My life in packaging – part 2

The photo journal to document my daily life through labels and packaging is two weeks old now, which means there’s a mere 50 to go in order to document 365 days in total.

 

So far, the packaging I’ve documented has mostly been food orientated, with a fair number of snack foods in the mix. I’m hoping that with 50 weeks to go, I’ll be able to photograph a much broader selection of packaging, especially with Christmas and my 30^th birthday to fill at least two weeks of the 50. But then again there’s Easter and the month I’ll have an advent calendar window waiting for me each morning in the run-up to Christmas, so I make no promises.

 

Cadbury is a great company for using flexible packaging when launching new products into the market, or increasing its range of share bags. This bag of Crunchems is just one example, and they tasted just as good as the pack looks.

 

My desk at work is getting a bit overrun with folding carton and flexible packaging examples I’ve collected over the years. So as not to let them all blur into one, I acquired a mini easel that allows me to showcase one particular piece at a time, and to kick-start this showcase I opted for a sample carton sent to me by Highcon showing the potential of its Euclid digital cutting and creasing system to produce intricate details on packaging. Make sure to check Highcon out at Labelexpo Europe 2013 (where it’ll form part of the much bigger Print Your Future presentation by HP) and at Packaging Innovations, where Glossop Cartons will again be showing casing the system.

 

This lunch pot only cost me £1 from homewares retailer The Range, but just goes to show how appealing packaging makes the world of difference, whether you’re buying high-end spirits or a microwaveable lunch. It was tasty too.

 

Sometimes working in the labels and packaging industries pays dividends, with this chocolate sent as a gift all the way from Norway, and taking pride of place as my second packaging easel choice. Look closely and you’ll see the label from Rolling Optics that is used to create a 3D effect and convey the aeration of the chocolate to consumers looking at the packaging.

 

Monster Munch is a popular crisp brand from my younger days, and has cleverly used its packaging to promote that the product is much as people from generation will remember it, as opposed to the often seen trend to promote new flavors, formulations or other variations (diet, reduced sugar, etc.).  

 

I’m a big fan of San Pellegrino sparkling soft drinks sold throughout the Pizza Express restaurant chain, and particularly like the printed foil lid that adorns each can.

 

Monday is the usual day that my local community puts its rubbish bins out, including all manner of paper and card, glass and plastic packaging.

 

The bins are then collected the following morning by a team of refuse collectors who help make Bexley London's top borough for recycling. Last year, 53 percent of waste collected in the borough was recycled.

 

Sample breakfast cereal packs are a perfect example of shorter runs and the way different packaging types fulfill different applications.

 

Nando’s was had for lunch one day recently, but I’m not a fan of spicy foods so I’ll let you guess which bottle of sauce I opted for.