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Vintage packaging design has been a highly effective trend in the last couple of years. It’s decorative, it’s old and it’s a great way to catch consumers’ attention on shelf. From bold slab serif text to calligraphic symbols to foil finishes, it’s no doubt there are some eye-catching pieces out there. They can be visually complex or typographical stacked neatly but can be very effective next to more minimalistic products. It’s a great approach to express the heritage of the brand and you see a lot of family-run businesses take this direction to help tell their family story.

These traditional designs go back to when sign painters were decorating shop fronts by hand. From the rapid pace of technological change we have taken these visuals to our screens and let them inspire us. While there are dozens of examples of vintage design, I have just looked at a couple of examples of packs before and after they took the traditional route.

The Stock Market sauces went back in time with their design with a vintage label that clearly explains the product with a traditional typographic layout. The label also covers up the bottle slightly blocking more of the product but it allows more room for design, giving space to tell the story.

On the other hand, DWD Irish Whiskey have taken cues from their old label design which, in a way, modernises their vintage design. It’s hard for whiskeys not to go down the traditional route when it comes to packaging design as their distillery’s heritage is such a strong selling point.

Another example of vintage packaging is Jell-O – but they went in a different direction. I know this vintage pack looks like it’s from the early nineteen hundreds, which it probably is, but maybe they could have taken elements from this design when applying to their existing design. It just looks so much cooler.

STEPHEN WALSH,  PACKAGING DESIGNER

Stephen is a Packaging Designer with Neworld, a branding & packaging design agency with over 30 years experience. We immerse ourselves in your industry, your customers, your competitors and your business goals to create design solutions that will guarantee to boost your bottom line.