The Power of The Bottle – Powerful Design

Packaging has power — enormous power — over what we buy. The fashions we wear express who we are. Packaging does that for products. We identify with a product because it does for us what we wish it to do. As any brand manager will tell, we buy the “brand promise” and the package carries a lot of that promise

“No House” Wine is a new South African wine brand created specifically to benefit the Dutch foundation: HomePlan. A percentage of the profits go to build homes for South African AIDS orphans. The wine is a huge success in the Netherlands and has already raised enough money to build 10 houses.

Beyond the good cause, the packaging design (by Edwin Vollebergh of Studio Boot) has won international awards including: New York Festivals, Art Directors Club Netherlands, and Epica.

When asked about the design, Edwin said that they are meant to look handmade and rough. The materials chosen are common and inexpensive, therefore keeping the cost as low as possible so more money can be donated to the cause.

Apple iLife 09 Packaging Design

Mac|Life Magazine is running an interesting piece on packaging design ideas for Apple iLife 09.  Three designers not connected with Apple were asked to present ideas for the packaging design.  The three different designs represent an fascinating view of the wide range of approaches/functionality packaging can provide a product.
Apple is known for its modern minimal packaging design so it will be interesting to see their design for this product.

ROBIN DICK: Mac|Life Art Director
We’re going to call this one the “luxe model.” Robin’s case-within-a-case design doesn’t skimp on material, but nonetheless aims for a certain functionality in service of aesthetics. The recycled cardboard shell whispers environmental sympathies, while the colorful, action-packed belly band communicates all that iLife stands for. “It’s a simple, sleek, modern way of giving the consumer a permanent disc case, while duplicating the experience of opening a gift,” Robin says. “The contrast in materials adds a splash of color and vibrancy that attracts the eye.”

KATORI DHOJI: Freelance Designer, Unified Design Labs
“This study reverses the trend toward excessive paper and plastic,” Katori says. “Slim it down, make it more eco-friendly.” Her low-profile wonder uses biodegradable plastic, paper, and recyclable rivets, giving iLife ’09 a negligible carbon footprint (all user documentation is stored on the disc itself). Just grab your disc off the Apple Store display – like grabbing a pack of batteries at a drugstore – and off you go. “Most people get their disc home, slip it into their computer, and never deal with the box again. This package recognizes, and runs with, that reality.”

Illy Cafe in Push Button House (Lands in NY)

For some time, designers, architects and builders all over the world have tinkered with the idea of turning excess standard shipping containers into living quarters. Some of the incarnations of the lowly metal box are downright chic, including artist-architect Adam Kalkin’s Quik House for which he apparently has more orders than he can handle.

But these metal containers have also drawn the attention of some leading brands that have started to use the eye-popping ideas to full advantage. Holiday shoppers milling about the Time Warner Center in New York will have a fabulous chance to experience one of these soon. Between November 28 and December 29, 2007, they can rest, relax and sip a perfect cup of illy espresso in one of Kalkin’s creations, the temporary Push Button House cafe that the Trieste, Italy-based illycaffè will install there.

The European premier of this concept by Alan Kalkin and illy took place at the 52nd Venice Biennale where illy continues to partner with the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia by providing the visitors each year a space to relax and enjoy their complimentary espresso. This was illy’s fourth year of establishing the refreshment area at the Biennale but the Push Button House version created an unprecedented buzz.
With the push of a button, the house opens in 90 seconds like a flower and transforms from a compact container into a fully furnished and functional space with a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, living room and library. All materials used in the Biennale house were recyclable or recycled. As Andrea Illy, chairman and CEO of illycaffe, has been quoted as saying, illy was initially interested in Kalkin’s idea as an examination of “home as one continuous mouldable surface, a relief against which human activity would pop out.