Artisan
Pirkkalan by Werklig
It’s been years since millennials were first accused of buying too many avocado toasts and expensive coffees. The stereotype of young people loving handmade, refined and artisanal products holds true in their spending patterns, and today, that generation has matured into business leaders, reshaping the world’s mindset to align with these priorities. As consumers, Gen Z seem to be picking...
Kettle Kids by Two Times Elliott
The once laudable claim to have started a thriving business with ‘a small loan’ from a doting family member may have been muddied beyond recognition by the truth-stretching of serial tax-offender and part-time Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Despite this, turning ‘one thousand pounds from nan’ into a luxury watch and diamond dealership with a sparkling flagship store in Mayfair remains...
Black Bee Honey by OMSE
It was yesterday I made a run to the local supermarket to pick up some essentials. I had two choices, turn left to Waitrose or right to Morrisons. Despite being somewhat price conscious, I enjoy looking at the packaging at the higher-priced Waitrose, so went left–let’s say it’s the cost of being a designer. Anyway, honey was on the list....
Recchiuti by Manual
Recchiuti Confections is a San Francisco-based gourmet chocolatier that creates chocolates with unique flavour combinations. Using traditional European techniques, with locally sourced ingredients from Northern Californian farms and markets, Recchiuti’s chocolates have earned a loyal customer base and several accolades. After 25 years in business, Recchiuti sought the expertise of Manual – a local design studio – for a brand...
Casa Malka by Nihilo
Branding agency Nihilo is more adept than most at shattering stereotypes – both in the work they make, and in terms of who the agency is, and what it’s all about. Founded by designer Emunah Winer and writer Margaret Kerr-Jarrett in Israel in 2021 and now based in Columbus, Ohio, the agency takes its name from the Latin term ‘creatio...
Departed Spirits by Marx Design
Maybe it’s been ‘silly season’ summer; maybe there’s a lack of risk-taking/imagination/budget; maybe I’m just jaded, but it’s felt as though recent months haven’t exactly seen a wealth of particularly exciting branding and packaging projects. That’s not to say there hasn’t been a steady stream of good work, but I’ve personally not felt hugely ‘wowed’: there’s been work that’s strong,...
Entrée by Saint Urbain
More than three years since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, we’re in a strange situation when it comes to all the things that flourished due to lockdown – grocery delivery services like Getir, et al; streaming services that poured literally billions into what once seemed like a never-ending gold-rush of content-consumption; flashy home-centric lifestyle brands like Peloton. Indeed, the...
Loot by Seachange
Where have all the simple playful ideas gone? You know the ones, a bit of wit, spun into a multitude of playful expressions across a number of different touch-points? Design craft has gotten so good over the last few years, but I miss the smile-in-the-mind stuff. Paul Belford’s New Chapter, Seachange’s Think Packaging and Mucho’s Art Walk. They’re not strategic...
Sucre by DutchScot
It’s always satisfying to see smart, bold new identity designs for a household name brand, often by one of the big name studios: things like the still-hyped 2021 JKR Burger King rebrand; Collins’ Girl Scouts revamp in 2022; Springetts’ fresh look for Ryvita that same year, which makes the much-maligned crispbread seem a lot more palatable. And while such projects...
Stereoscope by Olssøn Barbieri
Oslo-based multi-disciplinary design studio Olssøn Barbieri has created the brand identity for Los Angeles-based speciality coffee roastery Stereoscope, working across its packaging design and printed materials with a typography-led approach that celebrates tactility. According to Olssøn Barbieri, Stereoscope is underpinned by a philosophy that sees coffee as a living organism rather than a commodity, and which takes its responsibility to...
.Oddity Fragrance by .Oddity Studio
In July 2019 New York-based Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh announced that they would be splitting their shared practice after nearly a decade of innovative and boundary-pushing work together. In the amicable separation, &Walsh took over the commercial projects while Sagmeister announced he would exclusively be working on ‘self-generated design’ under Sagmeister Inc. Having made his millions, Sagmeister’s days are...
Eadem by Lotta Nieminen
The skincare industry is a varied visual landscape. At one end of the spectrum, brands like Glossier and Soft Services (reviewed July 2022) have found balance in softness and understated minimalism. At the other Dr.Jart+ (reviewed Jan. 2018) and Malin+Goetz bring pharmacy-chic with functional, type-led packaging. And then we have our classic, heritage brands – like Kiehl’s and Elizabeth Arden – which...