Creative Packaging Design and Brand Stories

“The Adventurous Blends Of William Whistle,” was the Editor's Choice for The Dieline Awards 2015. Not only is it a wonderfully creative and playful design that has nice UnDigital elements, it is an excellent example of brand storytelling.

Designed by Horse design studio in England, they created a character for consumers to identify with: William Whistle, an eccentric English tea and coffee merchant who travels the world looking for exotic flavors to bring back home.

Each flavor package shows our hero traveling by some fanciful 18th and 19th Century means––by magic carpet, hanging from balloons, by elephant, an early airplane, a giraffe, a lighter than air craft––to bring back some prized new discovery.

From The Dieline

“Visually, the design is inspired by Victorian-era wanderlust and expresses the brand's passion for flavour and discovery.” (The Dieline)

From The Dieline

The story of the main character, William Whistle, draws the consumer further into the exotic experience of the tea.

With each cup of tea the consumer is invited to enter William’s world, just as a reader enters the story world via the main character. This deepens the experience, and because people remember stories better than they remember facts, their participation in the story of William Whistle, makes the experience more memorable, and therefore adds to brand loyalty.

From The Dieline

And notice the nice UnDigital element of hand drawn images, which further increases the fancifulness. This invites further imagination in the consumer by recalling favorite children’s books.

From The Dieline

The Point: Take your packaging designs beyond the traditional concept, to include a story in the full sense: a main character who can be identified with, who has a mission, and who must overcome some form of struggle or danger to achieve his goal. And of course on the way he, she, or it, has any number of fun adventures. Snapshots of these adventures make good image concepts (such as the above with William Whistle).

From The Dieline.

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