Yeah.

Apr
26th

Sun

Bad example #10: assorted vegan products

I hate to be a traitor here, but I really can’t blame people for not wanting to try vegetarian/vegan foods because they think they’re gross, because frankly the packaging of most of these products doesn’t help the cause. Most things look like the packaging was designed by people who had no design training at all. I understand that a lot of these products are made by really small companies who might not have their own design team, and that a majority of the people buying these products are doing so out of necessity or would do so even if the packaging is ugly. However, as a vegetarian AND a designer, it just pains me to see this sort of stuff out there, and I think a lot of people would be more open to trying veg food if it looked more appealing.

Comments (View)

Bad example #9: Dr. Bronner’s soap

This soap packaging is totally insane, probably because the guy who made it was totally insane (seriously, I looked it up on Wikipedia…he was committed to a mental hospital but then escaped, and went on to start this soap company) I’m sure the soap itself is great and works fine, but the labels are so overwhelming, and disturbing if you actually take the time to read them. I don’t want to buy soap with stuff about “God’s spaceship earth” on it, sorry.

Comments (View)

Bad example #8: Pennysticks pretzels

Another package that looks like it hasn’t been updated in 100 years, but not in a good way. It makes the product feel old and stale.

Comments (View)

Bad example #7: Drake’s products

I know Drake’s and Hostess are pretty iconic, but to me they’re sort of outdated looking. The color choices and the style of the packaging makes the products look cheap and old.

Comments (View)

Bad example #6: Voortman cookies

These cookies are actually pretty good, and I only know that because someone else I know was brave enough to buy them and I tried them, but I never would’ve bought them on my own because the packaging is so ugly. The colors and the pictures they use, and just the overall design of the package makes them look totally unappealing.

Comments (View)

Bad example #5: Road’s End “Mac and Cheese”

I put “Mac and Cheese” in quotes because this stuff is so gross it shouldn’t even count as food, but I digress. The packaging is just as nasty as the food inside tastes; the font is terrible and the colors are weird and muted. Just…bad.

Comments (View)

Bad example #4: Odwalla Bars

Like I said with the Clif Bars example, a lot of nutritional bars have such cluttered packaging, and I think the perfect example of this is Odwalla Bars. Sometimes you have to stare at the wrapper for a good 10 seconds just to find out what flavor it is because there is so much other crap going on that your eyes can’t focus.

Comments (View)

Bad example #3: Tofutti anything!

I posted the Tofutti cream cheese packaging on the Flickr as a bad example, and then as I was looking around it dawned on me that Tofutti packaging in general just sucks. It’s all so ugly, from the color choices to the cluttered packaging to the weird fonts they use. The products are really good and they have some great vegetarian and vegan food alternatives, but you wouldn’t know it based on first impressions with packaging.

Comments (View)

Bad example #2: Kashi Good Friends cereal

I used another Kashi product as a good example, but clearly the same design team didn’t work on this item. Every other Kashi product seems to have a pretty uniform design sense, but this cereal just sticks out like a sore thumb. I get that they’re trying to have friendly looking people on the box to try and relate to the name, but it’s just sort of creepy and makes it unappealing.

Comments (View)

Bad example #1: Cup Noodles

This stuff is legit disgusting, and the packaging doesn’t help to make it seem any more appealing. The weird, muted colors and the picture on the box just don’t make me want to buy and eat this product.

Comments (View)