JKR

Established in 2007 by Andrew Gibbs, The Dieline website aims “to define and promote the world’s best examples of packaging”. The site has developed enough of a following to now have the authority to run a design award scheme which will carry genuine kudos. Two of the proposed trophy designs (a favourite will be picked via online voting) are shown here – they are all pretty cool. Cool enough, in a post modern twist, to be the focus of attention on other design blogs and sites.

But is there more to this than a circle of navel gazing amongst a specialist interest group? I think so. The Dieline is not alone in moving beyond its web-based routes. Logodesignlove and The Dieline are both producing compendium books which will end up in the majority of design studios’ libraries. There will be others. Such sites are collectively becoming the authoritative arbiters of what’s hot and what’s not. (FMCG brands, which tend to work on a blunter level, are generally less represented than quirky “indie” brands, high end luxury goods, and funky limited edition work.)

While this helps designers see trends in an instant (in a way impossible ten years ago), it also fuels a more homogeneous sense of the current styles du jour. There are an awful lot of of fancy wine bottles and boutique chocolate wrappers which are looking the same, as easily influenced designers ape the work of others. And if we are all looking in the same place for inspiration, and that place is other packaging design rather than everything else out there in the world, things might start getting very samey very quickly. That’s not the fault of the websites – it’s just a reflection of how trends get picked up – the internet is merely accelerating the process.

And yet, as always, true talent will be truly original – which will probably be reflected by The Dieline’s eventual trophy winners.