At Snoack Studios we love all types of design: website design, print design, branding, etc. Packaging design has always had a special place in my heart though. I love wandering down the aisles of different stores holding bottles and boxes and admiring the color and layout choices designers have made. Today, we’ll feature wine labels, bottles and boxes and showcase a bunch of unique and fun packaging designs that are worthy of our roundup. There is so much room to be creative with wine packaging and these designers have really stepped up and created some truly awesome pieces. Enjoy.

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Dale Chihuly is a great artist that creates beautiful glass art that is displayed all over the world. His creations are quite unique and fun and his ambition and leadership has been revolutionary for the glassblowing field.

Chihuly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interior Design in 1965. He received a Masters in Sculpture before he studied glass in Venice in 1968. In 1971, he founded the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. Holsten Galleries talks about what makes Chihuly so special:

Throughout the 1970’s , influenced by the great glassblowing tradition of Murano, Chihuly experimented with the team approach to glassblowing. Working with a team of master glassblowers and assistants has enabled him to produce architectural glass art of a scale and quantity unimaginable working alone or with only one assistant.

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Design inspiration can be found in many places and other forms of art like photography, architecture and even sidewalk chalk. Sidewalk chalk isn’t just for kids anymore, many of these pieces pictured below are gorgeous works of art that took a knowledgeable artist to compete. Inspiration is all around us as designers, look anywhere you can to find it.

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Teamwork: When we all work together, we all win together.

Who doesn’t love these awesome motivational posters in classrooms and business offices that decorate the walls in an effort to promote positive energy? They usually have some fun photography shot with people holding hands or animals working together and then a large word like “Teamwork.” Then underneath that you find a priceless quote about working together. Although they may be cheesy and the center point of a lot of ridicule, I think we can find some wisdom and business lessons from these motivational posters. read more

Color has been proven to be important in the look of your site and the feeling you give your visitors. Green in color theory not only symbolizes nature and growth, it can also be used to symbolize harmony and has healing powers. Green makes people feel safe. Websites that use this color can capitalize on these characteristics, giving users a sense of peace and safety on their site. Environmentally-friendly companies use the color green for the obvious organic ties it brings, plus the calm, spiritual message it sends to users. The sites below have inspirational and exceptional site designs utilizing the color green. Take note of the different shades of green, and the other colors in the color palette, and how these affect your overall feeling of the site.

This nature-inspired site falls in step perfectly with the characteristics of green described above. The design looks fresh, clean and peaceful.

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I’m a big fan of photography and I absolutely love black and white photos. Photography is another art form that I draw inspiration from, it’s very different from the type of design work that I do, but yet similar in some aspects. Good photos exhibit great lighting, composition, layout and style. These photos showcase these qualities and much more. read more

Green Field Paper offers fun and unique paper products, including handmade paper, machine made hemp paper, and seed embedded paper. Using their products is a great way to be more environmentally-friendly as a designer, but also a neat way to spice up your projects! We did an interview with Rick Smith, President of Green Field Paper, to give you an idea of what this unique company is all about.

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A logo is a piece of art in itself. One small mark represents the whole company. It must tell customers what kind of product or service the company sells, who the company is targeting, and what they stand for. That’s a lot of stuff for one logo to accomplish, but the great ones do just that. Here are some excellent marks to be inspired by.

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Some people don’t enjoy resolutions, they say they are just meaningless wishes that are too easily broken. But I love resolutions. I enjoy the fact that the new year gets everyone thinking about goals, which is what resolutions are to me. It’s a definitive point each year where you have the chance to think about how you can better yourself, your company, your work. I welcome this time each year and I’d like to share 6 resolutions that I think are important for every designer to take to heart this year and every year in the future! We often get too busy working on projects and forget about the important things that will help bring our designs to a new level.

1. Push yourself each and every project. Never be satisfied with your abilities, always strive to grow as a designer with each project, even if it’s a small step each time and you’ll get better and better each year.

2. Design something everyday. Follow a new tutorial, design a project for yourself, or do some free work as a donation. There are tons of ways to get yourself designing everyday. Smashing Magazine has a great article on this one, challenging each of us to spend at least 15-20 minutes per day designing.

3. Never stop learning. Keep finding new things you’d like to learn and new ways to improve your skills. The design world is ever-changing and there’s always a new language to learn and a new tutorial to follow.

4. Find inspiration in new places. Inspiration is all over the place and it’s not only important to look at websites as a website designer but also to look at fun packaging, great photography, and amazing pottery. There are tons of artforms out there that can provide inspiration and a new idea may spark from a different source than you’d think.

5. Get involved by attending a design conference, take a class or find a new way to get inspired and jump start your motivation. Being in a group of people that are excited about their profession is a great way to learn and an awesome way to get excited.

6. Network with other designers. Social media is huge right now and connecting with other designers has never been easier. Follow other designers on Twitter, chat on blogs, find people on Digg, StumbleUpon, or LinkedIn. Networking can bring about tons of new opportunities and resources, stuff that was out of reach before.

Happy New Year to all, I hope you are inspired to set some resolutions for yourself that are worth keeping this year!

Business cards are to a business what a surf board is to a surfer. It’s totally necessary for the craft, business and surfing cannot go on without them. But why have a normal surf board when it could be a killer one that makes all the other surfers envy you? These cards are fun and completely unique, creating jealousy among other businesses and designers alike.

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