Shoesies:

I love Tory Burch (especially the shoes. My God, the shoes!), I love a good sale, and most of all, I love a good sale on Tory Burch shoes. So last Thursday, when facebook notified me that Tory Burch had a special offer just for TB facebook fans, I was sold. And, just my luck, they happened to be having a sale on the shoes I had been coveting ever since my friend Marcy featured them on her blog (proving even further that we might be twins separated at birth--at least fashion-wise--we unknowingly bought the same exact pair of shoes). They were half off, so there was no way I was NOT buying them.

Fast forward to yesterday, when UPS delivered the goods. Have you guys ever gotten a package that was just so... pretty? And fun to open? Because I am a packaging nerd, getting the shoes themselves wasn't enough--can I just say: squeeee! Packaging!

It was like my birthday, all over again. I've ordered my fair share of shoes online, and I've never been so excited to open a package (and not because of what's inside). Fun orange wrapping paper, with an embossed gold sticker, holding a note from Tory herself (OK, not Tory herself, but still. Fun).

Um, yes, Tory... I did find what I was looking for, and I DO love them!

Even the receipt/return shipping ugliness came packaged all nice in this pretty little envelope. The back says, "We love this envelope--it's a great place to keep all those lists, receipts and unframed photos."

I love this envelope, too; but not because of it's usefulness (although, bonus points). Packing receipts are rarely pretty, and return shipping labels are just downright ugly. But all of that yuckiness was contained in a pretty cute sleeve.

Oh, and the shoes?

Bright red penny loafers? Yes, please!

LOVE them.

New logo + new packaging=awesome for Tom's of Maine

Here at the Valentino house, we're all happy Tom's of Maine users. We have been for years. I'm a big fan of chemical free--well, anything, really; and, you know, Tom's has that whole natural thing going on. In short, we think Tom's rocks.

I didn't really think too much of the recently redesigned logo and packaging as I tossed some toothpaste into the Target cart (I know--in my defense, Target can be a little overwhelming. Especially with the children), but I really took note the other morning, when the 6 year old pointed it out:

"Mom, what kind of toothpaste is that?"

"Same kind I've been using for years."

"No it's not."

"Ummm... yes it is."

"It doesn't look the same."

Well thanks for pointing that out, kid.

Here's the new logo vs the old one:



It's kind of... kicky. It's very upbeat--I like the fact that it's rotated just enough, I like the stylized Tom's, and I think my only complaint is that instead of Natural Care, it now says Since 1970 (I guess if they've been around for 40 years, though, people should get that their whole schtick is all natural?)

Here's the old toothpaste packaging:



And the new:



I think overall, I really like it. It's clean (and it's packaging for toothpaste--it should very well be clean). I love that the kicky new logo is front and center--no longer is the focus on a photo of some wintergreen (or whatever the flavor is). But I think my favorite is the white background, vs. the tired off-white of the old. Big improvement. I mean, I never looked at the old packaging and thought that it was terrible, but the more I look at the new packaging, the more I definitely prefer it over the old.

Well played, Tom's of Maine.

If the shoe fits...

Now we all know that I love me some shoes. But I loathe (loathe, loathe, loathe!) shoeboxes. I don't have the space to store my shoes in the boxes they come in; so because I have major environmental guilt, I have turned our cellar into a shoebox land fill--until we actually needed the space. But Puma? Puma wants to see my cellar (and, alright, the rest of the world) freed from shoeboxes:

The bag uses 65% less cardboard than the typical shoebox. Created out of non-woven mesh, the recyclable material requires less work and creates less waste. It has no laminated printing and no tissue paper, it takes up less space than boxes and also weighs less when shipping. It can also can serve as a replacement to the retail bag. According to fuseproject, all of this will result in Puma's reduction in water, energy and diesel consumption from manufacturing by more than 60% a year.

Love it. Shoe companies? Are you listening?

(via Creativity)

Summer + Coke...

...equals fun, new packaging!



Check out psfk or the dieline to see the rest of the designs. I love it! OK, Pepsi? How are you going to respond?

(Thanks Daryl Ohrt via Twitter)

I'm "glowing" with excitement!

So, I've been waiting (and waiting, and waiting) to share this with the blogoshpere...

I finally got my hands on some Glow packaging!

A little background: Last winter, a woman called me up looking for a logo/packaging designer, she made these (delicious!) gluten-free cookies, and was planning on marketing them to upscale grocers. A few days later, Jill and I met, and we've been having fun ever since. From her logo, to the website I'm currently working on, I feel like every project we collaborate on, it's more fun than the last.

I have to give some love to my pals Donna and Bill, down at Silver Creative in Norwalk, they actually sourced the awesome chinese takeout-type container, and were a big help in giving me good package design advice and feedback. Bill also wrote the glow-libs.

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to Glow Gluten Free Cookies!