Gourmet Gaming: Latest Entries from Our Packaging 10 Competition

With two vastly different design processes, these new Packaging 10 Entries are giving us looks that take us into the unique minds of their designer. Created to satisfy the consumer and celebrate the brand, these designs are so inspiring, we can’t wait to share them with you!

“TJD The Individualist” (above) was designed by Annette Harcus for Peter Drayton, the fifth descendant of the Drayton Family, who are famous for their masterfully crafted wines. Mr. Drayton recently created some premium wines that showcase their family’s famed varietals – Sheraz and Semillon – to celebrate his late brother, Trevor James Drayton, who tragically passed away during the Drayton’s wine factory fire in 2008.

The bottle itself is a result of a happy accident in which the bottle mold exploded halfway through the process, which created an asymmetrical, bulging bottle. The final product was a classic bottle on one side and a nonconformist bottle on the other, which encapsulated the brothers’ personalities and relationship. When it came to the imagery, Harcus silkscreened graphics onto the bottle in white and dark grey, and dipped them in Sheraz red and Semillon yellow wax. The bottles were then encased in individual cylinders that carry the story and wine information. Mr. Drayton loved the design, saying it was the “perfect expression of character and imperfection – just as happens with the winemaking process.”

In a design also focused on the consumer’s enjoyment, “Xbox Package Family” (above) was created by Ten Gun Design for the simultaneous launch of Xbox X and Xbox S. Going in, Ten Gun knew the design had to be accessible, environmentally friendly, premium, and pay off the culmination of the brand’s promise. Xbox also asked that the design team come up with ideas for the consoles, controllers, and headsets as they were trying to use this launch as a rebirth of sorts for the brand.

Ten Gun did that and more, even creating designs for the exterior box, quick start guide, and other graphic elements inside the box. To do this, the design team tapped into consumer insights and discovered that most people shopping in stores already knew which gaming console they wanted to purchase. As such, Ten Gun crafted their designs as a reinforcement tool to remind customers they were making the right choice in the Xbox. Consumer insights also showed the team that people often like displaying accessory boxes together like a “family”, so they chose to design the boxes as a cohesive set, combined with a “cake box” packaging to give the customer a feeling of luxury and goodwill.

The clients at Xbox loved the design idea, and combined it with their own market research, eco-consciousness, and accessibility to create packaging that received high acclaim from gaming press, influencers and environmental advocates, making one of the most successful launches for Xbox to date, and Ten Gun’s design was praised in unboxing videos, live streams, and social media posts.

To see some more creative and influential packaging designs, or to submit your own, please visit graphis.com!