If there was ever a luxury beer made for food pairing, my South African buddy Rui created it with Collective Sao Gabriel. And damn, they did such an incredible job with packaging. Wonder how it tastes? Stay tuned.

Take that Starbucks, Brooklyn Fare. (I wonder if this is trademark infringement..)

Help Remedies. You get the point. Gorgeously packaged bandages, pills, tablets and more with witty sayings that give a warm feeling.

Six packs are $20. It’s a shame they’re not homeopathic or natural remedies (hint, hint)– but the idea is damn nice. I see good things in the future for these folks!

Want to help them? They’ve set aside 5000 shares of their own company to give to people that help them on a variety of tasks from translation services to reviews and product suggestions. Check them out.

Update: Biodegradable packaging too!

Our packaging is made of molded paper pulp and a bio plastic made primarily of corn. We use these materials because they are interesting to look at, and they are compostable—which means one day, they might become part of a large tree. Maybe you can cut down that tree and make it into a speedboat.

Update 2: When you have nearly 6000 posts sometimes you forget when you’ve written about something before.  Damn, hey, at least it looks like they’ve come a long way!

Stellar lemonade packaging. Making me thirsty. By BVD in Sweden, Via Lovely Package.

I’ve been a big fan of The Dieline lately– the worlds #1 package design site. (We wrote about it last year, and it’s still going strong.  It just seems to get better and better each time I check in.) Browse by category or substrate. Obsessed with great packaging (I sure am) and looking for inspiration? This should be a daily read for you.

Despite being one of Mother Nature’s most wondrous creations, human beings seem to spend a lot of time destroying her other gifts with irresponsible actions or products detrimental to the environment. It makes all too much sense that as part of the Earth, the products we use should be both beneficial to ourselves and to it. That’s the genius behind the products by Pangea Organics, our favorite eco-conscious maker of body and skincare items. Not only are their soaps and lotions lacking in harmful chemicals, but their molded fiber packaging comes with seeds embedded, so if you plant them they actually give back to the environment. This holiday season, Pangea has upped their ante as all of their holiday gift sets are lined with seeds for spruce trees. If the company achieves their sales goal 122,000 new spruce trees planted, it will be the environmental equivalent of not driving 30 million miles in one year. So your thoughtful gift of scented soap might actually end up being someone’s Christmas tree one day.

Here is a little visit from the vault, a while back we gave a mention to Bishbo. Back then they had just launched a new site and were excited to take on the world of package and advertising design. We would like to take credit for their success, but it might have a little more to do with the fact that they put out consistent quality. Picking up some great U.K. clients doesn’t hurt either. Have a look at a few more examples from Bishbo after the jump — and keep up the good work guys.

And don’t forget their own blog of inspiration.

READ MORE…

Your gal pals are always gushing on about how p.c. they are with their organic beauty products and all, but as a dude who likes to be clean and conscious of what you slather onto your body, why should you be accused of metrosexuality for wanting an alternative to your soap-and-shave regime? Organic Grooming is a men’s line of vegan personal care products, from cologne to deodorant, packaged in biodegradable and recyclable containers and contain ingredients you’d put in your lunch salad (like organic carrot and cucumber). According to the product’s backstory, these remedies were mixed in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere by a couple named Luke and Lisa (no last names listed), who received the first-ever organic personal care facility certificate in the States last year. We guess if you’re going to make a shaving cream from organic aloe, lavender and peppermint, you need a bit of privacy.

Here in America we like our duct tape to do all of the talking by doing its job. We don't adorn it with packaging pretty designs. We just like no frills brown cardboard tape rolls to show our lunch pail mentality when it comes to the task at hand. Thankfully, the Japanese don't feel the same way. Our friends at PingMag have pointed out some ‘thrilling’ finds while employing the use of different brands of Japanese duct or gum tape. It seems that for quite some time Japanese manufacturers of the essential adhesive have managed to make their packaging into quite the artistic endeavor as evidenced by some of the photos supplied. They justify their artistic packaging by stating that once the tape is used up, all that is left is the cardboard. Without the fetching designs, users would forget which brand they used unless reminded by the eye-catching creations. We can't say we blame them for making duct tape that much more appealing.

There's nothing quite like unwrapping a present…the anticipation…the thrill of that first tear of gift paper…and ultimately the disappointment at receiving a pair of socks or a Wii Game you already have, proving once again that it is ultimately better to give than to receive. More proof that's it's better to wrap than unwrap can be seen in the line of gift paper from New York Based Giggle Designs. Their Giggle Wrap, being sold at the MoMA gift shops, add a certain beauty to the art of wrapping presents by covering the decorative paper in tourist photos and “memories that aspire to bring something more personal, inspiring and emotional to the act of giving gifts.” While you revel in the aesthetic joy of wrapping that certain surprise in a grass at the park design, a birthday cake, or spaghetti and meatballs, don't be surprised when your loved one rips open that lovely paper and recoils in horror at that Milli Vanilli CD you thought would be a funny birthday present. Even if the outside is beautiful, ultimately it's what's on the inside that counts. Girl, you know it's true.

Most recycling sends material downwards on the “food chain”. Once the material is recycled, it’s of a lower quality than it started and is therefore less useful. Upcycling, on the other hand, takes a material beyond its original usefulness, moving it up the chain.

Which is exactly what designer Tom Ballhatchet has done with this television packaging — similar to what designer Eion McNally has done with computer packaging — by creating a shipping crate that can be converted into a television stand. Aimed at a lower-end market, this package design is perfect for all those 20-somethings who are more concerned about owning a big-screen than whether or not they have a sofa or a bed to sleep in.

via Unpressable Buttons

–Danny Nathan

What TASTE has done to the can — and the food inside it — takes tinned food to a whole new level. TASTE has dubbed itself as “the World's First Luxury Canned Food Line” and they are not playing around. TASTE means serious business with an attractive label and first-class, all-natural ingredients. With items like Premium Italian (hand) Grilled Zucchini and Premium Shelled Chilean Razor Clams (packed fresh, of course).

TASTE has definitely raised the bar for the canned food world. You'll have to try TASTE for yourself to believe it…but our guess is when it debuts at the Summer Fancy Foods Show in New York this July, they'll be a whole lot of TASTE to be found.

Being such a huge cheerleader for industrial design rockstar Eion McNally (as well as his sometime co-conspirator, Ian Walton), I get super-excited when I get wind of any new project he’s got going on — and I wasn’t at all disappointed when he emailed me about his Packaging for Re-Use prototype. Using a combination of wax-coated cardboard, adhesive patches, velcro, lambswool felt and some DIY ingenuity, the once disposable-but-not-so-recyclable packaging protecting your spankin’ new laptop converts into a sleeve, perfect for insulating your prized possession from dings and dirt. Because, if you ask me, getting all craftser is a hell of a lot more fun than throwing away a box filled with styrofoam blocks. Note to Mr. Jobs, though — when you buy this from Eion, I’m expecting a finder’s fee.

It’s not that I’m ungrateful about receiving gifts, it’s just that I appreciate — maybe more than most — incredibly wrapped presents, whether they’re heading my way or not. For some reason, I feel a lackadaiscally-chosen gift can be totally redeemed when thoughtfully encased in ribbons, bows and/or paper. I blame my mother for the years of beautifully wrapped and bowed boxes, which were always themed and always unique; one year, it was tartan ribbon trimmed metallic-painted leaves and seedpods from eucalyptus trees, a sort of unconscious homage to our Australian and Scottish heritage.

My tastes have shifted from the homespun variety and are influenced heavily by pop culture and modern design, and that’s why I dig the line of papers offered by French Paper Co. Cheeky and audacious, their papers are sure to make any pair of socks you give your Dad next Sunday a fun little kick. And if you’re into a little potty humor (who isn’t?), be sure to take a look at their series of illustrated books. I mean, what’s not to love about a book entitled “Fluffy Humpy Poopy Puppy?” Nothing. Nothing at all.

I think there’s something really admirable about boutique design firms who consistently and regularly produce high-caliber results. That’s not to say that bigger agencies don’t deserve the same respect, but smaller shops tend to inspire the underdog supporter in me — especially knowing it’s a one or two person shop creating such groundbreaking work. That feeling swept over me this morning when I was checking out Bishbo’s newly updated site; based in North West London, their portfolio is as extensive and impressive as it is fun and irreverent. In addition to work for the Sunday Telegraph and producing both virtual and physical packaging for the alternate reality game Perplex City, they have a kickass piece featured in this year’s Semi-Permanent publication. By the looks of things, it seems Jack and Olli are going to be busy little bees for the foreseeable future.