Tag Archives: packaging design

Personal care products packaging design: the wrappings of enchantment.

The promise of looking fresh and youthful is beguiling. The demand for products to achieve those looks is constantly growing. Personal care products that deliver results using healthier and more pure ingredients are a fast growing segment of the competitive category. Now, more than ever, people seek brands containing all-natural ingredients. While Earth Science was ahead of the pack in recognizing this important lifestyle trend, they faced competition that constantly updated positioning and graphic imagery. Earth Science made a proactive decision to maintain a leadership position by refreshing their own brand and packaging.

Earth Science Branding

The team at MOI (Mark Oliver, Inc.) audited the line and the competition and proposed these objectives: Redesign the trademark; create a system identity that the consumer could quickly recognize; and prioritize and simplify label information, making the redesigned trademark the #1 point of the packaging line. The design team set about creating multiple designs reflecting the objectives. Once finalized, MOI handed off the project to the firm’s in-house group to implement. “The new, unified packaging program has provided the product line with a far greater shelf presence,” noted Mark Oliver, principal of the firm. “In a busy category, organization of packaging is crucial. This design program nicely balances organization and creativity.”

Earth Science Packaging.

Wine label design: Flying goats and floating bubbles.

Humor can be a great salesman (and the the packaging for the wine industry could certainly use some design levity).

Two pet pygmy goats, named Never and Epernay, loved to jump from heights. With their unrestrained spiral loops, flipper turns and straight-legged leaps they were a constant source of entertainment. When choosing a name for his new brand of Santa Barbara County wines, Norman Yost wanted to project fun, enjoyment, and happiness. Norm is a playful spirit so he opted to name it after his flying kids, Flying Goat Cellars.

When it came to his all natural sparkling wines, with a wry sense of humor Norm called them “Goat Bubbles.” He gave the packaging design and branding team at MOI (Mark Oliver, Inc.) poetic license to come up with innovative wine labels. With a name like that, the graphic design was pretty obvious. We put a goat illustration within its own bubble, each goat positioned a little differently in each bubble, all of them floating up from the bottom of their bottles. The creative result is playful and an unusual design solution as well.

Goat Bubbles

The four-part label is unique from a wine label production standpoint, too. The printer had never created a multiple element label of this complexity and tests were conducted to assure the label film would adhere properly during production. Finally, each of the wines has a hand-dipped colored wax crown that matches the label color. The result? Adults love it. The kids, too.

Where does your food come from? Bar codes reveal all.

Do you know where the food you are buying comes from?

Does the country of origin make a difference in what you purchase?

Many products no longer show where they are made, only the location of the distributor. With the globalization of food sourcing, what you are buying can come from anywhere.

If you’re concerned about the origin of the item you are purchasing, there is a simple key to being informed.

It’s the bar code. By simply knowing how to read the numbers, you can be a more informed consumer. Keep in mind that while it is true many products of foreign origin use the U.S. or Canadian bar code, others do not.

Here are some basic tips. U.S. and Canadian bar codes have a 12 digit number and all other international codes have 13. The first three digits of the 13 digit international bar code show the country of origin.

Below is the key to de-coding the code.

Some of the more dominant international codes are:
France 300-379
Germany 400-440
Japan 45-49
Taiwan 471
Philippines 480
Hong Kong 489
Poland 590
China 690-695
Mexico 750
Chile 780
Brazil 789-790
South Korea 880
Thailand 885
India 890
Vietnam 893
Indonesia 899

As an aware consumer, expand your purchasing decision beyond price and ingredients. Know where your product comes from and purchase with assurance.

For more country code information:
www.makebarcode.com/specs/ean_cc.html