Last year the French supermarket ‘Monoprix’ had a makeover of their own brand grocery products (over 2,000). They treated each pack almost as a billboard, employing blocks of solid colour typography. There are no images, you can’t see the product within and there are no serving suggestions an the products.
They applied ‘all in words’ concept that is to be perceived as an image. Each individual package contains a unique play on words, a joke to amuse the consumer. This seems as an unusual approach, doesn’t it? They also came up with a unique message on different sized packages of the same product. So, for example the text on 250 gram pack of butter is different to the one on a 125 gram pack. All this created by Havas City, a Paris based advertising agency. This was also supported by outdoor advertising and a slogan saying ‘Just say no to junk design’.
I found this article in the Creative Review (Feb 2011) and thought it was interesting. What do you think?
LCC MAGD GROUP V 
This packing design reminds me the EAT brand identity which was designed by Angus Hyland of Pentagram. I don’t know if you have ever eaten their food before, it is interesting that you can only see the “food category” on every packaging. For example, a packaging of a cup of soup is printed with “SOUP” only. I mean people can totally focus on what they want; the strapline—“The Real Food Company”—was developed to further suggest the brand’s values. Designers need to think about the right method of communication between customers and clients.
EAT’s VI– http://pentagram.com/en/new/2007/07/new-work-eat-seasonal.php
This reminds me of this brand we had back at home when I was younger, called “Blåvitt” (Bule-white). I was a really cheap brand containing series of everyday items. The products were sold at a low price, and without much marketing, and the names of the products were always obvious (toothpaste was called toothpaste, and so forth).
Have a look!
Rice and fish fingers: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VDcf8E6ymxA/SiPBGJ0Tu_I/AAAAAAAAA5o/2Ljxrns4Dac/s400/DSCF1045-g.JPG
burgers: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VDcf8E6ymxA/SiPBfuJyXgI/AAAAAAAAA54/WB4BbrPj7PQ/s1600-h/DSCF1047-g.JPG
Other (toilet paper, tea, oats, coffe…): http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tyM8GBI3i-M/S-GLJXXsNUI/AAAAAAAAAcE/sWneeBaX9NU/s1600/blåvittprodukter.bmp
Seeing these products makes me so nostalgic. Maybe I’ll make a post of it as well so that you don’t need to click all the links.
‘With the credit crunch triggering a resurgence in home baking, Waitrose wanted to draw together and increase sales of its products within this category.
Lewis Moberly were challenged to refresh the entire Waitrose home baking range. Taking the product labels, the agency adopted a strong typographical style and restrained colour palette. Reinforcing the appeal to female customers, this design solution delivered an evocative call to action reflective of the gusto and informality of confident cooks. It also produced a highly visible block of products on-shelf. Transparent packaging was used where possible, creating an inviting, mouth-watering showcase of ingredients.
The powerful new concept helped to unify a visually eclectic and diverse range of products. Within a week design costs had been recouped and profitability reached. And against an average UK increase of 4%, the Waitrose home baking range grew in value by 109% in 2009 compared to the previous year.’
from:
http://www.effectivedesign.org.uk/