Minimalism has ruled for a while—is it time for "Maximalism"?

Came across this intriguing article about how minimalism' grip is loosening in the design world, making the way for "maximalism." Judging from the crazy patterns on some Lu La Roe leggings that have been making the rounds in the office, this observations seems to have merit. As a devotee of minimalism and a survivor of the 80s, I'm a little wary of this trend, but as with all things, it's a cycle and we've come back around to "expressive" and "vibrant" but also possibly "overkill." Perhaps we're approaching another roaring 20s!

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Packaging: 10 Steps to a Better Process

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...

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

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...

Costco: The Good, The Bad & The Meh

Even though Costco doesn't carry that many SKUs (only 4,000 compared to Walmart's 150,000), the size of the warehouse space and the variety of product can be overwhelming. During any trip I make to Costco, I always take a look at some of the packaging and displays and note what grabs my attention and others that are just so-so. Since Costco is self serve, displays are the silent sales person. In addition, if there are only 2-3 brands in a category the packaging and display must work harder to capture the consumer's attention and sell the product. The Good iHome: I was immediately drawn to this iHome packaging and display: The display invites you to take a closer look. The pallet wrap is colorful and tells the customer what the product is: A Rechargable Bluetooth Speaker with Speakerphone. The packaging has a hologram that changes color as you walk around the display which mimics how the product performs. The pallet holds a counter top type display that...

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