The stupidest product that the media will cover.

The topic of today’s newsletter can only be explained with a meme.

I’m often critical of designers pushing form over function. It’s probably some kind of deep-seated insecurity that comes from being a non-designer that runs a design agency. But if we ignore that, I think you’d agree that sometimes the design world goes too far in making things look beautiful but aren’t very practical.

This is one of those cases.

What the actual fuck is this?

500ml of pure vodka in a bag with a cutline? This tiny alcoholic waterbed is a ridiculous idea. The second it’s cut, it’ll spill out everywhere.

Seeing my fav media publications like The Dieline and Packaging of the World cover this makes me feel like an insane person. How could anyone look at a loose bag of vodka and type the words “practicality” into an article?

After ten seconds of Googling, it is clear that this is not a real product or brand, but just a spec concept from a design studio. Which only makes me question the publicity even further - what is the benchmark for things worth talking about? Surely “being real” is the absolute bare minimum requirement?

This is the bit that drives me mad about the design world.

So much packaging gets celebrated as if the render is the final product. But real packaging has to survive contact with the factory, the shelf, the retailer, the barcode scanner, the consumer and the bin.

It makes the creative industry feel like the colouring in department when we acknowledge impractical ideas that will never work in reality.

What do you think?

ps. I’m experimenting with a different format of newsletter - shorter, punchier and more raw. please tell me if you hate it by clicking “meh” below.