40 Designers Discuss the Global Resurgence in Hand-Made Packaging
Through interviews with forty designers, illustrators and letterers, Gail Anderson offers an detailed look at the trend in hand-drawn packaging. Largely considered to be associated with the boutique, independent crafter and sign of a more personal touch, a global resurgence in artisan style is combined today with effective print techniques to humanise what might otherwise be machine made products.
Interviewees such as Nate Williams, Martin Schmetzer and the Pentagram Studio reveal sketches and their thought processes on designs for clients such as Topshop, CocaCola and Jameson Whiskey.
Easily dismissed as a nostalgic trend, one has only to look at the examples throughout this book (or indeed your local supermarket or chain restaurant) to understand it’s effectiveness in adding personality to what can literally be a cookie cutter business model. Modern production techniques go hand in hand with computer technology, yet the raw appeal of hand-drawn elements remain, confirming a fundamental truth in graphic design – that great design connects to the human in all of us.