Have to tip my cap to some guys from back in Lancaster Pennsylvania, Infantree. They’ve done some great work and Square One Coffee is just one of the globally recognized projects. The identity is simple at its foundation, but blooms with custom illustrations depicting the roots of the roast in a vintage postage style design. The coffee packaging design is subdued enough to be earthy, but pops enough to get attention.

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Once again, I’m highlighting other food products under “restaurant branding reviews” because often times it makes sense to extend your offering into products like the sauces you use, or coffees, etc. This particular packaging is for the brand Broken Trail BBQ. It has a great style about it that looks  haphazard and unorganized with a retro angle. Bold, strong colors make the product jump. Notice how they didn’t use imagery of fire or anything “grilly.” You don’t have to be literal when developing a brand. Often times the non-literal works best. This design was done by Imaginaria Creative. Found this baby on The Die Line.

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Ohhh, Nutella. How I love thee. For those that don’t know, Nutella is a tasty chocolatey snack. It’s from Italy like most tasty foods. The new, limited-time packaging is quite excellent and worth noting here. The design team at Arc’s in Italy have put together the new packaging design based on four themes that encapsulate the Italian experience. Their words:

What is the nutshell of Italian excellence? And how the beloved Nutella can celebrate it, together with millions of Italian families? This has been the starting point for the design of the limited edition of Nutella “Esperienza Italia 150”.ARC’S has interpreted the project in four themes: Arts (music, poetry, cinema), Design, Landscapes & Architecture, Historical topics. The result is a fresh and joyful dialogue between Federico Fellini and the matchless Moka for coffee, Rome and Venice, Garibaldi riding a Vespa!

Words and design mix together, words become design and they beat a syncopate rhythm. For example, the “Landscapes & Architecture” theme in English would sound something like “The train makes us run quickly: from the Alps to Sicily joints Rome the immortal with Pisa and its Tower and Venice laying on the water!”

The soul of Nutella, which is usually represented by its limited edition, becomes one unique thing with this Anniversary and ideally embraces all Italians, from the South to the North, as a sole big family.

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We always talk about how every detail in a restaurant’s arsenal is important. Sure, you can get things cheaper if they are generic, run-of-the-mill, OR you can take it as an opportunity to extend your brand and foster engagement with your customers and potentials. Domino’s Pizza is doing just that with their new pizza box designs.

Talk about using real estate wisely! They drive home new brand mantras/focal points with proverbs printed on the pizza boxes themselves. Every angle is covered and it pushes the brand promise further verbally, visually and then drives hit home with the product and service.

Here are their thoughts:

These headlines and gorgeous illustration are born of universally recognized truths about pizza making, such as, “The Sauce Always Justifies The Means.” And they reflect the attitude that Domino’s brings toward each and every pizza they bake. These boxes also invited customers to PizzaProverbs.com where they could share their own pizza wisdom with the world. In the next coming months, eight new boxes will be released featuring headlines written by the customers with matching, custom scratchboard illustrations.

Thanks to TheDieLine.com for bringing this to light and the boxes/brand were designed by CB+P group

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These aren’t only eco-friendly, but really well designed. The packaging and actual products are amazing. The website says, “Maru plates by WASARA are single-use, biodegradable and compostable pieces designed to accentuate whatever foods they contain.” Very awesome work.

Maru by Wasara

UPDATE // This work has just been featured on renowned packaging design website, The Die Line

When we were approached by the mom’s at 5th Avenue Salon in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, we were ready for a challenge. Like many salons, 5th Avenue wanted to put out a hair care line, but didn’t know where to start. Vigor’s unique approach to branding, strategy and positioning garnered the intelligence needed to develop a position, naming and design.

Packaging design for hair care line focused on mothers.

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Great packaging seen at B&N. Love the subtle flourishes and limited color palette.

Product and service line extension happens in brands of all ages from new to old. Extending offerings of a company isn’t a bad thing, if it’s done with branding as a core focus.

Organic chip producers shines the light on the unhealthy nature of chips.

Companies like Proctor & Gamble and Unilever are the leaders of line extension. P&G usually gets it right when it comes to branding new products properly, but they too fall into some typical traps. One such trap is leveraging a current brand name to quickly build trust in a new product that exists in the same vertical, but has different pros to tout. (more…)