JKR

Charm, it would seem, is often the first casualty of a redesign. The vintage Listerine pack above got plenty of misty eyed praise on The Dieline this week from packaging aficionados wishing it was still the pack they reached for in their bathroom. It’s a strange truth of packaging that the more efficient production lines and the like become, the less idiosyncrasy and beauty we get to enjoy in our brands. They probably couldn’t efficiently produce this pack again even if they wanted to.

Meanwhile the Carmex brand has redesigned from the one below left, to the one right. A bit of online searching suggests this might be to bring the design in line with a global look and feel, and the new look is itself quite retro. But against the original it has lost the convincing and distinctive pharmacy feel which always made this small purchase feel a little bit special. Updating and rationalising brands has its place, but once you kill a piece of your heritage off, it rarely comes back (Swan matches are a notable exception, also below). And of course the Coke classic bottle is rarely seen outside of advertising, but has been prudently kept alive for just this purpose. Update and upgrade at your peril, lest future generations wonder why you lost the plot.