The Goodness of Nature

These last years, the environment has been so much talked about, that it would be rather weird if it didn’t influence how we package our products. Packaging is of course a major culprit when it comes to our ecological footprint – from the production of different substrates, via the impact of packaging size and shape on transport, to the waste it eventually becomes. Therefore, much packaging by eco-conscious brands has been designed with the environment in mind in different ways.

However, a certain look of naturalness, dominated by unbleached and unprinted kraft board and simple (often intentionally uneven) screen printing, seems to be just as important to brands. Sending a clear signal to consumers that they’re doing something for the environment by buying these products is of course important – the sales argument of eco-friendliness should be clearly visible on the shelf. In some of these products, though, the natural look does not reflect an environmental benefit in the product itself, but just a general connotation of naturalness in other aspects: fresh ingredients for a meal instead of industrially produced frozen food, or good-for-you functional juices. In these cases, premium qualities are communicated with the absence of expensive looking packaging (foiling, UV coating, etc) – something I’ll return to in my next post which will cover The Other Side of Luxury.

For brands like cosmetics company Pangea Organics, the eco packaging thinking goes way beyond the look. Their clever glueless box, pictured below, is soy printed on 80% post-consumer single-ply uncoated paperboard, and carbon neutrally manufactured with 100% green electricity. An excellent example of a brand that’s truly consistent in delivering its brand promise.

Glueless box by Pangea Organics.

New Leaf 100% Recycled paper goods designed by Willoughby Design.

Scratch food packaging designed by Brandy.

M13 functional juice packaging designed by Betterdaze.

Basic Shapes toy packaging designed by Coöp.

Empty paperbags to be folded into animals, for the benefit of WWF, designed by Magdalena Czarnecki.

Cascade Green beer packaging designed by Landor Sydney.

(Pictures via The Dieline)

You might also be interested in these posts:

1. The Safety of Yesteryear
2. The Other Side of Luxury
3. The visual language of packaging in 2009
4. Service Design for Beginners
5. The Professional Services Brand – Don't Worry, Do It Right

Tagged: branding, graphic design, packaging, Trends

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