Package of the Month
Direct-to-Consumer Brand Reel Enters Retail with Target Partnership
Reel is the first completely plastic-free, tree-free bamboo toilet paper brand available at Target.
Sustainable toilet paper brand Reel announced that it will be sold in a specialty 12-pack, exclusively at over 200 Target stores nationwide and online at Target.com. Every purchase of the 12-pack helps to reduce the 27,000 trees that are cut down every day to make toilet paper, according to the NRDC's 2019 report, “The Issue With Tissue.“ With Target's commitment to sustainability and forward-thinking approach, Reel says it's excited to partner with a retailer that offers innovative, eco-friendly household essentials at a good value.
“Reel's mission has always been to fight deforestation caused by daily consumable paper products. A majority of paper products sold in retail are still made from virgin fiber, contributing to the acceleration of climate change. Retail expansion will be a critical element of Reel's growth strategy over the next few years, and we're excited to partner with Target to help achieve this and reach more consumers for a greater impact. Having similar consumers, it was an easy decision to be able to offer the eco-curious family another accessible way to bring sustainability practices into their homes,” says Reel co-founder Derin Oyekan. Target consumers will be able to purchase Reel's specialty 12-pack in completely plastic-free packaging, the first of its kind on the retailer's shelves for the category. Packaged in a smaller size than Reel's usual 24-count, the box was designed to be more convenient for city dwellers in compact spaces. Reel’s toilet paper is 100% bamboo and free of inks, dyes and BPA.
To date, Reel says it has eliminated more than 130,000 pieces of single-use plastic; provided access to clean sanitation to over 7,300 people in Haiti; built over 1,200 toilets in Haiti. A reported 2.4 billion people in the world do not have access to a proper toilet — and Reel launched with the mission to change that. Every box of Reel toilet paper purchased both direct-to-consumer and at Target helps fund the Reel Change platform, supporting quality of life improvements for disadvantaged people around the world. The company's current partnership with SOIL provides access to toilets and removes waste from communities in Haiti, reducing the threats of waterborne illness posed by a lack of access to clean toilets.
Courtesy of Reel
Colour Journey: The Color-Filled Adventure by Lumson
Celebrated for its trendsetting, minimalistic design concepts, Lumson, a leader in primary cosmetic packaging and dispensing systems, is setting its sights for cosmetic packaging on a new aesthetic and sensory experience. And thanks to its expertise in decoration technology and to its research of new effects, the company is giving life to unique products with a distinctive identity that enhanced the sensory experience — a key element of cosmetic products. The simple and clean lines are given new life through the way light plays off the packaging and other novel effects. Vivid colors, the answer to our need for energy, literally “bring to light” new emotions in us: blue evokes trust and calmness, purple stimulates creativity and imagination, green induces balance and stability, and yellow reflects joy and optimism.
Courtesy of Lumson
Affinity Creative Delivers Retro Style for Borreo, a New Wine Project From Silverado Vineyards
Silverado Vineyards, a Napa Valley winery founded by Diane Disney Miller and Ron Miller in 1981, recently tagged Affinity Creative Group to brand a new portfolio of wines, called Borreo, in accordance with Silverado’s 40th anniversary.
Felix Borreo was an Italian immigrant and Napa grocer who purchased property near Napa Valley’s Soda Springs Resort and built a stone and redwood winery in 1888, where he planted grapevines, fruit and olive orchards. In 1992, Silverado’s founders — the Miller family — purchased the site and named the vineyard the Soda Creek Ranch.
Affinity Creative Group's mission was to respectfully reference Borreo’s rich heritage without resorting to the typical and expected wine label visual cliches. Additionally, the new brand needed to acknowledge Silverado's stewardship of this unique vineyard and its unexpected varietals.
“When the Atlas fire in 2017 destroyed the historic ghost winery on this historic property, we knew we needed to do something special to honor the legacy of Felix and the site,” notes Silverado Vineyards president Russell Weis, “So we decided to mark our anniversary by renaming our Soda Canyon Ranch in honor of Borreo; producing wine bearing his name, reflective of the quality of the fruit, and bottled in a package inspired by his era.”
Affinity accepted the challenge, creating a highly distinctive label design system. The Borreo branding is bold, splashed across the label in an upward sweeping band that nicely bridges the classic and contemporary worlds of typographic design. Unexpected, vintage-inspired colors change by varietal, providing contrast and patina to a range of beautiful drawings with a retro vibe.
In close collaboration with Affinity, the illustrations on the label feature the property’s botanicals, designed by Annabelle Rey Miller, fourth-generation winery owner and great granddaughter of Walt Disney. Her realistic depiction of grapes, lemons, pomegranates and other fruits serve as a focal point for the label and provides a natural "stage" for the Borreo brand name.
Courtesy of Affinity Creative
Robot Food Designs Wellness Line for Urban Fruit
Strategic branding and packaging design agency Robot Food has teamed up with fruit-snack brand Urban Fruit to create a range of superfood-infused dried-fruit snacks. With 68% of consumers viewing snacking as a way to help improve their quality of life*, Urban Fruit spotted the perfect opportunity to create the first ever wellbeing range in the dried fruit category.
Aimed at young, health conscious consumers, the snacks are made from a combination of mixed dried fruit and superfood powders such as baobab and turmeric. Each ingredient offers its own unique health benefits, from encouraging sleep to supporting a healthy immune system.
For the design, Robot Food knew the range had to be confident, colorful, and not only stand out from the competition but from Urban Fruit’s existing product portfolio too. All while looking natural, tasty and full of goodness.
Using Urban Fruit’s energetic and expressive master brand as a starting point, Robot Food chose to soften the color palette to create a calmer, gentler feel. Alongside contrasting bold type for the benefit-led naming and clear wellbeing claims to create an overall purposeful and efficacious identity.
* Mondelez International “State of Snacking“ report, 2020
Courtesy of Robot Food
SingleCut Releases Limited Edition NOTES IPA, an Ode to Its Love of Music
NOTES IPA (7% ABV) is the apex of SingleCut's love of music and beer. The juice-drenched DDH IPA is brewed with hand-selected hop buds, added in multiple stages to give an intense tropical citrus aroma of fresh orange slices, warm sweet mango, tangy white grapes, resinous citrus rind and a long, gentle linger of tangerine.
“NOTES isn't just a beer. It's a beer that'll actually teach you how to play guitar,” says Rich Buceta, founder of SingleCut. “I always say beer is my passion, but music is my life — and NOTES is a culmination of just that. So not only are you going to be able to enjoy an amazing beer, but we also designed the can to be functional. Just scan the code on the can, and in between sips, our Notes AR filter will show you how to play some of the key chords in rock music. It's bringing a whole new dimension to #DrinkLoud.”
The uniquely designed can label is a “made to (junior) scale” fretboard of a guitar that enables practicing finger placement for chords right on the can itself. Collector's packages include custom canisters that fit all four 16-oz cans ($18 MSRP) and include fully functional guitar picks.
Courtesy of SingleCut