A clear way to differentiate products on a shelf is to color-code the packaging. I love color-coding! What better way to see that there is something different among a line of products?

Below are four examples of how Go East has helped its clients color-code.

A great way to differentiate among food products is to use the product itself to color-code. Campbell’s® V8® Soup does a nice job of keeping green as their brand color but using the color of the vegetables to distinguish the varieties on shelf.

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Barcodes are neither creative nor pleasant to look at. But what if they could be? Well, they can! There are sites that offer stock and custom UPC codes. Like stock photography houses, a stock barcode can be used for a fee or a custom barcode can be created to reflect a specific company or product.

Some examples from Vanity Barcodes

And a few from Bar Code Revolution

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In researching top trends for 2010, I found trends for everything from fashion (ripped jeans and jumpsuits are back), to colors (turquoise, tomato puree and pink champagne are gonna be hot), to “value is the new black.” How did I narrow down these lists to the top five trends? I started by picking five that are relevant or interesting to me.

Sorry, but that means no turquoise jumpsuits made my list.

1. Facebook replaces personal email
Facebook has so much appeal (share photos and thoughts and keep up with long-lost pals). When you can write on someone’s wall or send a message through Facebook, why use personal email? Is this a new trend? I wouldn’t use Facebook for long, personal emails, but for quick exchanges – why not?

2. Targeting
We all get direct mail pieces that are specifically targeted to us, or are intended to be targeted to us. I immediately think of a magazine insert with my name printed on it. Whatever it is, chances are it was sent to you because of your age and gender. A new trend is to target consumers based on their  personality and individual needs. A recent article in Deliver magazine explained how a travel company named Backroads uses automated marketing engine technology from Nimblefish to mail postcards to past customers with photos of places these customers have visited. Not only will the message speak specifically to the recipient of the postcard (with their name) but it will also remind them of a past trip and suggest other trips they may like based on their history.

3. Smaller workspaces
I’ve heard about a trend toward smaller office spaces. Are private, enclosed offices going away? According to Executive Travel Magazine, more and more people are working in teams rather than solo. As a result, companies are making bigger common areas. Bigger common spaces mean more places for collaboration. More places for collaboration, means smaller personal offices spaces (most are now 7′ x 7′, down from 8′ x 8′).

4. Embedded generosity
People feel good about donating but sometimes it takes more effort than they’d like. Embedded generosity makes giving and donating virtually painless. Buy a pair of TOMS Shoes online, and the company will donate a pair of shoes to a child in need. Buy a pack of Pampers with a “1 Pack = 1 Life-Saving Vaccine” logo, and Procter & Gamble will donate the cost of one vaccine to UNICEF.  How easy is that?

5. Clean and simple
One of my favorite design blogs is Brand New. Something I’ve noticed on the blog this past year is the refinement of logos. Cleaner and simpler refinements. I hope it’s a trend that continues into 2010. Which do you prefer: the before or the after?

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Our responses to typography are just as subjective as our responses to color or music. While one person finds a particular typeface beautiful, another may wonder, “You think that’s beautiful? Why?” Some typefaces seem to live on forever and always have a place in design (think Helvetica) and others should have been abandoned years ago (pick your favorite over-used typeface).

My top-10 list — and the fonts are arranged alphabetically, not in order of preference — is based solely on how I feel at this moment. Ask me tomorrow and I may say, “Ugh; what was I thinking?”

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Typography is good for more than just making words. Type can become art. Shadows shift and dimension emerges by changing typefaces, their colors and their sizes. Using lighter and smaller text can create softness. Here are two examples of “type as art” that I find inspiring and that make me want to create art from type.

Images courtesy of pixelelement.com.

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There are a range of brand guidelines. Some are meant as “guides” to be used loosely, while others are “rules” that must be followed exactly.

Packaging guidelines are good examples of when you must say yes to the most stringent use of guidelines. Yes to an exact size of the logo. Yes to the same style and placement of photography. Yes to the distance between information.

Following these rules can be challenging at times, especially when the size of the packaging changes. However, when there’s consistency, it’s easier for consumers to find what they are looking for on the shelf.

The following examples show that, even with color changes, the products clearly belong together. Without guidelines or “rules” I’m afraid to know how inconsistant and unshoppable these products would be. Would consumers know that a specific product comes in multiple flavors or with different options? They might simply buy the first product they see or recognize — a missed opportunity either way — or even skip over that brand altogether if they couldn’t easily find what they wanted.

Guidelines or “rules” and the consistencies they offer can directly affect a brand’s ability to sell multiple products to the same consumer. Who knew that a set of rules could hold so much power?

Clorox image courtesy of McLean Design
Lays and Tostitos images courtesy of Landor Associates

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Sprite has a new product called Sprite Green. When I first came across it, I immediately wondered what made this product “green.” There was no mention of environmental benefits in the short Brand Packaging article I read that featured the new packaging, or on Sprite’s website. The “bottle” is made from aluminum, but so are soda cans. And is more aluminum really “green?” The only connection with the environment that I can find is that the new product is naturally sweetened. So does it really deserve the title “green”? Or has it become automatic for us to think that “green” can only mean “good for the environment?”

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When Poland Spring Water came out with a lighter, eco-shape water bottle, it made sense to me. Why do I need a strong, durable bottle to hold my water? The lighter bottle works just as well, uses less plastic and is better for the environment.

Recently, I’ve noticed that Target has changed their plastic bags. They are now much thinner and use less plastic. In theory, this also makes sense: Less plastic, less cost to Target and less waste in the environment. However,  the bag is now so thin that it tears easier, so the cashier either puts less items in each bag — therefore giving me more bags than necessary  – or  double-bags the items. So are we really saving anything?

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