… how to create something so unique that word-of-mouth becomes an efficient marketing tool.

… or the search for perfection. A couple of years ago I discovered that Magnum had developed an icon in the shape of an “M” very different to McDonald’s or Migros’. It had an identity of its own with the chocolaty letter and circles around, but it had no other meaning than the taste of chocolate. It was rather subdued in order not to fight the Unilever corporate heart above the Magnum logotype.

My book is for anyone who wants to learn tried and true ways of making packages that sell. And it’s not only the very first book on packaging communication; I hope to make it the first in a series. No doubt there’s enough to say about this misunderstood and overlooked topic to fill many books. [...]

One of my favourite speeches is called “Creativity and Humour” with the subtitle “… go hand in hand”. Once I heard someone say that “fun uses the same ingredients as creativity”. How true this is!

You will find below some thoughts I gave to a journal and which unfortunately have not been published. It’s about where the designer should be and how good we are in order to reach a great result. How we, the client and the designer together, proceed and maximize the joint effort. This is my very personal view-point so if you have any comments, please give them and I’ll answer, but only by snail-mail!

Is there anything more frustrating than when your (great) design is turned down because it is not liked? In fact, this is one of many reasons why so few great, surprising and memorable designs see the light!

During a recent travel through the South of Sweden, I visited a few ‘Systembolag’, that is to say the special shops where you buy hard liquor, wine and beer. I was very impressed to see the creativity in the category of wines in bag-in-box and was not surprised to learn that 50% of all wines sold in Sweden are now distributed in this type of pack. This is no doubt a proof of what great package design can do! The creativity lies in graphic design, as well as in shape design and material.

I have always found that an icon is superior to a logotype as the icon is usually more emotional. An icon can be an animal (e.g. a Tiger), a graphical device (e.g. the Swoosh), a person (e.g. Uncle Bens), etc. The icon which I’d like to promote today is ‘the pattern’.

Learning to write, forming the various letters like the teacher writing on the blackboard, is also learning to read. The same, unique movement of his hand, is equally the main tool for the graphic designer.

Do you want to see things in a positive or a negative light? Do you put your used packages in the earth for the coming 100 years or do you burn them and recuperate the energy to be used for other purposes?