Points North
on Jan 06, 2010 in Inspiration

Design That Works: Trader Joe’s

You can’t help it when you fall in love. And what better to fall in love with than delicious dark chocolate? Great design is all around you, all you have to do is open your eyes and receive it. We found this colorful, well-packaged chocolate bar while strolling down the isles of our local Trader Joe’s market. In fact, upon striking up a conversation with the cashier, she agreed that the only reason she recently picked up this chocolate bar was because it’s packaging made it stand out on the shelf.

Why this design works: There are several reasons why this design is more than just eye catching. Here’s our expert analysis on why this design works.

  • On a shelf of ordinary packaged chocolate bars (many of them were very plain, only writing, maybe 2-3 colors), this design instantly distinguishes itself to catch your attention.
  • The design is bold and fun, with a font that seems drawn or handwritten, this package has a personal touch.
  • Because each side of the package is different, you instantly want to pick it up and flip it around to see all of the sides. Once you have had it in your hands for that long, there is a higher probability that you will purchase this product.
  • The colors are very warm and inviting. In fact, in both 2009 and also in the color forecast for 2010, dark chocolate brown is a very trendy color, especially when paired with a lighter color of any kind. In this case, this item has an advantage; the product is dark chocolate, making it easily justifiable to use dark chocolate brown in the packaging.
  • Since this item is unique, in that it isn’t one you would see as common as Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar, it needs to be different, to break the mold, and to draw you in. The package design for this chocolate bar does just that.

Image Source (with a great list of other cool products to try at Trader Joe’s): Veganista

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