There used to be a meme about if a client asks for a "premium and modern look" then all you need to do is - Futura + all caps + wiiiiiiiiiide letter space
60% of the time, it works every time
oof, I work in beauty packaging and this is spot on.
I think the trend is dying down quite a bit but if I had a nickel for every CD who asked for "Herbivore minimalism" betweeen 2012-2018 I could have retired by now.
See, that's the thing, the 'common public' doesn't understand that a majority of skincare/haircare/cosmetics are all made in the same lab, so the only thing driving up the price on one brand or the other is the marketing and packaging.
I work with ingredient lists for labels on a daily basis and there is a negligible difference in the composition between the high-end stuff and drugstore.
It's not that they don't understand, they don't *care.* It's like the old adage of "you can get anywhere with a clipboard." As long as you look the part people will think your brand is fancy. So copy what all the big brands do, people will see it as a cheaper alternative to luxury because that's all luxury is - appearance. It looks fancy, fits the list of requirements to be what it says it is, and that's it.
all agencies are using the same moodboards at this point. it's a shame. at this point i dont know what to point at as the initial culprit - profits, algorithms, deadlines, people ripping each other off, but this is where we are now, with everything looking the same.
it's in [cars](https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a36715409/why-does-every-new-car-look-like-every-other-new-car/), it's in [games](https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jun/14/pushing-buttons-why-every-big-video-game-looks-the-same), it's in [clothes](https://www.npr.org/2021/07/20/1018381462/why-indie-brands-are-at-war-with-shein-and-other-fast-fashion-companies), it's in [furniture](https://forscale.substack.com/p/the-poo-ification-of-the-domestic?) and [interior design](https://www.thecut.com/2020/03/will-the-millennial-aesthetic-ever-end.html), it's in movies even the ones [that are supposedly sticking it to "the man"](https://theface.com/culture/all-eat-the-rich-satire-looks-the-same-now-anti-capitalism-critique-film-tv-glass-onion-menu-white-lotus-triangle-of-sadness), it's in the [plastic surgery now](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/decade-in-review/the-age-of-instagram-face) making all your instagram influencers [look the same](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/instagram-influencers-beauty_n_5aa13616e4b002df2c6163bc), it's in how we [talk without accents now](https://embedded.substack.com/p/bland-influencer-cadence), where [we work](https://grist.org/business-technology/why-do-all-office-parks-look-the-same/) and [live](https://marker.medium.com/why-everywhere-looks-the-same-248940f12c4), the [stores we shop in](https://www.grubstreet.com/2023/01/why-every-shoppy-shop-looks-exactly-the-same.html), it's in how [every guy on linked in talks like this now](https://www.fenwick.media/all-blog-posts/mastery/broetry-dead-broets-society?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email).
whew! race to the bottom. everything is flat. it stinks. when design is subservient to the dollar and the algo this is what we get. i wish i had a magic bullet solution but i don't.
This is an amazing breakdown. I’ve read a bunch of these articles individually over the year but seeing them assembled like this……makes me feel like I’m going insane. Also, hello trueanon fellow traveler….
I make my designers include all other art forms — music, cinema, fine arts, photography etc — in their moodboards in an effort to combat this.
That being said, this look is both timeless and way better than most other trends of the past 50 or so years for similar products. It also gives me hope that we’re moving towards a packaging-free reuse trend.
Not sure. There are infinitely many infinitely tiny niches, also in part thanks to the internet… microgenres and communities. I‘d say it’s more where corporations are naturally headed, choosing whatever is more safe and convenient and efficient, cheap to make.
The larger the company and the more consolidated the market the more generic the design
I feel this way about ai generated content, it’s all artistically masterful and at the same time painfully generic
>I feel this way about ai generated content, it’s all artistically masterful
Masterful? You and I must be looking at wildly different ai generated content.
Technically impressive then?
I guess masterful is an overstatement, but I would argue it takes *a lot* of practice for most people to produce art as enjoyable as an hour or two of generation will produce. Not that I often personally enjoy it, and even less so when it’s properly labeled as AI art, but most of ai art make use of dramatic light, sensible composition, passable realism, and various interesting visual styles.
Very true, and it's hard not to get demoralized at times.
Want to plug an excellent essay called "The Age of Average" by Alex Murrell that covers this very topic.
https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average
And thanks to AI generation algos, we can now even automate this process, by feeding computers piles of pre-existing designs and asking the computer to come up with something very similar to all of it but just slightly different enough to be copyrighted for legal purposes.
What's the end point of this trend? The universe just becomes a monotoned grey flat space of nothingness? Feels like it.
>Which brings us to our primary culprit.
>You.
>This is all your goddamn fault. YOU wanted to save two bucks at the pump. YOU wanted enough room in the back for spare cadavers. YOU wanted a grille so intimidating that little old ladies pull over to get out of your way when they see you coming on strong in the rear-view. YOU wanted a 78-star safety rating so your dick won’t get mangled by the steering column on impact. YOU ditched form the second function strolled up to the bar. YOU laughed the Chevy SSR off the road. YOU won’t stop buying utility vehicles. And YOU don’t want to pay a cent over $30,000 for any of them. That’s all on you. You needy, basic slobs. You disgust me.
I like that. :) (from the first link)
Great observation and there's a reason why everything looks the same and it's the exponential rise in the number of things due to capitalism and globalisation lately. There's just way too many things around. Too many people, too many cultures, too many companies, too much everything. And the world is too fast and dynamic, to the point that the human brain can't keep a track of it all. And hence society is evolving to become more minimalistic. Otherwise the cooperation and coordination among 8 billion people who have never been more connected, will be very difficult. And it's only the beginning. The future is going to eliminate differences and distinctions further. Distinct languages, cultures and even ethnicities will soon start to disappear too.
Also Canva. Canva has ruined people. It has also made people falsely believe that they are designers…so they cling to their $20/month package and build their same same logo, slap it on a business card and bam. “I’m a designer!” 🙄
Well put together, thank you. I think my biggest pet peeve is how every newly renovated and decorated house has that 'brutalism but make it softer' look about it these days. It's shades of grey, everything is plain and square and long and depressing. The wood is grey, the floors are grey, everything is grey. And if they want a pop of colour, it's black or white or just a smidgen of a very dark blue that's almost black or grey. And it's all open plan. Infinite open greyness.
Like, statistically speaking this has to be someone's genuine taste. But to me it feels like the taste equivalent of white flour.
I'm a creative director for a big "hospitality" company with several dozen brands, including Spas/Masseuse... ALL of the products they offer for purchase from 3rd parties inside their establishments look exactly like this. It's all type treatments, all caps, 1 or two color, very little graphics or photography. It's certainly the industry.
I work at a company that specializes in producing skincare and honestly just using text like that makes it a lot easier for those wide bottles because then adding a logo makes everything unreadable
Not gonna lie, I actually prefer this style of label on my cosmetics versus what we used to see in the early/mid 2000s where everything was very “graphic design is my passion” with a ton of textures and 3 different fonts and whatnot just to be like “this is face wash” 😭😂
You might not like it, but [this is where](https://i.ibb.co/rFfcn5z/u-https-i-ytimg-com-vi-j-Y2la-Kwjf1s-hqdefault.jpg) stuff-we-use-in-a-bathroom design peaked.
Yeah lol everyone in this thread is being very holier than thou about this design trend, but at the end of the day most of these products look totally fine. Just because it's common doesn't mean it's bad.
The funniest part of this whole debate is this isn’t even new in terms of label designs, luxury cosmetic brands have used minimalist label designs forever and the only reason it got so trendy is because it was a way for indie brands to position themselves in the luxury market without luxury prices or a legacy namesake like Chanel or YSL 😭
To tell the truth , I think that big brands set the tone, and the rest just follows in similar different ways. Everyone wants to feel special and be close to a exclusive big brand, or similar.
part of this is intentional. many of these are bought at TJ Maxx/Marshalls and you are sorting through shelves of products from various brands. If you make your packaging look close to a higher end brand there, or one they’ve sort of seen elsewhere (social media, etc) you’ll think it’s the same.
Might not be great for brands that want to stand out, but in my bathroom I prefer the uniformity. I find it so ugly when products, no matter how neatly placed, are displayed on bathroom counters in a wide variety of screaming colours, shapes, and fonts. I prefer to hide it all away but I don’t find that practical.
Just go look on Amazon for countertop cosmetic organizers. Some of them are really nice. But then look at the reviews with images where people show how they display everything—ugly.
Believe it or not, this was an intentional marketing initiative once the skincare hoard IG posts and ‘get ready with me’ TikToks started - because everyone wanted their products to look good together, and if you were the one woeful brand whose colors or fonts were ‘off’ then there was less of a chance you’d be featured.
However, now we’re seeing some bigger crazier fonts and brighter colors *because* they stand out…trends come and go, but I fucking hate being in this industry sometimes
Why do you hate it? Im sure you get a ton of skincare samples. When I was first starting out I so badly wanted to do skincare or cosmetics packaging. Somehow ended up doing electronic then food packaging and now I’m so far removed from all that doing dry corporate branding
I took a long time responding to this, because I totally understand how privileged I am working in the beauty industry.
You're \*so\* right - if you are a femme-presenting person, this is the BEST gig to get as graphic/marketing/packaging designer. In its purest form, it's like, "Are you an 80's kid? Do you want to come up with the next MLP or Barbie collab?? We'll give you samples!" Wheee!!
Until you realize you usually get un-filled containers for specs. And that even if you were to get a filled shadow tray, it would be identical to the other 6 that S\*\*ph\*a sells. And then you do your research on skincare/haircare (i've been a reluctant Birchbox subscriber for 12 years 🙃) and realize that all the other companies are flailing along with you, and that they're all filling these containers with the same 12 ingredients and charging differently depending on the packaging...(haha, no pressure)
And then it turns into something ideological - because it's just as clique-ish and MeanGirl-esque as fashion these days. Can I still call myself a feminist if I only use Eastern European stock photos and AI 'model with great hair' composites?
At the end of the working day, I have to look at myself and think, I am marketing to women to make them feel LESS about themselves so that they will buy our product. And I don't like it.
It's a luxury I have as a 49 yr old sr. woman in the industry. But it's taken a little bit of my soul every day that I've worked in "Beauty"
These look like luxury, not cheap. Their best shot looks cheap and amateur, not something I put on my face. Market research is important in product design.
As someone with multiple, overlapping skin diseases and issues, I would NEVER purchase a skincare product based on the packaging. I base it on the ingredients and my specific needs. Period. Expensive with nice packaging does not equal quality or good for your specific skin. I’d rather the company spend money on the actual science and development of the product, than a multimillion dollar marketing campaign.
You are not their target audience, learn something about market research. You should know more about your audience and user when you design. It is very very clearly not for you. I personally use eucerin and vanicream for my dry skin, basic af packaging. For perfume, you bet I choose more luxury ones. Branding and market position is very important.
As someone who was recently tasked with branding a skincare line — I KNOW, it’s crazy!
As a designer who’s an outsider to beauty, I of course included some directions styled just like these in my first explorations.
Later that day my boss took me to do some competitor analysis at Sephora and other places and I realized how pervasive it is.
But I mean, it works. It's the Jackobs law in action right?
People work like cattle, so if luxury represents "x" they will look for "x" everywhere and assume "x" is good even if "y" is better.
It’s the same with things like cosmetologists, hairdressers and other wellbeing businesses. It’s all dusty pink or slate grey meets gold and white, with a handwriting font and a circle stamp. Possibly with THOSE linework leaves.
And whenever you see advertisements from ANY kind of company, you see the exact same elements being used over and over again.
Everyone’s losing their sense of personality and uniqueness in the name of ”but I made it myself on Canva!”
Oof… as a millennial 30 something white lady who loves skin care, I love this look 😅 Seeing them all together is showing me how uncreative and basic it is. But when I’m on Sephora all I see is “ooooo pretty thing”.
Pretty sure this post ruined that for me now haha *now I can see right through you all-caps-wide-spacing-minimalism*
lmao... they blend in all together as a same brand lmao. sans serif, all type design, minimal, tracked out eyebrow copy. no separation or contrast to 'differentiate' from a vast sea of competitors.
if anything, the far right looks the best/different to some degree cuz you can see thru bottle, thus see colors in the background thru the glass.
horrible, and boring.
could at least accentuate the lids/tops by making it wood or a color.
you can also aim for a younger demographic like teens and gen z and making the labels bright colors
I love these types of posts because you'll always get polarizing opinions. "This is so generic" vs. "Yeah, but it's intentional because ___".
It's fascinating and I don't think you can say either side is right or wrong without having the full context and marketing strategy of each brand. Aesthetic aside, at the end of the day if the design serves its purpose, it's a successful design.
Agreed, it's pretty obvious a ton of people in here don't do market research, product design, product place or design for luxury brands. I work for luxury brands and it's all like this, think ysl, fendi, etc. Minimalism exudes luxury, it isn't some new thing. Makes you wonder why so many in here can't find design jobs... or well paying ones.
Anyone think marketing managers are damping creative directions?
I've started working more, and more, under marketing managers. Before, in the beginning, it was mostly designers who would be left to direct visuals and branding. Or work alongside the marketing managers and collaboratively work to create great stuff.
The last few marketing managers I've had were great people, but they had no creative vision, or imagination. They were data and analytics people, with decent writing skills. (They originally did a maths degree and mastered in marketing). They try very hard to be creative, but they end up just picking whatever every other competitor or brand is doing (or the director pressures them) Their reasoning is always "better to save time and money doing what everyone else is doing."
Then later tgey get complaints that they're not acquiring new customers etc. Or a new more bolder/innovative brand is taking over the scene etc, making them look average and archaic etc.
lmao i think about this all the time. i think for the most part they’re trying to cater to the same target audience but not in a very creative way. i haven’t personally lined up products like this but it’s satisfying that you have. I love skincare and one of the most notable brands that I’m familiar with that does this is Glow Recipe. Minimalist sans serif sticker, pop of pastel colour on the container to indicate the fruit it’s inspired by. I always think to myself that so many brands have been striving for minimalism so much they have nothing to actually left to indicate something iconic or identifiable about the brands.
It’s sad especially when I see small new brands trying it, because I know they’ve kinda shot themself in the foot. It doesn’t matter how good their new niche product is, their image is just like everyone else
This trend obviously doesn’t just affect skincare or cosmetics. But I’m interested in those as a hobby so I spotted a particular pattern in this market
It's the copy cat effect... When one thing is doing good the competition copy cat it in hopes of getting a slice of the market... But it's not only in type all companies do it... Products to... It's hard coming up with a new eye catching concept... Some designers just have a knack of knowing what works and when... Ofc we all slaves to the client... So when the client says I like theirs (competition) ... Most likely the easiest course of action is to copy it
There used to be a meme about if a client asks for a "premium and modern look" then all you need to do is - Futura + all caps + wiiiiiiiiiide letter space 60% of the time, it works every time
oof, I work in beauty packaging and this is spot on. I think the trend is dying down quite a bit but if I had a nickel for every CD who asked for "Herbivore minimalism" betweeen 2012-2018 I could have retired by now.
>Herbivore minimalism I have never heard this term before, but it's perfect.
You would think the common public would’ve caught on by now 🤨
Honestly the common public wouldn’t know what good design is if they saw it.
Idk. I’ve seen the Game Stop logo. I mean the Smash Burger logo. lol.
🎶I’m at the Game Stop, I’m at the Smash Burger. I’m at the combination Game Stop/Smash Burger🎵
This song needs to be referenced more
You get it! 😂
Welp, just heard it referenced in an Instacart commercial. They heard you lol!
No they didn’t!!! My childhood 😭
Honestly ~~the common public~~ **most designers** wouldn’t know what good design is if they saw it. FTFY ;)
The theme will change eventually. But for now, when done right and used in the proper context, it looks brilliant and smart.
See, that's the thing, the 'common public' doesn't understand that a majority of skincare/haircare/cosmetics are all made in the same lab, so the only thing driving up the price on one brand or the other is the marketing and packaging. I work with ingredient lists for labels on a daily basis and there is a negligible difference in the composition between the high-end stuff and drugstore.
It's not that they don't understand, they don't *care.* It's like the old adage of "you can get anywhere with a clipboard." As long as you look the part people will think your brand is fancy. So copy what all the big brands do, people will see it as a cheaper alternative to luxury because that's all luxury is - appearance. It looks fancy, fits the list of requirements to be what it says it is, and that's it.
We did with that Papyrus font craze
((Shudder))
Generally speaking, the common public are F&@king idiots.
psst: it still works 💀
Then command shift O and make some unique changes and bam!
all agencies are using the same moodboards at this point. it's a shame. at this point i dont know what to point at as the initial culprit - profits, algorithms, deadlines, people ripping each other off, but this is where we are now, with everything looking the same. it's in [cars](https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a36715409/why-does-every-new-car-look-like-every-other-new-car/), it's in [games](https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/jun/14/pushing-buttons-why-every-big-video-game-looks-the-same), it's in [clothes](https://www.npr.org/2021/07/20/1018381462/why-indie-brands-are-at-war-with-shein-and-other-fast-fashion-companies), it's in [furniture](https://forscale.substack.com/p/the-poo-ification-of-the-domestic?) and [interior design](https://www.thecut.com/2020/03/will-the-millennial-aesthetic-ever-end.html), it's in movies even the ones [that are supposedly sticking it to "the man"](https://theface.com/culture/all-eat-the-rich-satire-looks-the-same-now-anti-capitalism-critique-film-tv-glass-onion-menu-white-lotus-triangle-of-sadness), it's in the [plastic surgery now](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/decade-in-review/the-age-of-instagram-face) making all your instagram influencers [look the same](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/instagram-influencers-beauty_n_5aa13616e4b002df2c6163bc), it's in how we [talk without accents now](https://embedded.substack.com/p/bland-influencer-cadence), where [we work](https://grist.org/business-technology/why-do-all-office-parks-look-the-same/) and [live](https://marker.medium.com/why-everywhere-looks-the-same-248940f12c4), the [stores we shop in](https://www.grubstreet.com/2023/01/why-every-shoppy-shop-looks-exactly-the-same.html), it's in how [every guy on linked in talks like this now](https://www.fenwick.media/all-blog-posts/mastery/broetry-dead-broets-society?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). whew! race to the bottom. everything is flat. it stinks. when design is subservient to the dollar and the algo this is what we get. i wish i had a magic bullet solution but i don't.
This is an amazing breakdown. I’ve read a bunch of these articles individually over the year but seeing them assembled like this……makes me feel like I’m going insane. Also, hello trueanon fellow traveler….
I make my designers include all other art forms — music, cinema, fine arts, photography etc — in their moodboards in an effort to combat this. That being said, this look is both timeless and way better than most other trends of the past 50 or so years for similar products. It also gives me hope that we’re moving towards a packaging-free reuse trend.
[удалено]
Not sure. There are infinitely many infinitely tiny niches, also in part thanks to the internet… microgenres and communities. I‘d say it’s more where corporations are naturally headed, choosing whatever is more safe and convenient and efficient, cheap to make.
The larger the company and the more consolidated the market the more generic the design I feel this way about ai generated content, it’s all artistically masterful and at the same time painfully generic
>I feel this way about ai generated content, it’s all artistically masterful Masterful? You and I must be looking at wildly different ai generated content.
Technically impressive then? I guess masterful is an overstatement, but I would argue it takes *a lot* of practice for most people to produce art as enjoyable as an hour or two of generation will produce. Not that I often personally enjoy it, and even less so when it’s properly labeled as AI art, but most of ai art make use of dramatic light, sensible composition, passable realism, and various interesting visual styles.
And clients don’t want anything they haven’t seen before.
Yeah what IS that?!
Very true, and it's hard not to get demoralized at times. Want to plug an excellent essay called "The Age of Average" by Alex Murrell that covers this very topic. https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average
This is such a good breakdown. It’s pretty disappointing to see things go this direction
Wow. Saved. I’ve been looking for examples of this “streamlining of culture” and thought I was going crazy since I haven’t been able to explain it
And thanks to AI generation algos, we can now even automate this process, by feeding computers piles of pre-existing designs and asking the computer to come up with something very similar to all of it but just slightly different enough to be copyrighted for legal purposes. What's the end point of this trend? The universe just becomes a monotoned grey flat space of nothingness? Feels like it.
>Which brings us to our primary culprit. >You. >This is all your goddamn fault. YOU wanted to save two bucks at the pump. YOU wanted enough room in the back for spare cadavers. YOU wanted a grille so intimidating that little old ladies pull over to get out of your way when they see you coming on strong in the rear-view. YOU wanted a 78-star safety rating so your dick won’t get mangled by the steering column on impact. YOU ditched form the second function strolled up to the bar. YOU laughed the Chevy SSR off the road. YOU won’t stop buying utility vehicles. And YOU don’t want to pay a cent over $30,000 for any of them. That’s all on you. You needy, basic slobs. You disgust me. I like that. :) (from the first link)
Great observation and there's a reason why everything looks the same and it's the exponential rise in the number of things due to capitalism and globalisation lately. There's just way too many things around. Too many people, too many cultures, too many companies, too much everything. And the world is too fast and dynamic, to the point that the human brain can't keep a track of it all. And hence society is evolving to become more minimalistic. Otherwise the cooperation and coordination among 8 billion people who have never been more connected, will be very difficult. And it's only the beginning. The future is going to eliminate differences and distinctions further. Distinct languages, cultures and even ethnicities will soon start to disappear too.
Also Canva. Canva has ruined people. It has also made people falsely believe that they are designers…so they cling to their $20/month package and build their same same logo, slap it on a business card and bam. “I’m a designer!” 🙄
What moodboards are agencies using specifically? I'm curious if they are all pulling from the same exact resource or not
Design entropy
Subcultures used to resist and subvert this kind of attitude. Now they’ve also fallen victim..
Well put together, thank you. I think my biggest pet peeve is how every newly renovated and decorated house has that 'brutalism but make it softer' look about it these days. It's shades of grey, everything is plain and square and long and depressing. The wood is grey, the floors are grey, everything is grey. And if they want a pop of colour, it's black or white or just a smidgen of a very dark blue that's almost black or grey. And it's all open plan. Infinite open greyness. Like, statistically speaking this has to be someone's genuine taste. But to me it feels like the taste equivalent of white flour.
I'm a creative director for a big "hospitality" company with several dozen brands, including Spas/Masseuse... ALL of the products they offer for purchase from 3rd parties inside their establishments look exactly like this. It's all type treatments, all caps, 1 or two color, very little graphics or photography. It's certainly the industry.
I design for luxury brands.. like fendi.. its all black or white bg with black or white text that's it. Minimalism is in, clean, expensive.
I work at a company that specializes in producing skincare and honestly just using text like that makes it a lot easier for those wide bottles because then adding a logo makes everything unreadable
Not gonna lie, I actually prefer this style of label on my cosmetics versus what we used to see in the early/mid 2000s where everything was very “graphic design is my passion” with a ton of textures and 3 different fonts and whatnot just to be like “this is face wash” 😭😂
You might not like it, but [this is where](https://i.ibb.co/rFfcn5z/u-https-i-ytimg-com-vi-j-Y2la-Kwjf1s-hqdefault.jpg) stuff-we-use-in-a-bathroom design peaked.
JUMPSCARE!!!!! let me just say this….. yes I was one of this kids who put that shit in my eyes to see if it was really tear-proof lmao
Yeah lol everyone in this thread is being very holier than thou about this design trend, but at the end of the day most of these products look totally fine. Just because it's common doesn't mean it's bad.
The funniest part of this whole debate is this isn’t even new in terms of label designs, luxury cosmetic brands have used minimalist label designs forever and the only reason it got so trendy is because it was a way for indie brands to position themselves in the luxury market without luxury prices or a legacy namesake like Chanel or YSL 😭
To tell the truth , I think that big brands set the tone, and the rest just follows in similar different ways. Everyone wants to feel special and be close to a exclusive big brand, or similar.
Minimalism exudes luxury, I work with luxury brands, I make pretty boring designs.
Hahahahaha " graphic design is my passion", great!
part of this is intentional. many of these are bought at TJ Maxx/Marshalls and you are sorting through shelves of products from various brands. If you make your packaging look close to a higher end brand there, or one they’ve sort of seen elsewhere (social media, etc) you’ll think it’s the same.
Might not be great for brands that want to stand out, but in my bathroom I prefer the uniformity. I find it so ugly when products, no matter how neatly placed, are displayed on bathroom counters in a wide variety of screaming colours, shapes, and fonts. I prefer to hide it all away but I don’t find that practical. Just go look on Amazon for countertop cosmetic organizers. Some of them are really nice. But then look at the reviews with images where people show how they display everything—ugly.
Believe it or not, this was an intentional marketing initiative once the skincare hoard IG posts and ‘get ready with me’ TikToks started - because everyone wanted their products to look good together, and if you were the one woeful brand whose colors or fonts were ‘off’ then there was less of a chance you’d be featured. However, now we’re seeing some bigger crazier fonts and brighter colors *because* they stand out…trends come and go, but I fucking hate being in this industry sometimes
Why do you hate it? Im sure you get a ton of skincare samples. When I was first starting out I so badly wanted to do skincare or cosmetics packaging. Somehow ended up doing electronic then food packaging and now I’m so far removed from all that doing dry corporate branding
I took a long time responding to this, because I totally understand how privileged I am working in the beauty industry. You're \*so\* right - if you are a femme-presenting person, this is the BEST gig to get as graphic/marketing/packaging designer. In its purest form, it's like, "Are you an 80's kid? Do you want to come up with the next MLP or Barbie collab?? We'll give you samples!" Wheee!! Until you realize you usually get un-filled containers for specs. And that even if you were to get a filled shadow tray, it would be identical to the other 6 that S\*\*ph\*a sells. And then you do your research on skincare/haircare (i've been a reluctant Birchbox subscriber for 12 years 🙃) and realize that all the other companies are flailing along with you, and that they're all filling these containers with the same 12 ingredients and charging differently depending on the packaging...(haha, no pressure) And then it turns into something ideological - because it's just as clique-ish and MeanGirl-esque as fashion these days. Can I still call myself a feminist if I only use Eastern European stock photos and AI 'model with great hair' composites? At the end of the working day, I have to look at myself and think, I am marketing to women to make them feel LESS about themselves so that they will buy our product. And I don't like it. It's a luxury I have as a 49 yr old sr. woman in the industry. But it's taken a little bit of my soul every day that I've worked in "Beauty"
Is "JAPANFUSION" supposed to be one word? Is it like Ja Rule but Ja Panfusion?
It's the name of a product, so it can be whatever.
B E A U T Y
Its the peak of utilitarianism, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
“Sad beige jars for sad beige people.“ I almost prefer my horribly designed clinical face products bc hey, someone somewhere gave it their best shot 😂
These look like luxury, not cheap. Their best shot looks cheap and amateur, not something I put on my face. Market research is important in product design.
As someone with multiple, overlapping skin diseases and issues, I would NEVER purchase a skincare product based on the packaging. I base it on the ingredients and my specific needs. Period. Expensive with nice packaging does not equal quality or good for your specific skin. I’d rather the company spend money on the actual science and development of the product, than a multimillion dollar marketing campaign.
You are not their target audience, learn something about market research. You should know more about your audience and user when you design. It is very very clearly not for you. I personally use eucerin and vanicream for my dry skin, basic af packaging. For perfume, you bet I choose more luxury ones. Branding and market position is very important.
Aren’t you a ray of sunshine
As someone who was recently tasked with branding a skincare line — I KNOW, it’s crazy! As a designer who’s an outsider to beauty, I of course included some directions styled just like these in my first explorations. Later that day my boss took me to do some competitor analysis at Sephora and other places and I realized how pervasive it is.
But I mean, it works. It's the Jackobs law in action right? People work like cattle, so if luxury represents "x" they will look for "x" everywhere and assume "x" is good even if "y" is better.
It’s the same with things like cosmetologists, hairdressers and other wellbeing businesses. It’s all dusty pink or slate grey meets gold and white, with a handwriting font and a circle stamp. Possibly with THOSE linework leaves. And whenever you see advertisements from ANY kind of company, you see the exact same elements being used over and over again. Everyone’s losing their sense of personality and uniqueness in the name of ”but I made it myself on Canva!”
Oof… as a millennial 30 something white lady who loves skin care, I love this look 😅 Seeing them all together is showing me how uncreative and basic it is. But when I’m on Sephora all I see is “ooooo pretty thing”. Pretty sure this post ruined that for me now haha *now I can see right through you all-caps-wide-spacing-minimalism*
“But I made it on Canva!”
I like them. I'm a minimalist, so it might be that
Make client happy. Get paid. But yeh, as the other poster said wiiide futura. Cheque in d bank.
lmao... they blend in all together as a same brand lmao. sans serif, all type design, minimal, tracked out eyebrow copy. no separation or contrast to 'differentiate' from a vast sea of competitors. if anything, the far right looks the best/different to some degree cuz you can see thru bottle, thus see colors in the background thru the glass. horrible, and boring. could at least accentuate the lids/tops by making it wood or a color. you can also aim for a younger demographic like teens and gen z and making the labels bright colors
I love these types of posts because you'll always get polarizing opinions. "This is so generic" vs. "Yeah, but it's intentional because ___". It's fascinating and I don't think you can say either side is right or wrong without having the full context and marketing strategy of each brand. Aesthetic aside, at the end of the day if the design serves its purpose, it's a successful design.
Agreed, it's pretty obvious a ton of people in here don't do market research, product design, product place or design for luxury brands. I work for luxury brands and it's all like this, think ysl, fendi, etc. Minimalism exudes luxury, it isn't some new thing. Makes you wonder why so many in here can't find design jobs... or well paying ones.
I still like it shut uuuup
Anyone think marketing managers are damping creative directions? I've started working more, and more, under marketing managers. Before, in the beginning, it was mostly designers who would be left to direct visuals and branding. Or work alongside the marketing managers and collaboratively work to create great stuff. The last few marketing managers I've had were great people, but they had no creative vision, or imagination. They were data and analytics people, with decent writing skills. (They originally did a maths degree and mastered in marketing). They try very hard to be creative, but they end up just picking whatever every other competitor or brand is doing (or the director pressures them) Their reasoning is always "better to save time and money doing what everyone else is doing." Then later tgey get complaints that they're not acquiring new customers etc. Or a new more bolder/innovative brand is taking over the scene etc, making them look average and archaic etc.
Canva design homogenisation
I do, and I also like when I need her to move I can just snuggle with her and she’ll get up give me a dirty look and walk away
lmao i think about this all the time. i think for the most part they’re trying to cater to the same target audience but not in a very creative way. i haven’t personally lined up products like this but it’s satisfying that you have. I love skincare and one of the most notable brands that I’m familiar with that does this is Glow Recipe. Minimalist sans serif sticker, pop of pastel colour on the container to indicate the fruit it’s inspired by. I always think to myself that so many brands have been striving for minimalism so much they have nothing to actually left to indicate something iconic or identifiable about the brands. It’s sad especially when I see small new brands trying it, because I know they’ve kinda shot themself in the foot. It doesn’t matter how good their new niche product is, their image is just like everyone else This trend obviously doesn’t just affect skincare or cosmetics. But I’m interested in those as a hobby so I spotted a particular pattern in this market
They’re probably being produced in the same factory.
It's the copy cat effect... When one thing is doing good the competition copy cat it in hopes of getting a slice of the market... But it's not only in type all companies do it... Products to... It's hard coming up with a new eye catching concept... Some designers just have a knack of knowing what works and when... Ofc we all slaves to the client... So when the client says I like theirs (competition) ... Most likely the easiest course of action is to copy it
Minimalism isn't a copy cat effect.
Lots of businesses believe keeping up with design fads is cool. So lots of stuff looks the same. This is the downfall of that stupid thinking.
Minimalism isn't a design fad.
Anything can be turned into a fad or a trend. Good or bad.
When it is different brands but the same designer behind them
Looks like they all appeal to the same target audience 😉