The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising

Last Monday, June 30th, we visited the Museum of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising. Being a Graphic Communication major and a Packaging minor, this was by far one of my favorite field trips so far. The museum had packaging that dated as far back as the Victorian and Edwardian time period all the way up to current day. It was so interesting to see how much packaging has changed not only in how graphically it is designed but also how it is physically designed by construction of the package and the materials that are used. For our tour we were given a little worksheet to complete and the two images that I have placed above are some rough sketches of the packaging products that I saw while walking through the museum. The museum did not allow photographs to be taken so these illustrations are all that I have. The Milky Way illustration is from the 1930s and this design has changed drastically in comparison to today. The packaging from the 1930s used a red and white color scheme, very different from the Milky Way packaging we see today. The typeface that is used for the logo is a serif and today the typeface is a sans serif. The physical construction of the package has changed as well. In the 1930s it was a paper material was used, while the Milky Way bars that we see today are usually packaged in a thin aluminum film. For the 1940s, the worksheet asked us to find a product that still exists today and that is where I put my illustration of the Johnson's baby powder. The graphic design of Johnson's hasn't changed very much, the color scheme and logo are extremely similar to that of todays Johnson's products. The packaging material was different however, it use to be packaged in a tin can but today we can find this product in a plastic bottle. These are a few of the observations that I made while walking through this museum. I loved finding products that I use today and seeing how much the brand has developed itself. If you are a packaging geek like me this museum is definitely worth checking out!