Beyond the Green Aesthetic

It has become pretty obvious that green is "the new black” – the number of eco-friendly, sustainable, carbon-neutral, recycled, organic products on the market is at an all time high, and this is great! But packaging for these products has become quite clichéd – many ‘green’ products we currently see on the shelves look the same. You only have to type ‘eco-friendly products’ into Google Images to see page upon page of varying shades of green.

This blog seeks not to discuss the authenticity of green products, but to highlight the overuse of a certain style of graphic design in product labels and packaging. Let’s face it, green, matt, recycled paper backgrounds abound, as do images of trees, leaves, flowers and colour pallets of faded green, earthy browns and pastels. And it’s getting a bit old.

Although you can’t deny the marketing theory behind these designs, surely graphic design for environmentally-friendly products can move beyond the green aesthetic – to a style more imaginative and innovative than the majority of the current green market.

Luckily, there are some top-notch designers out there who are putting an end to the dull, predictably grey-green masses taking up increasing space on retail shelves. They realise that consumers get bored easily and are constantly looking for something new.

Best practice designers are now pushing the boundaries of what green products should look like. And I for one am very grateful. Because if I keep seeing green products that use the same old ‘eco-pallet’, I’ll be tempted to return to my old environmentally-damaging consumer ways. Well, that’s a bit harsh – but you get my point…

http://www.designfederation.net/general/packaging-design-green-is-dead/

http://designreviver.com/articles/eco-friendly-packaging-concepts/

http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/On-your-radar/Green-packaging/Is-the-cosmetics-industry-moving-too-fast-on-green-packaging

Peppermint Magazine, Issue 6, Sheehan & McGill