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The designers at Berger & Föhr are proud of their home state Colorado, particularly its Amendment 64, the recreational marijuana legislation recently passed there. For Icon Magazine's prophetic Future Issue, the editors commissioned Berger & Föhr to brand a fictional line of marijuana. The result is Delta-9, a pseudo-scientific identity "geared towards an informed and aesthetically conscious consumer – a consumer we understand." [via Collate]



The Dieline, a site that covers advances in package design, has just announced the winners of its annual design awards. The selections lean heavily toward sustainable design, with most winners and honorable mentions managing to reduce transportation energy or packaging waste. Here are five designs we'd like to see on shelves, in cabinets, and on the table.  

Sustainable Expanding Bowl
By using the power of hot water and steam, Tomorrow Machine and Innventia created a bowl that reduces landfill waste by using only biodegradable materials, and cuts down on the shipping's carbon footprint by packing to a condensed bowl. 

 

Versa Flow
One of the simplest packaging revisions in this year's honors still deserves high marks. Owens-Illinois added a simple spout to the glass jar and revolutionized salsa, pasta sauce, and anything else that we pour from jars. 



Natural Delivery 
At some restaurants, the waste from a take-out order can be staggering. Natural Delivery is a to-go package for restaurants that eliminates the need for a plastic bag and additional plates while providing a clean placemat for multitasking lunches at a desk, or meals taken in the great outdoors. The paper structure is stackable and has a built-in paper handle for easy transport. 



BANDiful
Not unlike the Versa Jar, the BANDiful one-handed bandage package is one of the most obvious packaging revisions. The simple card format is much easier to use with one uninjured hand than a box with individually wrapped bandages. 


The Little Printer
The Little Printer, a tiny thermal printer that prints reports from news sources and social networks on receipt paper, is a playful item. To package the small device for secure international shipping, the designers at Burgopak added a simple greeting and repurposed the printer's bright red stand as two welcoming arms. 

See more at The Dieline.

For the packaging of their new collaborative LP, Run the Jewels, El-P and Killer Mike enlisted Brooklyn artist and photographer Nick Gazin for a series of new illustrations. Although the record will see release as a free download, Gazin contributed multiple images for a limited-edition physical release on vinyl, including original lettering work and a poster, plus two T-shirts only available on tour.

Preorder a physical copy of Run the Jewels (with an optional grinder) from Fool's Gold, and see a few more tour-only shirts over at El-P's Tumblr










As competition in the beer cooler gets tougher, breweries big and small are making changes to package design to catch more eyes. Already this year, beer titans Budweiser, Miller, Heineken, and Sam Adams have all announced major makeovers of their can and bottle looks. 

In South America, Brazilian beer brand Antarctica made a big change to its packaging just in time for this year's annual Carnivale by adding a scannable subway ticket directly onto its can's label. To support the program it worked with the city of Rio de Janeiro and installed "beer turnstiles" at major train stations that scan and collect cans for recycling in one simple motion. Riders simply save their last empty or find a discarded can for a free ride home. The campaign is a social initiative as well, intended to cut down on litter and drunk drivers. [via Adverblog]