2015 era pentagram-designs-the-Wing is one of the most cursed propagations of Millennial branding, versus their design of Quad Cinema which works a decade later.
There’s this latter day Martha Stewart thing happening now (Sophie Buhai, Gohar World, Nine Orchard), with silverware, embroidered napkins and ironed linens, and these crazy ornamental serifs that look *fine* now, but are certainly sutured to this moment in time.
Millennials are late bloomers— i’m convinced, so maybe this is the year that collectively we grow out of the infantile hellscape of samey-ness. Personally, wouldn’t it be nice if we tracked towards style risks that embrace the stochastic and tastelessness of our world, instead of all this worthless self-soothing, smoothing, nullifying…
This is why, I think, so many North Americans - myself included - are so drawn to European and Asian products whose packaging has remained unchanged for decades (or, holy crow, for centuries). Think Botan Rice Candy, Savon de Marseilles, Santa Maria Novella...
I remember the first time I went to Italy as a teen, in 1989, and how I obsessively hoarded every piece of notepaper, every chocolate wrapper, every matchbook that I accumulated on that trip. I wonder if there's been an equivalent cursed-millenial-redesign movement in countries with a deeper design and packaging history? I'm sure there has (Braun, maybe?). Need to give it a deeper think.
I've always been partial to the stalwart branding of consumer DIY chemicals - think Goo Gone, Bar Keepers Friend, Kroil, and ATE brake fluid. Going to a mom and pop hardware store can be an antidote to twee harissa smoked gum drops. Branding that's more about getting shit done vs. decadent worldly indulgences. Technical specs that matter ("2 inch screw" vs. "made with ancient grains") .
Millennial brands are about display in a home. "Oh this?" The box is the Phaidon art book for the kitchen if you will.
Arguably another rich source of branding excellence: Costco. Their food court menus: they haven’t felt the need to ‘refresh’ them since 1988(?); and much of their own brand packaging (check the Kirkland Signature logo itself) is, imho, near perfect.
I think some of this is because a lot of the millennial-coded internet language has finally filtered to our parents. My mom has started making posts (on FB yuck) where she writes, like, "I did a thing!" and similar twee 2010s stuff. Makes sense that the design sensibilities that felt relatively fresh back then have finally made it to the CMOs of the world
I used to follow an account on Instagram called h0le_foods... looks like it's gone now but it was just a submissions catalog of insanely time warped local inkjet packages from health food stores… I was a Berkeley bowl lurker for 20 years and really considered starting a similar account what with my proximity to the promised land... That Delightfully Turkish brand w the photo of the absolutely ancient Turkish grandma has to be one of my faves. And whatever that really spicy Jamaican Pineapple ginger drink is they used to carry... I can feel the label disintegrating in my palms after one drop of juice runs down the bottle. That kind of old farmers market swag sends me into states of ecstasy. Protect Braggs ACV at all costs, especially now that it's owned by Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom 😮💨
hahah hell yeah - few more enjoyable places to pass an hour every other week than berkeley bowl (we are berkeley bowl west partisans fwiw but we salute both)
Nice one! A good companion imo to the "Un-Grammable Hang Zones" piece (one of the top 5 BBSP articles (yet) of all time?)
I assume a lot of this comes down to risk-aversion, if you've got investors behind you they're probably more likely to want a a design that looks like what they already see out there especially if they think those other brands are killing it $$-wise (which not be the case actually). Probably a hard sell to convince someone putting up the dough to go with a Yousef's-esque design when the cost of doing millennial DTC branding isn't that much.
If you go take a look at the Chez Panisse IG grid right now you can see a collab they did with Total Luxury Spa. It's not really what Teddy/Spyplane describes - it's more of a faux-counter-culture/crunchy/Whole Earth Catalog type design (which may end up being looked back upon in the same way we're looking at millennial DTC branding now?). I like it, think it's cool, and the $ is going to some good causes so rock it! But if you scroll down you'll see menus, posters, etc. in the "normal" Chre Panisse style that they've used forever and they still look great and more lived in and considered imo.
thank you - and to be clear, the reason yousef's "works" both as a delicious hummus and in terms of their branding is precisely because it's a local business with only regional distribution -- you can't scale that hummus or that packaging and have either remain as good
When I was little I used to save wrappers when I liked the packaging! I still have some old teabag wrappers from the old Yamamotoyama Hojicha bags with an illustration of a tea steeping on it. In middle school, I would arrange the wrappers into collages along with tear sheets and printouts.
That impulse to save tea packaging returned this year when Twinings changed their packaging!
Interesting that Mama Lil's is included in the collage up top – their packaging has actually been the same since the early 2000s, with illustrations by Seattle artist Julie Paschkis. I wonder if their labels showed up on the moodboards for some of these cursed millennial brands!!
2015 era pentagram-designs-the-Wing is one of the most cursed propagations of Millennial branding, versus their design of Quad Cinema which works a decade later.
There’s this latter day Martha Stewart thing happening now (Sophie Buhai, Gohar World, Nine Orchard), with silverware, embroidered napkins and ironed linens, and these crazy ornamental serifs that look *fine* now, but are certainly sutured to this moment in time.
Millennials are late bloomers— i’m convinced, so maybe this is the year that collectively we grow out of the infantile hellscape of samey-ness. Personally, wouldn’t it be nice if we tracked towards style risks that embrace the stochastic and tastelessness of our world, instead of all this worthless self-soothing, smoothing, nullifying…
I dig this comment… here’s to Millennials finding our own way in 2025
I’ve been pretty fixated on the branding for chlorella tablets as of late: https://sun-chlorella-usa.myshopify.com/products/sun-chlorella-tablets-500-mg
wow
I thought of the same thing while reading. I took a pic of these years ago and have kept it in a file. So sick.
Really successfully threading the needle of millennial DTC and heady co-op treasure
This is why, I think, so many North Americans - myself included - are so drawn to European and Asian products whose packaging has remained unchanged for decades (or, holy crow, for centuries). Think Botan Rice Candy, Savon de Marseilles, Santa Maria Novella...
I remember the first time I went to Italy as a teen, in 1989, and how I obsessively hoarded every piece of notepaper, every chocolate wrapper, every matchbook that I accumulated on that trip. I wonder if there's been an equivalent cursed-millenial-redesign movement in countries with a deeper design and packaging history? I'm sure there has (Braun, maybe?). Need to give it a deeper think.
The Rain X 1970s bottle reminds me that I love the impenetrable wall of text on the Dr. Bronner's labels - I hope that never changes.
They’d be insane to lose that text (which I am not insane enough to have ever read in full!)
I thought the same thing:)
I've always been partial to the stalwart branding of consumer DIY chemicals - think Goo Gone, Bar Keepers Friend, Kroil, and ATE brake fluid. Going to a mom and pop hardware store can be an antidote to twee harissa smoked gum drops. Branding that's more about getting shit done vs. decadent worldly indulgences. Technical specs that matter ("2 inch screw" vs. "made with ancient grains") .
Millennial brands are about display in a home. "Oh this?" The box is the Phaidon art book for the kitchen if you will.
Arguably another rich source of branding excellence: Costco. Their food court menus: they haven’t felt the need to ‘refresh’ them since 1988(?); and much of their own brand packaging (check the Kirkland Signature logo itself) is, imho, near perfect.
I think some of this is because a lot of the millennial-coded internet language has finally filtered to our parents. My mom has started making posts (on FB yuck) where she writes, like, "I did a thing!" and similar twee 2010s stuff. Makes sense that the design sensibilities that felt relatively fresh back then have finally made it to the CMOs of the world
I learned recently the illustration style Teddy is referring to is called Corporate Memphis.
like ... the Italian Memphis school? interesting
That seems... absolutely correct !
Re: Honda I like the spacing actually looks old school to me :)
https://civicgarage.com/what-is-my-car-ezp-4.html?chapter=12
+1, I like it. The Jaguar one can kick rocks, it's *awful*. The Kia one just makes me think of Nine Inch Nails.
The Jaguar one makes me think or toothpaste or some sort of VC-funded electronic device that will be bricked 6 months after release
Or a self-massager for sale on Amazon from a company called Rethmxco or Agamugax.
Agree
I used to follow an account on Instagram called h0le_foods... looks like it's gone now but it was just a submissions catalog of insanely time warped local inkjet packages from health food stores… I was a Berkeley bowl lurker for 20 years and really considered starting a similar account what with my proximity to the promised land... That Delightfully Turkish brand w the photo of the absolutely ancient Turkish grandma has to be one of my faves. And whatever that really spicy Jamaican Pineapple ginger drink is they used to carry... I can feel the label disintegrating in my palms after one drop of juice runs down the bottle. That kind of old farmers market swag sends me into states of ecstasy. Protect Braggs ACV at all costs, especially now that it's owned by Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom 😮💨
hahah hell yeah - few more enjoyable places to pass an hour every other week than berkeley bowl (we are berkeley bowl west partisans fwiw but we salute both)
Berkeley bowl West for the foods, Berkeley bowl Orig for the freak watching 🤌🏼
😂
Ok hold up... I found the account 🙌🏼
the perf companion to this piece
https://www.instagram.com/hole.foodvision?igsh=MXgyMGFkangzNnNzaw==
Nice one! A good companion imo to the "Un-Grammable Hang Zones" piece (one of the top 5 BBSP articles (yet) of all time?)
I assume a lot of this comes down to risk-aversion, if you've got investors behind you they're probably more likely to want a a design that looks like what they already see out there especially if they think those other brands are killing it $$-wise (which not be the case actually). Probably a hard sell to convince someone putting up the dough to go with a Yousef's-esque design when the cost of doing millennial DTC branding isn't that much.
If you go take a look at the Chez Panisse IG grid right now you can see a collab they did with Total Luxury Spa. It's not really what Teddy/Spyplane describes - it's more of a faux-counter-culture/crunchy/Whole Earth Catalog type design (which may end up being looked back upon in the same way we're looking at millennial DTC branding now?). I like it, think it's cool, and the $ is going to some good causes so rock it! But if you scroll down you'll see menus, posters, etc. in the "normal" Chre Panisse style that they've used forever and they still look great and more lived in and considered imo.
thank you - and to be clear, the reason yousef's "works" both as a delicious hummus and in terms of their branding is precisely because it's a local business with only regional distribution -- you can't scale that hummus or that packaging and have either remain as good
the spicey one with whole chickpeas 😍
Great point!
When I was little I used to save wrappers when I liked the packaging! I still have some old teabag wrappers from the old Yamamotoyama Hojicha bags with an illustration of a tea steeping on it. In middle school, I would arrange the wrappers into collages along with tear sheets and printouts.
That impulse to save tea packaging returned this year when Twinings changed their packaging!
Blackbird Spyplane, you have to read this response(ish) by goated design writer Elizabeth Goodspeed. No shade just another take https://open.substack.com/pub/thecherryontop/p/hot-take-branding-has-never-mattered?r=4w9rs&utm_medium=ios
Look at the comments on the piece from yesterday — one step ahead of you!
Beast, my b
not at all, thanks for sharing it
yes. there's also a soundtrack to this that involves either stomp/clap fake Americana or twee indie rock
haha true
DR. BRONNER'S REMAINS UNDEFEATED.
Plus,I kind of love the new Honda logo?
Interesting that Mama Lil's is included in the collage up top – their packaging has actually been the same since the early 2000s, with illustrations by Seattle artist Julie Paschkis. I wonder if their labels showed up on the moodboards for some of these cursed millennial brands!!
oh damn! i might owe an apology to mama lil's
we have updated the collage accordingly ☮️