So I was doing some grocery shopping one day and I was walking around the frozen food aisles when I caught a glimpse of some food packaging that reminded me of the former Mexican restaurant, Chi-Chi’s (I miss their food!). I back tracked my steps and took out the box. The food packaging was for Padma Lakshmi’s Easy Exotic frozen food line. What caught my in the first place was the photograph of the rice dish (spicy black beans and rice). It wasn’t the signature of Lakshmi or even her face. It was the food itself and right in the left corner was second most important information I saw: vegan. So it was a no-brainer for me then to buy it!

When I examined the packaging again, I noticed several things. Straight off the bat, I understood that this package was to appeal to foodies anywhere in the US. However, I couldn’t really get whole exotic concept from the packaging. Yes, the bright blue color and the pattern seem exotic, but they really aren’t screaming exotic to me. As a result, it was hard for me to get the intended message. The whole box looked and felt homemade the wooden texture and the handwritten looking content. I felt that most well designed part of this box, aside from the front, was the back panel. The content and images were laid out nicely and allowed the white space to move my eyes across the box easily. I also noticed that the box used at least four different typefaces. The box had an old style serif typeface (dish name), a humanistic sans serif typeface (“Padma’s,” cooking instructions, and story), and I what believed were two casual script typefaces (“Exotic Easy” and handwritten looking content). There was a consistent placement and use of one of the casual scripts, the old style serif, and the humanistic sans serif on the back panel and the side panel with the cooking instructions on it. This subtlety displayed some text hierarchy on the side panel and back. In addition to that, I noted that two of the panels lacked some sort of design element. Overall, this box did some nice things with typography and layout design and it most definitely attracted a food-loving audience. However, I would change some things on this package to make it work with the concept more.

I would use more floral patterns and incorporate more splashes of color to enhance the package’s exotic concept. Right now it emphasizes too much on Lakshmi’s homemade experience and not enough on the exotic part of the food. I would also change the amount of typefaces this packaging used. Instead I would stick to one serif typeface for any of the headings and one sans serif typeface for any of the other written content. I would let the handwritten elements stay on the packing because it adds a personal element to the packaging. Finally, I would move the nutrition facts from the one side panel to the bottom panel with the barcode on it. I would then design this side panel to have a similar layout like the other one and have more written content on it. Or maybe, that entire panel could have Lakshmi’s little note on it, instead of on the back. This would allow the back have more white space and the note to make more breathing room. I think this redesigned package would appeal more to food lovers.

*Padma Lakshmi’s Easy Exotic food packaging is branded and designed by Brandmade Design Co. (http://brandmadeby.us)

Photographs taken by Akaashmi Mishra; Feature image from Google Images