Skip to main content

Packaging: Frankly Fun

By
Paul Frank is a simple but fun brand. You can tell that their designers have a good time with the unique products, characters and colors. When I was browsing the mall I went into their store and saw the branding with the monkey and friends on cool retro watches, sunglasses, etc., one would expect to see. But then I was drawn to these striped squares on the wall. They just looked like pieces of foam. And because they were so awkward and seemingly out of place, I moved in for a closer look.



At first, I thought it was some kind of seat pad but then saw the familiar sandal straps popping out the middle. As I examined closer, I finally saw the dieline of the flip flops. They were held in place by a simple belly band and had a diecut handle, out of the foam, for retail purposes. I thought it was a great packaging solution because the designers considered how their product was made and designed around that. They also gained graphic impact from having more surface area to apply branding. The only downside to this was if someone was looking for flip flops, they might have a more difficult time finding them. Flip flops are easy to spot because of their unique shape. Now that the shape is disguised, a consumer might have to ask a employee where they might find them. Overall, I would have to give this a thumbs up.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Packaging: 10 Steps to a Better Process

By
1. Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize. When three people are talking to you, you can’t hear them all. The same is true for design. Visual priority must be established from the very beginning of the design process. If every item is given primary importance, nothing becomes important. The visual priorities are what drive how all creative will be judged. The design firm should include as part of their creative brief, a hierarchy of 5 communication points for the front of the package. This includes 1) brand 2) product name 3) why-to-buy statement 4) feature points 5) product image. 2. Come together. Everyone has an opinion, so clear project objectives are vital to any job. Consensus regarding the creative brief must be obtained from the people expected to judge the package design from within your corporation. Without this consensus, the design process will fall apart. Without clearly stated, agreed-upon objectives, you are not able to provide constructive feedback. As soon as you start t...
1 comment
Read more

New and Not Necessarily Improved

By
A story in the March 3, 2009 issue of the LA Times regarding the unfavorably received new Pepsi brand redesign reminded me of another recent unsuccessful redesign—the one for Tropicana orange juice. A few months ago, I was in a Target store buying some orange juice. I usually get the Tropicana brand, and was disappointed when I didn't see any in the cases. I just saw a bunch of unfamiliar cartons that I immediately wrote off as "not Tropicana" and kept looking around. It was only during a second pass that I realized that these new cartons were indeed Tropicana. Wow, I thought, that's a pretty radical new look. Gone were any vestiges of familiarity--the funky old-style logo, and especially the orange with the straw stuck in it. The new carton is dominated by a large shot of a tasteful-looking (not necessarily tasty-looking) glass of orange juice, with the word "Tropicana" in an unfamiliar sans serif font and green color turned 90ยบ clockwise along the side. T...
4 comments
Read more

Let Your Packaging Sell Your Product, Not a Funny Name!

By
So I ran across this product while I was traveling in NY and needed some earplugs.  I can't sleep without them. Earplugs are notoriously hard to find on shelf so I had to scan many products. I came across this product and got quite a chuckle. I don't think I need to explain why (To be fair, it was awhile ago, and the package design could have changed since then.): Zim's Crack Creme---we can assume that Zim is the pharmacist who created this all-natural herbal wonder cream (creme) for your crack. Or is that really what this means. Surly it couldn't. We design packaging and I couldn't help but analyze this package as I would for a client. The first thing we help our clients do is to prioritize the elements on the front of the package. What is the most important thing to communicate? The name? The brand? The why-to-buy? The features? Obviously, Zim felt the name of the product was most important. But if the name of the product doesn't really convey what it doe...
4 comments
Read more