Ukuru Lip Pigment
“It’s a whole new way of thinking. They’re really questioning conventions here,” Williams said of Aveda’s lipstick package, which can be refilled with pigment tubes. Designed by New York’s Harry Allen, the new system-the first phase of a complete overhaul of the company’s cosmetics packaging—reflects Aveda’s strongly held environmental values. The pigment tubes are made of recycled aluminum; the sleek contemporary cap is molded from that same aluminum and a new material composed of recycled plastic and flax fiber; and the outer packaging—a cunning molded egg carton in a paper sleeve—is all recycled paper. “It’s the anti-cosmetic cosmetic,” noted Williams. “People who buy Aveda don’t want it to look like something you get at Bloomies.”
Client Aveda, New YorkDesign Harry Allen and Associates, New York (hard cases and tubes): Harry Allen, principal; Aveda (carton and wrappings): Shawn Booth, designerMaterials Case: aluminum (65% PCR) and a composite of plastic resin (90% PCR) and flax fiber; tubes: aluminum (65 %PCR); carton and sleeve: paper (100% PCR)Software Adobe Photoshop, Form-Z, VectorWorks
iPod Package
“Flawless,” “inventive,” and “utterly consistent with what we’ve come to expect from Apple” were some of the praises the jurors heaped on the computer maker’s packaging for the iPod. Opening the box requires a series of motions, beginning when you slide a paper sleeve off a cardboard cube and ending when you lift flaps revealing egg-carton nests holding the music player and its components. With each move, the suspense builds. “There’s this ballet of unwrapping that is clearly intentional,” said Carbone. “It prolongs your excitement about finally owning the product.” For all that orchestrated drama, however, the package graphics are quiet and gimmick-free. “If the product is all about music, noise, and overload,” Bokuniewicz said, “the packaging is about beautiful, whispering restraint.”
Client Apple, Cupertino, CADesign Apple Graphic Design, Cupertino, CAMaterials Paperboard, molded cartons made of 100% PCR paper, five-color offset printing with a dull film laminateSoftware Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, QuarkXPress
The Bees Knees Honey
In the arena of food packaging, “this simple, innocent example really stands out in contrast to what the mass market has to offer,” said Carbone of Pearl-fisher’s design for The Bees Knees honey. Coined by the designers, the name is meant to convey the honey’s high quality, and the plump, black-lidded glass jars dressed in striped labels conjure up a bee’s markings. Contrasting colors differentiate honey flavors. “I’m immediately drawn to them,” said Carbone, who felt the jars would attract customers when arrayed on a shelf.
Client Field Honey Farms, Swanage, Dorset, U.K.Design Pearlfi sher, London: Jonathan Ford, principal; Karen Welman, creative partner; Darren Foley, realization directorMaterials Glass, high-gloss paper labelsSoftware Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” CD
Designed by Stefan Sagmeister for Rhino Records, the Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” boxed set got points for the extraordinary quality of the cover art. The images—scaled-down versions of enormous canvases by Russian muralists Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubosarsky—have a light-struck, Garden of Eden quality, but with a touch of the macabre (bleeding body parts). “It’s very Talking Heads in that it looks innocent yet there are all these subversive things going on,” noted Williams. The long, special-edition size is also striking. Rhino’s sales department wanted the set to fit in standard six-inch CD bins. The designer complied by creating an extra-wide case that slips into bins—on its side.
Client Rhino Records, Burbank, CADesign Sagmeister Inc., New York: Stefan Sagmeister, art director; Matthias Ernstberger, designer; Rhino Records: Hugh Brown, creative supervisorMaterials Hardcover bookbinding with fabric-covered elastic as a closing device; four-color offset printing plus matte varnish on matte coated paper; CDs in cardboard envelopes fit into bound sleeves on inside coversSoftware Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop
Liz Earle Vital Oils
Just a few drops of aromatherapeutic oils stirred into a bath can change your mood, promises Liz Earle Cosmetics. And that notion of something small yet potent comes across in the packaging Turner Duckworth designed for this British maker of natural skin-care products. Two-tone type was screened directly onto .3-ounce frosted-glass bottles (labels would have fallen off if oil dribbled onto them, loosening the glue). The boxes’ intense colors were chosen to match the emotions associated with the three blends—amber for Comfort, green for Harmony, red for Bliss—and a drop trickles from a star embossed in silver foil. “There’s an element of wonder that comes from the smallness of everything,” said Bokuniewicz. “You want to pick up those little jewel boxes and see what’s inside.”
Client Liz Earle Cosmetics, Ryde, Isle of Wight, U.K.Design Turner Duckworth, London: David Turner, creative director; Bruce Duckworth, creative director and designer; Janice Davison, designerMaterials Etched screen-printed bottles, matte laminated cartons, satin hot foil-stamp embossingSoftware Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Macromedia FreeHand
UV Flavored Vodka
Phillips Distilling Company in Minneapolis asked local design firm Olson + Company to come up with a new look for a sleepy regional brand of cherry vodka. Enthralled by the designers’ eye-popping packaging, the company launched a whole family of flavored vodkas aimed at a young, bar-going audience. Instead of using a standard front-facing label, the designers put the bold new logo—block letters radiating energetic black rays—on clear acetate applied to the back of the bottle; you look through the vividly colored spirits to read the name. “It does this op art thing as you move around the bottle,” said Carbone, who applauded the packaging for its “pure Pop persuasion.”
Client Phillips Distilling Company, MinneapolisDesign Olson + Company, Minneapolis: Robb Harskamp and Jarrod Riddle, designers; Cindy Olson, design supervisorMaterials Acetate, embossed-foil bandsSoftware Adobe Illustrator