Different but the same

Nair, most commonly known (or at least used to be) for asking who wears short shorts, is something I tried once and left it alone after that.  I was always a little weirded out that you can roll on this glop, let it sit and it removes hair but doesn’t harm your skin?  Although, they clearly have a following because it’s still in production and has a whole line of products.  Maybe I should try it again, I’m sure it’d been developed to be less fumey now.
The 80’s packaging on the left is kind of girly looking with the pink bottle and label and curvy title font.  The package has a friendly-approachable look to it both in bottle shape and label.

The new package uses the same color theme but seems a little more…I don’t know, cold and clinical?  The title font isn’t as “fun” and has been slimmed down and is sharper.  There are some curves on the side but are more sleek than the wavy banner o the old bottle.  There’s also the addition of an actual girl/lady.  I don’t know why but it always bothers me when they put a needlessly naked chick strategically posed on a package or ad.

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So for that reason alone I’d prefer the old package but I also think it has a more welcoming look too.   The new bottle is okay (minus naked chick) but it does look like something you’d find in a hospital supply cabinet

I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I really miss this blog.  I always seem inspired to post when I can’t, like when I’m at work, driving, grocery shopping, etc..
So I’ll post whenever I can but anyway, I was going through some old files looking for something else and came across my stash of old  ads I scanned and All-Bran kind of called out to me.

I never had this cereal but I remember my dad was all about it for a while.  The image on the left is from a 1982 ad.  I like this box because it kind of reminds me of the 70’s Clue game cards.  There’s just an element of mystery.  The almost eerie silence of a still-life, and just a hint of something…off.  A couple of neatly placed grains of wheat to the right of the bowl and a hovering spoon  either being held by the cereal eater by the very edge or it’s levitating over the cereal.  I do like the stark contrast of the mustard-colored bowl and plate against the robins egg table cloth.

The current box is ok.  It’s much brighter and I think more inviting.   I feel like it’s a lighter vibe overall, not just with the white background but the font and the replacement of raspberries for bananas.  I guess like with everything there’s 100 versions the same products now so I picked original which is noted by a clearly marked tripe across the middle of the package.  The title font got the beveled and slightly warped treatment. They ditched the plate the bowl sits on but hey decided to keep the grains.

I think they’re both effective as portraying the product and having  shelf recognition but I do like the starkness of the old package.

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Hands-down, one of my all time favorite cereals.  It also works well instead of rice krispies in the usual treat recipe.
I remember when CTC joined the cereal scene in 1985, I was in 5th grade and  it was actually “exciting”.
The poorly scanned box on the left is from a 1985 ad.  You can barely make out the lined-paper background.  The title
is in multi-color marker/crayon font.  I’m not sure what the reason for the elementary school theme is other than to appeal to kids ( like myself at the time) but still, you’d think maybe something more reflective of the product might be used. Nonetheless, it looks cute and the smiling toast is adorable.
The new box keeps a multi-color font but that’s about it.   The background features the cereal swirling down to what looks like a  slightly psychotic baker at the bottom of the box.
I think even less appealing is their new…thing in commercials featuring two pieces of the cereal that, eat each other(?)

eeeee!
I don’t know what’s going on but I’d prefer the more innocent version of CTC.  I will say it still one of the best tasting cereals out there.

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I always thought St. Ives was the cheapest, lowest quality skin care products.  I don’t know if they really are but I had that in my mind because we had it in our house.
This is a rare case of not liking the old package design at all.  I really can’t pinpoint why I don’t like it but some of it is the font of “St. Ives”,  part is the drawing of the mountains and featured botanical images that just look like weeds and in this case, the colors are just drab.   To be fair, it probably also reminds me of the low-quality,  pink-colored gelatinous  product that just seemed to slide around my face and not absorb like a “normal” moisturizer.
The new design is simple and non-cluttered, the font is clean looking and the color scheme is bright and “fresh”.  It makes you think that maybe there isn’t a pink glob of facial putty in there but a somewhat natural creme that feels light and refreshing.
Kudos to St. Ives for a great redesign.

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I’m don’t usually drink soda but I’ve always ad a fondness for Pepsi.  To make a long story short, my sister and I would help out in my dad’s auto part store from 1978-1983 and there was a soda machine with Pepsi products that you’d slide the cans out yourself, which we of course to a free pass to.  As we’d “help” throughout the day our cans of Pepsi would sit around and get flat and warm (especially if we left them in the display windows we were cleaning) and to this day if  I drink a Pepsi, I prefer it flat and warm.
Although my sister were just kids we didn’t bother drinking Diet Pepsi but I have to say looking at the can really brings me back.  The design is really great.  I don’t know if it makes me think of it being a diet drink but the title font is one of my all-time favorites even though I don’t know the name of it – but I love it when I see it.  Also, the waves look somewhat calming at the bottom and remind me of Love Boat.  I would have thought they’d use three colors – one for each wavy line but they must have known what they’re doing because it’s so recognizable in a second when I see it.
This photo was from a 1985 ad when NutraSweet was really gaining popularity so unfortunately, there’s a red parallelogram that interferes with the waves.
Diet Pepsi had since gone through a  few design incarnations but here is the latest (that I know of) with the “Obama” logo on a plain grey can.  The title font is similar but thinner and placed vertically instead of horizontally.  It’s almost easy to miss if you’re just scanning the shelves.  What stands out most is just the logo and I guess you’re supposed to know from the color of the can being grey that it’s the diet version of the symbol known as Pepsi.
It’s okay and I like it’s simplicity but doesn’t speak to me the way the old can does.
There was also a little display at the bottom of the page of their other diet products I thought was worth sharing:

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I have this box/tube of Brylcreem I bought at a 5 & dime last year.  There isn’t a date on the package but I did buy a really old Shine Free powder identical to the kind I used to get in 1985.  There were lots of items in there from the 70’s and 80’s and looking at the design I’ll guess this was late 70’s/early 80’s.

Comparing the old (top) package  and the new one,  there doesn’t seem to be all too much of an update to the current design.  While the color scheme is the same, some things have changed.  The new font is a stark white and ever so slightly slanted to the right. There’s a little more information on the new package and a slogan quite but for the most part is pretty simple.
But (of course) I really like the old package because the font is orange and I think it makes more of an impact on the overall look of the box.  I think what really makes the whole design is the white stripe down the “l”.  It’s so simple but really makes the package look like there’s something “more” to it.  I’m just a huge fan of sport stripes anyway so this particularly appeals to me, but I also think they chose the perfect font for it too.  It’s like…art.  Love it!

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I know it might not seem like it, but I’ve missed posting on here.  Going through old ads is one of my favorite things to do and it’s bothered me that I haven’t had time to do that.
Work has been crazy and I thought I’d have more free time after months of training for Boston and I think things are finally slowing down enough to get back to the blogging world.
I still have my growing pile of old magazines to get to, but while I was out this weekend I came across a new product  with such pleasant packaging I thought it was blogworthy.
I give you Thomas’ pretz-a-bagels.
Sure, the font is beveled and outlined and there’s the commonly used beams of light from the center of the design, but what makes this package is the pretzel and bagel shaking hands.
Does it get more adorable than that??  It’s actually an interesting concept for a product and makes me happy for the design team because you KNOW they had a blast coming up with this graphic.   I feel like you don’t see images like that anymore.   Simple and illustrative that easily conveys what the product is in a single image.  Bravo Thomas’!

It’s a little ironic but this new item has kick-started my love for retro packaging.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bunch of old crappy magazines to go through!!

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We only had a dog for a year or so in 1979.  She was a Golden Retriever named Honey and ran away.  One night about a week later, she came back during a rain storm. My sister and I were so happy and then the next morning she ran away again, for good.  That’s the extent of my dog ownership so I don’t have much experience with buying dog food but I know what I like in packaging and this 1985 Fit & Trim bag is just awesome.
A green background with a nicely contrasting yellow font. The Purina checker board logo fits nicely anchored in the upper left corner. I love the cleverly designed title font that looks like measuring tape- so cute!   As if that’s not adorable enough the cartoon dog is running wearing a track suit. And if that’s not cute enough- look the expression on the dog’s face-he’s so into it,  total runner high going on there.

The new package is more sleek and does convey a feeling of fitness with it’s slim, beveled and drop-shadowed font and light colors.  There are actual images of the product and ingredients as well as a real dog and a seemingly slightly dis-proportioned owner in tow.  The dog is so fit that it’s walking right off the bag out of the little semi-circle of scenery. It’s okay, nothing overly outstanding and to me and is certainly no competition for the awesome font and adorable cartoon of the older package.

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I remember we had a Veryfine vending machine just like the one on the left in our middle school cafeteria.  I usually got the apple juice but sometimes got the fruit punch. I LOVED their package design- SO incredibly simple and minimal but extremely recognizable.  Match that up with the oh-so-pleasant font and they had a product packaging and logo home run.  I also liked seeing the other minimalist interpretations of fruit for the other juice bottles. Unfortunately there is almost no evidence of old Very fine on the web, which I think is a crime but if you’d like to check out other awesome logos created by the same firm check out their site.

The new Veryfine machine* does the usual updates like making the backgrounds busy and “exciting” and glowing the logo.  Obviously I feel they should have left it alone but I do like they kept the font at the bottom of the new machine that reads “fruit juices & drinks” the same, although I wonder why they bothered.  If you’re going to keep something the same- why not the awesome apple??
The new apple is okay, it’s still a fairly simple graphic suggesting an apple but it’s really no match for the earlier version.  I would hang the front panel of the old VF machine on my wall and definitely would not do the same for the new one.
And that’s how I feel about that.
*A big thank you to “The Upstairs Room” on Flickr for allowing the use of their photo

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I don’t have any fond memories of Phillips bug-a-way bulbs.  I have some terrible memories of wishing my parents had bought bug-a-way bulbs.  There would be gangs of multi-legged forest creatures that would loiter at the front door on summer nights.  Moths that seemed to be the size of blue jays, kamikaze hard shelled bugs and giganto spiders hanging out to eat these things – I think I even saw an African walking stick that probably hitchhiked all the way from Nigeria because he heard of how insane the parties were on our front step.   I remember just dreading coming home from the grocery store or wherever to see what Ripley’s display was waiting for us.  I don’t have any other memories of my parents being “mentally challenged” except for the fact that they never bought a bug light for the stupid front door.

So, I have no idea what year the package on the left was made.  I want to say about 1983 because I found this at our local “living museum”  where it is not uncommon to find products on the shelves covered in dust and having an early 80’s date on them.   Of course I love the simplicity of the package and the flat colors  but what really makes the design is the bug/lightbulb relationship so clearly conveyed through the easy-to-understand graphic.
I love the horizontal lines that seem to be coming from the bulb, pushing the bug away and re-routing it’s path. This is what should have been going on at my front when I was a kid.

The new box is okay.  It still keeps it simple but doesn’t have the silent power that the old one has.  Instead of the horizontal lines coming from the bulb, the run behind it- and the rather small image of a light.  The bugs look like they’re going away from the lamp but going for the bigger meat of the larger bulb.  Also interesting is that in the upper right corner it reads “60w Yellow” but the image is of a white bulb.
The old box  has a nice bright yellow bulb – there’s no need to actually read the box (who wants to be bothered with that?)
I think the old box is more upfront and direct in it’s design of showing what it does and what you’ll get.  The new box just lacks the identification one might be looking for while scanning the shelves of bulbs at Home Depot.

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