TO WIN: Leave us a comment about your favorite totes!
How do you get your hands on one of these beauties? Leave a comment! What about? What your current favorite reusable tote bag is, where'd you get it, what you use it for, and how long you've had it. At the end of the month I'll pick a lucky commenter and we'll shoot this bag over ASAP!
I made the decision to vacation in Argentina on a whim. Until we boarded the plane, even my wife had no idea where we were headed. We had few solidified plans and little focus, other than immersing ourselves in the culture and, of course, the food.
I love a 5 star restaurant as much as the next guy, but, to truly discover an area, I believe you have to eat where the locals eat. When in Rome. And so, we ate our way across the Argentinean expanse. Street food. Beef. Empanadas. Beef. Thus far, the best pizza in the world. And beef. And more empanadas.
Being Mac based Microsoft has rarely impacted my life other than with their XBOX 360, until now.
Bing.com Microsoft's new search engine is great for image searches, instead of having to continuously click "next" to get to the following page Bing just pulls them all up and allows you to scroll endlessly. For this reason alone I may start using Bing.
Life has taken Wisconsin artist Timothy Meyerring von Thymann down many roads. When I first met Timo, he had spent several years working with letterpress guru Bruce Licher and design giant Landor associates producing and designing packaging, posters, and everything in between for the likes of R.E.M., Live, and Microsoft. More recently, his travels have taken him throughout Europe and across the U.S. enabling him to further his studies of forms, concepts, and materials. Soon, he will be departing to Dallas to continue his work with Conrad Schmitt Studios gilding the balconies of the Winspear Opera House.
Here is a list of Blogs we love for a million reasons, retail packaging, inspiration, design, fun stuff, odd stuff, and ways to clear your mind to dive into the next project.
Illustrator tool box
Blog without words
Randy Ludacer's Boxvox
Brocade
Stephan's Daily Monster, love this. great artist.
Packaging
More packaging
And even more packaging
And even more packaging than that
Design Packaging's 25th anniversary is coming up which gives us the perfect excuse to redesign our marketing materials. As excited as I am to be working on the new kit, I am sad to see last year's kit edged out by a newer, faster, younger, and better looking model.
The 2008 Luxury Retail Packaging Kit was completely designed from the recipient’s perspective. Putting yourself on the consumer’s side of the equation, as opposed to the designer's side, allows you to understand the anticipation of the entire unveiling process.
Discovery Land's Mountaintop Golf & Lake Club is rugged, luxury living in North Carolina's famed Blue Ridge Mountains. In need of shopping bags, Mountaintop approached Design Packaging to create a cohesive retail packaging program that would convey the wild spirit of Mountaintop Club. The challenge? The program had to be designed, the materials selected, and the details approved in a matter of two short weeks.
With no time to waste, research began immediately. Reading everything I could on Blue Ridge Mountains, Google-Earthing the area, and discussing the property with Discovery Land, I had a pretty clear picture of what was needed to convey their message of rugged luxury.
I recently started the Shopping Bag Design Group on Flickr as a place for fledgling or not so fledgling designers to showcase shopping bag photos, including their own work or favorite designs. I am excited for our small community to grow into a larger, eclectic collection of artists wanting to expand awareness of the modern philosophies of today’s designers.
After reading Ted Minini's post on package design blog: thedieline.com “Advertising is Dead. Long Live Packaging.” I have to agree with his assessment. It seems that we have become immune to advertising these days as we are bombarded everywhere we turn (i.e. television, web, print, radio, shirts, skywriting, bumper stickers, window decals touting grout cleaning, emails, text messages - ugh). Advertising no longer has the impact it did a few generations ago, so now the last place we interact with products and the last chance of changing the minds of consumers is... at retail where advertising dollars can go to make a difference.
I recently spotted a photo of Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus
carrying the Harmony Lane Beverly Hills reusable shopping bag in Us
Magazine. Celebs in Hollywood seem to
love displaying their purchases, especially when those items reflect their
eco-consciousness.
It’s clear that today’s urban lifestyle calls for a tote that shoppers not only love to be seen carrying but is also environmentally green. In an effort to become more eco-friendly, the trendy Harmony Lane Beverly Hills came to us looking for an upscale tote to replace their paper shopping bags. The result of our partnership was a chic, reusable shopping bag - black silk screened logo on cream colored non-woven material with black trim. The sturdy handles allow for ease in carrying the tote on or off the shoulder.
