I’m usually all for new designs – it brings a fresh look and attitude to the product/project. But, as with any good design, it also needs to do it’s job, and do it better than before. Our favorite orange juice – Tropicana, has fallen a bit far from the tree.
I had seen tentative designs for the new Tropicana package design (which the link actually looks better than the end result), and while we were out grocery shopping last weekend, I saw my first batch of them in person. Seen above, you can see the new design compared to the old. There is little merit in the more simplistic layout and look. It does distinguish it slightly from the other packaging around, but it doesn’t do it in the “we’re the best OJ”, but more in the “We look inexpensive”. The new logo is pretty nice – it’s simple and to the point – a cleaned up variation of the old that gets to the core of the logo’s soul. But that’s all the good I could squeeze out… I couldn’t resist the pun.
The focal point of the design is the new cropped glass of orange juice – which you can barely make out. The balance between that, and the rotation of the name of the juice is just…. off. I read “100% orange” before I read the brand of juice, which is a no-no. I’m going to assume that in time people will just recognize the package to be Tropicana, but I feel that’s a bit too far of an assumption. On top of that, the negative space below the logo does little in directing me to the remaining copy at the bottom and is really just a waste. Lastly, and this is the big one, the type of orange juice has become almost an afterthought. Above you saw the old “Light ‘N Healthy” bottle, below you see the “Some Pulp” in comparison to the new bottle. Take a peek, and I’ll meet you under the image.
Ok, now that you’ve seen both images – what do you see in the previous layouts? A very large color bar with easily readable text to help at a very quick glance distinguish which juice variant is which. Now, take a look below and see the difference between the new “Pulp Free” and “High Pulp” bottles… I’m warning you now, it may take a second…
The type is buried in the glass of juice and the only difference is the color of the text. It’s a much smaller font size and almost impossible to notice at a glance. I fear that there will be many little kids (heck even a big kid like me) upset because mom (or dad) made a quick glance and grabbed the wrong pulp’d OJ. What a way to start your morning, with a swig full of the wrong OJ! And as with my grocery store, the bottles easily mixed up, so you could have a “Pulp Free” in a “High-Pulp” area, and now it’s going to be much harder to tell. The old worked so well – you saw a big orange with a straw, and your appropriately colored bar and cap, and you were on your way – no reading needed – the design spoke and worked so well. It’s truly a shame that Pepsi has gone and done this to my beloved OJ.
But I shouldn’t be too surprised. This comes right off the heels of Pepsi doing a basically rebrand of every beverage they own. From the new Pepsi “pirate eye” logo, to the new Gatorade “G” bottles, they’re trying to be more hip and distinguish themselves from Coke I guess. Will we stop buying Tropicana, not likely. We are brand loyal like that, and we do feel it’s the best OJ out there. But a new layout without substance and meaning is just something that, like the drinks inside them, will go bad quickly.
