Packaging is a serious component of all products. It needs to carry or contain the product. It needs to communicate the product’s ingredients. It needs to tell the company’s story. And if it’s going to make a company relevant to society, it needs to be sustainable. In other words, packaging needs to work on a lot of levels.

This keeps package designers and product engineers really busy trying to figure out solutions that meet all these requirements. If a package works, but is expansive and inefficient to make, that’s not a solution. If a package is sustainable, but fails to function, that’s not a solution. If a package design looks good, but fails to keep the product intact or safe, that’s really not a solution.

It’s kind of like playing Jenga, which is why when someone gets it right it’s worth talking about. Method is a great example. Recently, they switched to 100% post consumer recycled packaging.

WhiteWave, we recently had to grapple with these thoughts and concerns in redesigning our International Delight bottles. Previous designs didn’t work as well as we would have liked. They leaked. And more and more over the past few years, we recognized that the package designs didn’t meet our own emerging sustainability standards. We wanted to do better, so we dramatically reduced cardboard shipping cases and started using sustainable plastic that requires less energy and water to create.

I, for the record, am one that enjoys a little social interaction at work. This might simply be an excuse to do less work, or even more likely my Attention Deficit kicking in, but sitting quietly for more than a half hour makes me a little nuts. I crave contact. Which is why this article from treehugger.com peaked my interest.

The questions posed are intriguing – What the heck do we have against actually talking to each other at work?

Your guess is as good as mine, but I think it’s cool to see that architects aren’t only into building buildings… they’re into building relationships through the long lost art of human interaction. No doubt equaling positive work results. Not to mention positive environmental results by saving energy, space and wasted cube materials.

I like your style, architects… and your stylings.