Objects to Desire - Tokyo Milk

I was wandering through my local Department Store and saw the most delightful beauty range -  Tokyo Milk. The packaging was obviously what caught me eye, but the whole brand "story" is so now I just had to share it with you.

It follows the trend of "handmade" looking packaging and web design, which I feel is reflective of our desire for authenticity and objects to be tactile.

The range offers such a variety of product that sell well both in stores and online. It's my theory that anything your don't need to "try on" or touch, and packaging and marketing that is purely visual, will do well online. This range ticks all the boxes. The visual "look" tactile, and create the desire to touch, so the customer HAS to buy them for the full experience. There are good lessons for the new e-tailer there.

The products are generic enough (fragrance,candles, soap, hand cream, body lotions) and priced at a non-prohibitive price point, that they fall beautifully into the chic gift category, and unusual enough to be a fashion forward choice.

The website uses tags and old paper to create a distinctly vintage, collage look. It gives the impression of organic, natural  and scrapbooked. The typography of a vintage typewriter is charmingly simple and chic.

Eden No. 3 Parfum

"A decidedly different collection of brilliantly paired fragrance notes housed in an alluring glass bottle decorated with a vintage image of butterflies."

Marie - Petite Parfum Solide

This charming box fits perfectly in the palm of your hand; decorated with a vintage hand-glittered image of Marie in all of her glory. Slide open the matchbook-style box to reveal a glass pot of Parfum Solide.

Rose with Bees No. 12 Bubble Bath

Peer through the looking glass. A delightful surprise awaits.
Luxurious chattering bubbles boast Extract of Japanese Green Tea, hydrating Avocado and Olive Oils and Vitamin E.
A beautiful balance: Citrus Zest, Rosewood, Mimosa & Mandarin

Dead Sexy Cosmetic Bag

A covetable cosmetic tote to house a delightful world of curiosities. Eclectic imagery will carry you away from the everyday, with glittered paper butterfly tag perched as if ready to take flight. So pretty you’ll want to collect them all!

Let Them Eat Cake Greeting Card

Laid paper frosted with hand-glittered accents. As much a treat to give as it is to receive. Blank inside.

Truth No. 85 Fate and Fortune Collection

Truth: an undeniable force.
Fragrance Notes - Blood Orange, Osmanthus, Crushed Cedar, Sugared Vanilla
Provocatively perfumed. The alchemy of allure. Botanical extracts unearthed, crushed then distilled into this remarkably uncommon sensory experience.

Tokyomilk is a range of brilliantly paired fragrance notes found in the Parfumerie Curiosite, edgy yet evocative sentiments conveyed through the greeting card collection. You will find no end to the delightful surprises hidden within. Step through the looking glass into the world of Tokyomilk.


You can purchase this gorgeous range below:

Beauty and Health Packaging Round Up

 Love the Pin-stripes - so appropriate for a men's line. Lovely typography and subtle use of colour. Very well done Gessato.

 

Not only beautiful product photography, but another exquisite Guerlain piece.

Took me a little while to "get this" but love it. So elegant.

 

Again, Kat Von D's stunning Tattoo based range. So cool.

Kat Von D Again...

Super chic skincare packaging. So clean and well considered by Malgosia Valie.

I love the clean, almost hand done, lines of the logo in contrasted with the careful typography.

A little out of place in this line up but worthy of a mention,due to the fabulous use of colour on the labels and great container colour from Innisfree.

 

and the clean lines of the boxes tie everything in nicely.

All images courtesy of the Dieline which is a fantastic resource for packaging inspiration.

Snap! Avon's "New Look" cosmetics packaging...

Chanel's classic cosmetics packaging

Avon's New Look Packaging.

A company that can afford to have a top Hollywood beauty as the face of their brand might also want to look at designing some original packaging. Chanel have had the same packaging for years and it is iconic and classically Chanel - just wondering what Avon's product developers are thinking? What... no one will notice? 

Maybe they didn't notice that the packaging was the same... 

 

 Avon (above) and Chanel (below)

Lather Bee Rich Soap Packaging

Had to smile when I saw this courtesy of the Dieline - where would I be without that gem of a site? With a market yearning for authenticity and something real to hold onto, Lather Bee Rich Soaps have come up with an old fashioned remedy to help clean up our act. Nothing newfangled or confusing, nothing nasty or not natural. "Not only does the use of tin lend authentic credibility to the packaging design, tin is a strong environmental choice for the 21st century. It is endlessly re-usable and recyclable and at the end of its lifecycle it naturally biodegrades to its iron mineral components." by El Designo (USA)
From latherbeerich.com

Tea anyone?

Gorgeous website and branding for Silence Tea. You can visit the site here.
Site and branding for this Silence Tea by McFaul Studio.

 

Yogi Tea by The Sterling Rice Group and Hero Design Studio

Tea Forte Tea - innovative packaging that loves the Earth.

The graphic designer Peter Hewitt, founder of Tea Forte in Concord, in 2003 created the company’s signature pyramid-shaped nylon bag.

High Tea Party Website by Boheem Design

Above, adorable colours and tea accessories from Gratefully Searching 

 Madame Flavour Tea Site

Above and below - Madame Flavour Packaging

Cowan design consultancy created the identity for a new ‘feminine’ tea range Madame Flavour.

The vintage illustration style captures that restful moment treasured by all busy women.

La Senza Fragrance - Identity Discovery

I was searching for lolly and confectionery packaging references for another client, and found this gem of brand identity. While it has sweet nothing to do with lollies, it's a beautiful identity, and I wanted to share it with you. I know it's a style that's been done to death, but in this case it's done well and is impeccably presented. I bet it smells musky sweet.
Apparently the lace pattern was hand drawn and enhanced by embossing and vanishing. Pushing the boundaries, the glass bottle has a 360 degree pattern on the sphere, which is really hard to accomplish.

You can find out more about it at La senza
Designed by Alexandra Rubin of Beardwood & Co.