Minimalist Typographic & Packaging Style.

I have a funky habit of removing labels from stuff. No, not clothing labels -- but bottles, jars and miscellaneous containers. I like the packages in my house to be "clean" and uncluttered with unnecessary text and noise (if I can help it). Most often it's the objects in my bathroom and kitchen that are stripped down to the essence -- including bottles for shampoo, conditioner and body wash, soap/lotion dispenser pumps, and even miscellaneous hair/skin products. One of my friends called it "Zen" which I thought was appropriate and cool, but most people end up confused for a few seconds until I point out which container holds what stuff.

What can I say? Blame it on my inner minimalist.

So you can pretty much imagine that this Bittbox article on package design held my attention for more than a few minutes. Some sample images:

These are gorgeous.

There's a debate going on in the comments section of the BittBox article: Some commenters argue that a few of the packages looked "generic" owing to the simplicity of their designs, but I contend that one needs to look at the subtle typographical details (as well as the design of the package itself) in order to appreciate the difference.

One can split effective design into two halves, good and great. Good package design conveys just enough information to relay the contents of the wrapper; great package design adds humor or cleverness to the mix and elevates the entire idea. They're probably not appropriate for every dining occasion, but you can't tell me the salt & pepper batteries aren't awesome.