#buyprettythings

[bluenebulaworks]

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[bakerhi]

I Buy Pretty Things #007

Hot chocolate. Autumn. What could be better?

Oh right, this adorable tin that some seriously delicious hot chocolate is in. Have you heard of Silly Cow Farms? I've bought hot chocolate from them in the past (because of the cute little jar it comes in - surprised?), so I knew I wouldn't be disappointed with the actual product. The package, however comes equipped with the best type of reusable aspect...

Tada!! It's a "cow" coin bank! Awesome, I will recycle the heck out of this tin - not like I wasn't going to already. Cow print in kitchens is pretty much the best thing that happened to my childhood. If you're in the Long Island area, check out Maureen's Kitchen in Smithtown. Seriously, you will not regret it.

So what caught my eye about this? I picked it up in Whole Foods, and for a store that's heavily versed in brown & green colors, the bright pink and white stood out on shelves. Then the straight pickup of form from a metal farm milk jug was a nice touch to the package. Okay it's adorable. It almost makes you want to carry the tin from those, but I would look so silly.

Silly Cow has great hot chocolate, and their packaging is on point. 10/10 would buy again.

If you find some sweet packaging that you think I would like, let me know in the comments or @bakerhi on twitter!

[bakerhi]

I Buy Pretty Things #006

Woo, let's talk about my new-house-weird-lighting situation. Here you can see a dimly lit set of packages by two super swell lantern lamps I got in China Town San Fran. I'm working on it.

Anyway, Awake Chocolate. I found these suckers in the candy aisle right next to your standard M&M's and Hershey's chocolates, and they stood out right away. Why? Well let's think about this: super modern design and a giant owl. Next to other industry-saturated candy packages. I think you get it. Also, being October and in the mindset of Halloween, I did get excited about the brown/orange color scheme and the adorable Owl. I hope the Owl's name is Cocoa and he's sassy. **UPDATE: Turns out the owl's name is Nevil ;) Thanks @awakechocolate twitter!**

So these are caffeinated chocolates, and the ratio is half a cup of coffee to one chocolate. That's serious caffeine. And delicious caffeine. They all come individually wrapped, which I think is smart because a) you can't overload yourself on them (they recommend 4 max per day) and b) you can throw them in your bag for an extra tasty boost. 5 hour energy or a piece of chocolate? No brainer.

So far I have only tried the milk chocolate, but I bought the caramel because why not (and packaging). I have a tendency to not go overboard on the caffeine on a regular basis (confession: I don't drink coffee, but I do drink tea and I definitely have a coke zero problem) so in trying one I didn't notice too much of an energy difference, but I'm sure it's there and will hit me when I try to go to bed tonight.

My coworkers tell me the agency (being TetherInc)  who designed these packages spoke at the HOW design conference this past year, and they have Awake as a case study on their website.

Overall, sweet packaging (hahaha chocolate puns), and as far as packaging goes, it certainly does it's job and I bought it and they win. Packaging always wins.

<3 bakerhi

[bakerhi]

I Buy Pretty Things #003

So I'm not a big drinker, but when I turned 21 I could not have been more excited: I was allowed in liquor/beverage stores. I hardly ever buy beer because I actually only really drink whiskey or rum, it's really the packaging I adore. 

Even the different sizes of bottles. From different breweries far and wide. Oh and then there's the big wigs playing in the sandbox as well - Sam Adams isn't going to miss the party.

There's so many elements of design in these bottles. The typography, the illustration styles, down to the copy on the bottles, kind of like how Trader Joe's brands are pretty "punny." Awesome. Eye candy.

The basis of packaging design is really to "sell" the product; to make it appealing and enticing to the consumer, so they pick it up and act like "oh snap I need to have this." Beer packaging, when done well, is the best kind of advertising they've got in my opinion.

I have to say that whenever I pick up a package only on the basis of liking the way it looks, I say to myself "damn, what a good designer. I want to shake this person's hand."

In conclusion, packaging is awesome and this stuff makes me wish I liked beer. <3 bakerhi