Something Smells Good...

Pure by Donna Karan

Versense by Versace

BLV by BVLGARI

Whenever I start a new packaging or 3D assignment, I always look to perfumes. I don't know why, but there is something to be said for the minimalist beauty of most scents these days. Just take a stroll down the aisle in Sephora and you'll see why. Seeing an ad for the latest Versace fragrance in Elle prompted me to take a gander at some others out there. They all seem so clean and serene and luxurious. Here are three that I most recently was lulled by.

Food Should Taste Good.

Yes, I totally believe that credo and would hope you do too. I mean, afterall, if it doesn't taste good, why eat it? This credo, Food Should Taste Good, is also the name of a new chip brand I have just discovered. The cafeteria at my company is pretty good about having a wide variety of options of healthy food options. This one in particular caught my eye because of the uber clean packaging design. I saw it last week and today decided that as part of my one day a week to eat lunch down in the cafe, I would find the chips and try them out. Sure enough the reason I was able to find them was because of their pretty minimalist design. Each chip has its own rustically drawn illustration of just one chip from the inside.

Another reason I love this brand is because of the equal cleanliness paid to their website. Each chip has some information about it as well as what would be a good pairing spread/dip. And (being the recipe-lover that I am) there are recipes for each.

Props to this small Massachusetts company making healthy snack alternatives in a pleasing package with a great name!

Wrap Me Up in the Container Store.

Well, not really IN the Container Store but IN their wrapping paper. It is always my go-to store for wrapping gifts no matter what the occasion or season. Yes, that's right, I will take the local train on my way home, stop at a station just 4 away from my office, then walk an extra 5 blocks and then get BACK on the train to actually go home. All in the name of fabulously designer wrapping paper. I know, I have a disease. I can't help it, though. It is not that cutesy and cheesy nonsense they sell at most CVSs or DuaneReades or any other store. It is marvelous and affordable and DESIGNED. Some of my favorites are above. I love the simplicity of the red dots, that to me, look like and resemble Rudolph's nose. How cute? I sent Matt two of these images so when he stops by the Container Store later he can pick one up. He asked why he couldn't pick one out himself and I told him that we should leave the pattern-choosing to the designer in the household.

Growing up I used to love (and actually STILL love) wrapping presents. It was almost more fun than picking out the gifts themselves. I would walk downstairs and open up the "wrapping" drawer in the wooden dresser (which always stuck for some reason). My little hand would reach in and pick out my favorite paper at the time and then hijack the white box that had 8 different colors of curling ribbon coming out of it. Next stop was the kitchen drawer to get the scissors and tape. Last stop? My room to assemble and wrap! I of course would usually forget to return the scissors and tape to the kitchen and inevitable would hear my Mom asking for it the next day when SHE needed to wrap presents.

Happy wrapping this season!

Zoku.

Flipping through the latest Real Simple magazine I came across an ad for these fun popsicles. I know it seems like the last thing you would want to eat now that the northeast winter has settled in for the next few months, BUT when those spring temperatures roll in I want to be ready with these. It brings me back to my childhood and the popsicle holders that we used to fill with orange juice or KoolAid and freeze and stand and wait around the freezer for the moment they were solid. No one wants to take the lid off of one of those and watch the half-frozen popsicle drip to the ground. Well, this nifty invention called Zoku (and exclusively for Williams-Sonoma) would amaze even the child-at-heart. Only about minutes in this fun little machine (which is used OUTSIDE of the freezer) produces a ready-to-eat popsicle.

Pretty Packages.

I have no idea how any of these smell but there is something pretty outrageous about the packaging. Outrageous in a good way, of course, so I had to share. Loving the patterns, typography and colors in these three: Very Hollywood by Michael Kors, Brown Sugar by Fresh, Cleopatra by Tocca

Insta-Birthday Candles.

How many times would this be handy? From online store Poketo! (and found via the Dieline) here are 5-minute candles. I love the idea of candles in your pocket (but that look like matchbooks). Genius. And pretty reasonable too, for that ease of design and ease of transportability.

Schroeder Milk.

This is by far the best packaging I have seen in awhile (via Lovely Package). Perhaps I am jaded because the client actually let the designer keep it clean. Let the product stand for itself. Maybe because they didn't try and muck it up with 80 different claims stating that milk does this and milk does that. Milk is milk. And Schroeder gets it and knows their consumer is smart. Kudos to the design studio Capsule who made this beauty possible AND to Schroeder for letting them run with a fabulous idea. God, I wish I lived in Minnesota so I could buy this at the store...

Paul Smith for Evian.

From the Dieline today. LOVE. IT.

Take Your Vitamins.

Fabulous concept design for vitamin packaging from Polish designer Viktoriya Gadomska. I see this as something I would have loved to create in college for a design class; combining my love of building things and typography all rolled into clean and beautiful packages. If this existed for real, I would take my vitamins everyday! And proudly display them on my counter or in my bathroom.

Found via the Dieline

Southern Tier Brewery.

Last night's perfectly clear weather prompted a post-dinner walk around our neighborhood. After a stop at our favorite spot for italian ices, Matt and I wandered up and around some of the avenues and streets, making another stop along the way home with ices still in hand but melting slowly. This stop was at one of the best specialty beer shops in Park Slope, Bierkraft. It caught our eye more than usual because we noticed that they had recently changed up the right side of it and added some wooden picnic benches inside so you could sit with one of their gourmet sandwiches (of which I haven't tried yet) and one day (when they get their beer license) a cold brew from their seemingly endless refrigerators.

We decided to go inside to just look around. While Matt was looking for some good new Belgiums, I was not able to just look at the beers for beers sake, of course I took this as opportunity to scour the shelves for some fine beer design. Goodness, it's tough being a graphic designer sometimes. What I found was more than a few companies who are doing a stellar job with their label design. One in particular is the Southern Tier Brewing Company of New York! Check them out above; I love the woodblock cut-looking design, clean in just two colors. And I recommend beer-browsing next time you are in your local beer shop!

Stina Pearson + Face Boutique.

I saw these products on The Dieline and was immediately taken with them AND immediately knew they were the handiwork of one of my favorite illustrators, Stina Persson! Face Boutique is a natural skincare brand for teens and twenty-somethings.