Ridna Marka Juice Cartons

Juice box packaging isn't at the forefront of everyone's mind after waking up, but for most of us it's an everyday item - which we both see and touch. These carton designs by Yurko Gutsulyak, entitled Ridna Marka (translation - Native Brand) are something I'd love to see in our fridge; the fact that they've been designed to create a repeat pattern when lined up is the icing on the cake. The Ridna Marka juice cartons recently won 1st place in The Dieline's packaging awards.

"The idea was not just to recreate romantic “look and feel” of grocery in USSR and evoke childhood nostalgia for the older generation but at the same time to avoid any reference to the ideological 

component of those times."

Find us on - Twitter - Facebook -  Bloglovin' - Instagram - Pinterest

Build The I'mpossible by Jessica Alley

Really lovely student packaging design project by Jessica Alley, based on building and promoting awareness for sustainable education in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Laos. The "Pencils of Promise" were apart of a full campaign (click here to view), which was under the title Build The I'mpossible. A strong message communicated in a really simple and clever way.

What's everyone got planned for this weekend? I'm thinking bike rides, bbqs and plenty of good strong beer. You with me?

In other exciting news - Buckets & Spades is currently Number 1 on Bloglovin's Up and Coming Men's Fashion blogs, very pleased with that. If you're not already you can follow my blog here.

 Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Bloglovin' / Pinterest

Best of Packaging | Noble Ray Brewing Co.

I think Mat knows more about packaging design than anyone else I know.

He's not that into the technical aspect of packaging - he probably could tell you what type of card a box is made from, but maybe not how many folds there are in a tetra pack - it's mainly the design, shape, colour and message he loves. And, as such, he always seems to have a new design to share - usually from some obscure brand, tucked away in a distant corner of the world.

So, it made total sense for him to start Best of Packaging - a new Instagram account, where he can share the best of what he finds with everyone. From coffee labels and craft beer cans, to olive oil bottles and chocolate wrappers.

To celebrate the launch of the account - although, it's been going for a little while now - I thought I'd pick one of my favourite designs so far: these beer cans from Noble Rey Brewing Co. over in Dallas, Texas. Because each beer can doesn't have much space to communicate the design, you need to stack two cans to appreciate the full design.

I hope you guys like them too! Head over to Best of Packaging on Instagram and tag you finds with #bestofpackaging. Cheers!

Images via Oh Beautiful Beer.

You can find Nik at - Twitter | Instagram | Newsletter

Gingersaurs by Mat Bogust

Image source

Sometimes you just want to sit back after a hard day at the grind with some build-your-own dinosaur biscuits. After signing off an email in response to a job role for a design agency with "...and not to bribe you...but I'll bring biscuits", Mat Bogust hadn't anticipated the company's reply. "Great, we love biscuits...not from the shop though, homemade is best!"

Bohust got to work, thinking of an idea that would grab the employer's attention. He turned up to the interview with a genius creation, Gingersaurs, a DIY build-a-dino biscuit set! It certainly made the agency take notice. But this wasn't to highlight his baking skills, Bogust had cleverly designed the box to reveal a secret compartment which housed his packaging portfolio, business card and an amazing fold-up paper tank.

It's safe to say he walked away with two new briefs to work on and a job at THINK Pack.

See more of Mat Bogust's wonderful packaging here.

 Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Bloglovin' / Pinterest

Best of Packaging | Biggans Bocklingpastej by Bedow, Stockholm

Sometimes I find it hard to get started with work in the mornings, even after a coffee.

That's where Pinterest comes into its element. I type in a few likely words, like 'killer' and 'packaging', and up comes a ton of inspirational ideas that get my brain going.

Okay, so a smoked herring fishpaste might not be at the top of everyone's shopping list, but this beautiful design by Bedow of Stockholm will certainly make Biggins Bocklingpastej an eye-catcher on the shelf.

I love the way Bedow have thought of the small details too, like how the packaging will look when the box is half full and the pictures of the sea floor that are revealed once the book is empty.

We're always looking for inspiration for our Best of Packaging Instagram account. Found any great examples? Sent them to us!

You can find Nik at - Twitter | Instagram | Newsletter

Beer + Design | Vedett Belgian Beer with Attitude

Blogging isn't just about sitting behind a computer screen all day. We're often out-and-about, meeting new people and making new friends. A few weeks ago, the guys at Albam invited us to il Cicchetto on Old Street to meet their friends from Vedett. Clothing and beer - what's not to like?

Vedett is a Belgian beer in a pretty distinctive bottle. As well as serving up their Extra Blonde and Extra White, they also put out some De Koninck Anno 1833 - a nutty, slightly burnt lager - and a Liefmans Fruitesse On The Rocks. Come on, no prizes for guessing what’s in the last one. It’s a fruit beer full of tart berry flavours that I’ve not seen in London before. Very punchy!  

Vedett's website is pretty cool too. Full of small quirks and animations. Check it out here! - Nik

You can find Nik at - Conrad's Beer | Twitter | Instagram

Tea Total

Tick Tock's Rooibos tea goodness

Straight outta Manchester, Mr Scruff's Make us a Brew

 Teapigs Jasmine Pearls c/o Togs & Clogs

I don't know what's happened to me, 6 months ago if someone offered me a cup of tea I would have said "no thank you sir" but somehow I've become pretty obsessed with the stuff. I maxing out at about 6 cups a day at the moment, too much perhaps. I most definitely used to be a coffee guy but I don't know, I've got a bit bored of the same thing every day, tea seems to much more refreshing. So I've been trying a few different types out over the past few months, I started off with Twinings peppermint and swiftly moved on to a few more interesting blends.

- By far my favourite is Tick Tock's Rooibos tea, which was a recommendation from Daisy of the aptly named Pretty Green Tea. I've seen the packaging tonnes of times when I've been in the supermarket as it's pretty striking, now that I've found out it tastes awesome too. 

- Next up is Mr Scruff's Make us a Brew mint & chili tea, which is coming at us straight from Manchester. Sweet, fun packaging with a cracking cartoon and humours text. Love this one, really refreshing if that floats ye boat.

- Finally is Teapig's Jasmine Pearls, which the chaps from Togs & Clogs sent over a few months back. This was the one that got me right into it, super flavoursome and has quite a kick to it. Great if you're not in a rush. Again really nice packaging and comes in triangular shaped bags.

I'm not swearing off coffee altogether but lets just say I'm branching out. I would really like to hear what you guys drink and if you have any recommendations they would be more than welcome.

Sainsbury's Own Brand Packaging - 1962-1978

Sainbury's Own Brand graphics

I've been researching into packaging design and graphics this week for a personal project and I came across these Sainsbury's own brand designs from yesteryear. Coming straight acha from the 60s & 70s, it seems like Sainsbury's were up to some pretty interesting  and innocent designs at that point. Sticking with bold block colours and shapes, the team at the time came up with some eye catching and appealing styles. Most own brand stuff is quite bland at the moment but I have noticed some of the supermarket giants making their budget range products more appealing, using soft colours palettes and shapes not too dissimilar to these above.

Have any of you seen any interesting graphics or packaging lately?

The Urbanears giveaway has now closed, thanks for all your entries. I will be announcing the winners over the next few days.

Inspiration - Food Packaging

I had some time to kill on Friday so  I decided to go around various supermarkets and food markets for some design inspiration. As I've mentioned I've been working on a logo for a charity so I thought it would be cool to see what's going on on that front, but I did veer off and just snapped anything that caught my eye. I was mostly looking for logos & fonts, colour combinations, packaging shape/style, off-beat stuff and of course humor! All these beauties were found in Waitrose, Booths and a local food market called Barton Grange. I had to be careful as I was getting a lot of suspicious looks in the bigger supermarkets, I've heard stories of people being arrested for taking photos in one place.

You guys know I'm really into stuff like this and I know a few of you do too so I thought it might make a regular feature of it, you never know when this stuff might trigger an idea. Has anyone seen any interesting packaging of late?