutionised the way beer was produced. and won the hearts and taste buds of the nation.
Now the next generation of McCashin’s have carried on the tradition in this historic brewery, and created New Zealand’s newest locally produced premium craft beer, Stoke.
This premium beer is batched brewed and tank conditioned for over 3 weeks. Using Nelson’s famous organic hops, premium malt, bespoke yeast, contains no artificial additives or coloring, and to top it off 14,000 year old pure Palaeo water. The entire process from brewing to bottling happens on the site at Stoke.
Stoke sets itself apart from commercialized beers on the market through its premium quality ingredients and the McCashin’s honesty to their product and consumers. The brand and packaging reflects these ideals through its understated no fuss typographic layout. A simple colour palette distinguishes varietals whilst the gold foil details reflect its premium attributes.
Stoke’s label designs clearly tell you what it is without the fluff of it’s competitors. An elegant yet masculine bottle shape accentuates its sturdy southern roots but speaks to it’s discerning new consumers. Stoke has received great success already, with it’s deep history, honest qualities and unique design consumers finally have a true craft beer to love again.
Santa Margherita launched Pinot Grigio fifty years ago and was the first company to sell the variety commercially. Today the brand is the largest selling Pinot Grigio in the world. The variety is particularly popular in the USA and Santa Margherita is the by far the biggest selling brand there. The magnum bottle introduced to mark the anniversary is the first sparkling Pinot Grigio and is produced according to the metodo classico (champagne method).Read more
Marketing objectives serving as a base for the solution
Santa Margherita wanted to use the 50th anniversary of its Pinot Grigio to promote the brand. Minale Tattersfield created a design formed from one label superimposed on another to construct an L, the Latin numeral for fifty. The objective was to inform consumers of its pioneer and high quality status in what is now a crowded market. The design follows the classical elegance of the brand denoting quality and timelessness, communicating its relevance to today. A magnum of sparkling wine is traditional for celebrating but this product has the added task of announcing the introduction of a new variety, sparkling Pinot Grigio.
ChallengesRead more
The luxury sector is known for it's excessiveness & wastefulness; In an environmental-aware age, how do we communicate luxury without sabotaging the planet? The criteria for the Chanel mobile phone packaging focuses on creating an environmentally responsible solution while preserving the premium touch and feel that Chanel is known for.
Solution
The final outcome is an esthetically pleasing presentational packaging that doubles as a phone charging station. Wrapped in the familiar Chanel pattern the faceted form is derived from the iconic Chanel N°5. Not only is the packaging designed to be a keepsake display, the material used was also the fore most important consideration. The structure framework utilizes 100% recycled PET, in addition the faux-suade fabric, the microfiber cleaning cloth and the ribbon is also composed of 80% reclaimed PET material.
Dyrøy Foods is a small meat producer in the picturesque district of Dyrøy, Northern Norway. They believe in a hones approach, the quality of traditional food, and the social and cultural aspects of The Good Meal. They have high quality products, but needed the packaging that could make them stand out as clear and different.Read more
Solution: The hexagon shaped box is custom made, and stands out in the stores because of it´s characteristic shape, and it´s emphasis on the product inside. The package is kept in 100% recyclable brown cardboard, supporting the honest and sober impression. The hexagon is easily stacked both in production, transportation and in shelves. Rasterized black/white images, picturing origin and consuming situations, supports the impression of solidity and tradition.
You have to say the name out loud…’Paw Ridge’? ‘Pour-Ridge’? ‘Porridge’? There you go… Developed by Quaker, Paw Ridge is a healthy, convenient breakfast cereal for children with a world of adventure and interactive entertainment for the imagination on the pack.Read more
Harry Hill has revealed that the latest in his Harry’s Nuts! range of Fairtrade nutty products will be Crunchy Peanut Butter. Harry was closely involved with the packaging design, created by strategic design agency BrandOpus, who previously redesigned the Harry’s Nuts! snack nut range last year.
Harry’s Nuts! is a brand developed by Harry and Liberation Foods, the world’s only farmer-owned Fairtrade nut company. Harry, who makes no money from the range, came up with the Harry’s Nuts! concept to help smallholder peanut farmers in Malawi, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and other farming groups in Asia and Latin America, sell their crops in the UK and not for ‘peanuts’ at the roadside.
Avril Tooley, client services director at BrandOpus, says, “Working with Harry again was an exciting opportunity to drive sales for this great cause. We’re proud to be associated with a brand that aims to help such a large number of farmers in such a constructive way. The packaging design aims to be, fun and playful, just like Harry and follow in the successful footsteps of the wider Harry’s Nuts! range we designed last year”
Liberation Managing Director Kate Gaskell said of the redesign, “We are delighted with the Harry’s Nuts! peanut butter design, showing a cartoon Harry jumping up and down on peanuts. BrandOpus quickly grasped our Fairtrade mission and product and are tuned in to Harry’s quirky humour.”
Harry’s Nuts! Fairtrade Crunchy Peanut Butter will be listed in 190 Sainsbury’s stores from June, RRP £1.69, and joins a portfolio of other Harry’s Nuts! Fairtrade products, including extra roasted salted peanuts and cashews which are already available at Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado and other outlets.
In partnership with Mars Petcare, Australian based design and brand agency Grain Creative have relaunched the Whiskas dry packs, across a variety of size and pack formats.
With a remit to simplify on pack communication and balance brand personality with product benefit, Grain Creative retained brand heritage and injected nutrition and taste cues into the packs.
With an emphasis on education and reassurance for passionate cat owners throughout each stage of their cats life, the new packs offer clear differentation between flavour variants, simpler navigation and soft curves that were inspired by the heart shape that resonates so strongly with the Whiskas brand.
The Grain’s are pleased with the final packs and creative director Jure Leko says, "It's always exciting to take on such an iconic brand and evolve it. The challenge is in finding the right balance between brand personality and communication of product benefits. Whiskas is a brand that is passionate about cats and cat owners and we wanted the lines and flow of the design to reflect care and softness as well as taste and nutrition. The curves of the purple were inspired by the heart shape which features strongly with the Whiskas brand."
Look out for the new packs in store now!
Five Point art supplies are art products that appeal to the 20 to 40 year old artist. The in-store idea is that the detailed design will immediately catch the eye of any artist, being that every artist is detail oriented in someway. I wanted the design to be unique enough that no matter what isle in the store, when you see the elaborate design you automatically relate it to the great product you bought from Five Point previously, and therefore are inclined to buy more of the product.Read more
The concept: Art is something that leads you through life and makes you look at it in a different perspective than anyone else.
The ribbon represents a conceptual path and visual one, leading you from the logo to the name of the product. The illustration literally represents a variety of perspectives.
When designing the draft for "Temma's"(trade chain REWE) new store brand packaging for products such as Currywurst, Ketchup and pea soup, Carsten Bartsch was inspired by classic wallpaper and wall tile patterns typical for the good old tuck shop. Humorous pictographs representing the products' ingredients, conveying those in an honest, clear and contemporary way, make Carsten Bartsch's packaging congenial. The material he uses is a heat, fat and moisture resistant, coated cardboard, providing complete compostability. The unicolor print reduces costs and the ecological impact.Read more
With Halloween just around the corner, we here at the Grain Creative saw this as the perfect excuse to get our clients together for a drink, some nibbles, and a boogie to 'The Monster Mash'. We decided that bottles of red wine, labeled with details of the Halloween party would be the perfect 'invitation' as a teaser of what was to come on the night.Read more
Being a small agency, we decided to personalise the invitation by taking photographs of each of the 'creative creatures' and rendering these to create five separate invitation designs. From the screaming zombie to the mermaid with the vindictive smile, Grain Creative wanted to ensure the invitations had a humorous aspect to them, drawing influence from 50's horror films and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
In the next decade, the application of LED bulbs will become increasingly widespread due to their increased energy efficiency and the absence of toxic metals in their construction. Although the price for an ~800-lumen LED bulb is quite expensive when compared to an incandescent or CFL bulb, the energy savings over the lifetime of the bulb are significant. At 11¢ per kWh, a 12.5-watt, 800-lumen LED bulb uses $37.50 of electricity over its 25,000-hour life. This is a $142.50 savings when compared to the $180 required to run a 60-watt, 860-lumen incandescent bulb over the same period. While LED bulbs clearly have many advantages, their packaging presents numerous problems including excessive use of plastic clamshell and complicated typographical information. Both of these issues are highly problematic, as they are inconsistent with the bulb’s ultimate goals of conserving energy and promoting sustainability.
The first problem with the packaging is that it is made out of plastics, which are primarily manufactured from oil and natural gas, which are both non-renewable resources. Additionally, nearly all of the molecules that plastic factories have produced for decades are still with us and will remain present for centuries. Plastics litter the landscape and the oceans; they break into microscopic particles and enter the food chain. To reduce materials and waste during production, the assembly of this packaging design requires no glue and is constructed from 100% post consumer recycled paper that is manufactured carbon neutral. Also, this design promotes a system where consumers can easily send their incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs to a recycling facility as the package also serves as a prepaid return-shipping container. To increase utility while maintaining structural rigidity, the inside of the box holds an innovative paper design. This design can quickly transform to fit any bulb placed back inside of it, while protecting it from being crushed during transport.
In addition to new regulations regarding bulb packaging, starting in mid-2011, the Federal Trade Commission announced that new laws regarding the labeling of light bulb packaging would commence. The new labeling requirements will promote consumer education by clearly displaying information that will help them select the most efficient bulbs that best suits their lighting needs. The label on the front of the package will emphasize the bulbs’ brightness as measured in lumens, as watts are a measurement of energy use, not brightness. Currently, reliance on watt measurements alone has made it difficult for consumers to compare traditional incandescent bulbs to more efficient bulbs, such as compact fluorescents. A compact fluorescent bulb may be able to produce the same amount of brightness as a traditional incandescent bulb, while using significantly less energy, or watts. Finally, new labeling will also display the estimated yearly energy cost for the respective bulb. These changes in information presentation will be key drivers in helping consumers make educated purchasing decisions as they transition to more energy-efficient types of bulbs while contributing to the overall increase in the adoption and promotion of sustainability.
The idea behind Hue is to educate people on the use and theory behind color. Hue was created because artists need to have a better understanding of not only how to use color, but where it comes from and what it means. Hue educates students and professionals on the essential facts and uses of color through five different artist products. Each product would be used differently, but the effect of color is the same. Hue takes a new approach on packaging information to artists and how they use the tools they are given.Read more
Tea packaging all illustrated with hand rendered typography. Each animal refers to an attribute of the certain tea. E.g. green tea makes you fidgety (grasshopper) or camomile tea has a calming effect and slows you down (snail).Read more
Debenhams have launched a new design for their branded gift card boxes. The elegant new packs have been brought in to accentuate the Debenhams brand ethos of offering design in every department by providing customers with a slick and fun way to present their gift cards.
The retailer worked on the project in conjunction with Burgopak Design and Packaging in London. Creating a unique gifting experience, the design incorporates Burgopak’s patented sliding mechanism, connecting a display panel to hold any of Debenhams’ gift cards with a section for leaving personalised messages.
In a move away from their standard form, the new gift card boxes resemble miniature shopping bags with nylon hanging straps. With chic, simplistic artwork provided by Debenhams, the midnight black design features a silver hot-foil stamp detail on their tag-line, “design in every department.” As well as adding value to the Debenhams brand, the design further assists in continuing the retail experience beyond the store.
Of the design, Burgopak’s Creative Director Dane Whitehurst says: “It’s been a pleasure working with Debenhams on this packaging project – they understand how important it is to offer their customers high quality and aesthetically pleasing gift options that will extend their brand well beyond the point of purchase. We believe the new design will assist in promoting brand loyalty and enhancing their design offering.”
The new Debenhams gift card boxes are an alternative to the pre-existing range of celebration and greetings card packs. Sold at £1.00 or free with gift card purchases over £50, the packs are available now in Debenhams stores across the UK.
Brief: Develop the name, logo and packaging design for a new coffee brand for the medium price range. The target market of this product are young (18-35 years of old), dynamic men and women, who follow trends and live in big cities and towns. They are positive, know what they want from their lives, they like to try everything new and love "to be on the topic".
Concept: In order to create a bright product that draws the attention of a customer, the designers of iQonic developed a key visual brand of «Coffee :Dance». On a colourful and brightly illustrated background there is a hovering, as if dancing in the air, coffee cup and a saucer.
The logo has been created to emphasise the positive feeling and the brightness of the packaging with the wide smile of the letter "D" and the bold and rhythmical tapping of the letter "A".
Zinkplaat is an Afrikaans pop-rock-blues-fusion band from South Africa. The name Zinkplaat is the Afrikaans word for corrugated metal.Read more
This, their fourth album comes shrink-wrapped with a scratch-off ink layer on the front and back, as well as a guitar pick to scratch the ink off with.
The album’s name ‘Mooi Besoedeling’ translates to ‘Beautiful Polution’. We believe this is a very good functional solution to the fact that a simplistic clean cd cover design stands out most from all the clutter on a store shelf, yet is very boring once bought. However one wants to read the album as a concept, people seem to love the scratch-off part…
NUTS & CO. is a premium purveyor of Middle Eastern delicatessen.Read more
The brand identity and packaging were designed to reflect the origins of the products in a contemporary and sophisticated style. In early 2011 the first store in Geneva opened to much acclaim.
A new product line from Creta Mel confectionery company for NOUGAT with fruit and nuts. This new designs come to replace the older packaging of the company as a fresh fruity idea. There are 6 different flavors in this range providing a colorful and pleasant packaging.Read more