Packaging - the unsung hero

I love Method. I use their bathroom and cleaning wipes and their hand soaps. I haven't strayed from my beloved Tide to try their relatively new laundry detergent but I may give it a shot. I love their commitment to the environment, their light natural scents, and most of all, their efficacy.

One of the directors of industrial design at Method wrote a great article for dieline, a packaging blog that I follow and have cited here from time to time. So many companies treat packaging as that thing that you bung the product into before getting it out the door. Method took the opposite tack, creating a breath of fresh air on crowded drug store and supermarket shelves all over the country. I suggest you read Joshua Handy's article. His point is that packaging is often created by 'best practice,' which leads to duplicating all the wrong things and throwing out the good stuff.

To me the money quote is:

My experience has taught me that effective packaging has three dimensions that need to be equally considered: Beauty, Functionality and Responsibility. Traditional “best practice” emphasizes the functional aspect over all others, which is why most packaging is ugly both aesthetically and environmentally.

Great read.