Monday 13 August 2007

Camel 'Natural' Cigarettes


As a smoker i have seen my fair share of packaging designs for boxes of cigarettes. However, the one brand that i feel has produced a carton with distinct character and aesthetic appeal has to be Camel. They have recently launched a new product line simply called 'Natural'. These cigarettes promote the fact that they do not have all the harmful and artificial chemicals that are so often put into other cigarettes.
In light of the ever growing health conscious, 'green' and organic trend that we are now submersed in, it doesn't really come as a surprise, that now cigarette companies are following suit, despite it being a clear cut oxymoron - 'the healthy cigarette'. However, although many smokers opt for the 'slightly less bad' cigarettes nowadays, i would certainly choose these from the shop, purely for the reason that it is clearly promoted that they are cleaner than if you smoked the 'not so natural' cigarettes.
Obviously, the design has to reflect this sense of purity otherwise the whole concept would be lost and the selling point destroyed. I feel that this has been achieved and to me the packet has that earthy, organic and non man-made aura. The colour palette is one of the key factors behind this products success, and they had to get it right otherwise the concept and the product would contradict each other. The use of the subtle earthy colours along with the simplistic design and the constant reiteration of 'natural flavor', really help convey and make apparent the concept behind this brand of cigarette.
In addition the typeface used for the 'natural flavor' copy, feels very unrestricted and flowing. I think this has been worked through the unobtrusive sans serif employed and also the generous kerning, and as a result the type sits naturally and doesn't have that forced feel, which often can be found when trying to keep things confined to minimal spaces.

Altogether, i think that this shows when you have decided upon a strong concept that works well, you need to stick quite consistently to those parameters and that they should be clearly reflected in the execution. This way the whole design process fits together in harmony, and the selling point becomes not only more effective, but clearer in its message making it more profitable and marketable.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for writing this, I thought it was interesting. (Never heard of the Natural type.)

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