Big words.

Okay, watchers of packaging and cultural trends: What's the difference between these two products?

The answer, of course, is nothing. These liquid hand soap bottles are from Colgate-Palmolive's Softsoap, part of their slightly elevated "luxury" line -- you can tell by the silver tops -- and they contain the same jasmine-mint scented soap. The only difference is, the one on the right is the new bottle redesign.

I'm always interested in changes to packaging. Every now and then a company will decide to refresh its look, catch the consumer's eye that is used to being glazed as it scans the shelves. "Is that something new? No, it's just that Softsoap. I like that new bottle." And into the cart we go.

It's always interesting to see how the same idea is expressed in different ways. This is, as I say, the lux line, and until recently, rich but subdued colors and handwriting font were the way to express that. Now a burst of foliage and big capital letters are the way to go. The old one looks more elegant, but the new one is assertive without being tacky. They each have their charms, but as a representation of what's in the bottle? I guess either is fine.

I've noticed that this kind of big block lettering has gained in currency lately. I think it's a sort of mid-century retro, although I couldn't tell you the fonts or when they were originally popularized. They represent a kind of confidence and clarity that seems lacking in our modern age, which may be why it's appealing to designers. Life is messy, and you feel like it's a race between you and the country to see which one goes all to hell first? Look here. This soap knows what it's about. This soap is solid... even though it's liquid. This is real. To say all that would be pretentious twaddle, but to express it in art makes it feel true.

Another example of what I mean is our old refreshing friend, Fresca: 

Fresca's had a lot of looks over the years, trying to be fresh, or fun, or healthy, or energetic -- whatever the most valued aspect of a grapefruit soda might be at the moment. Here's the original, found online:

That's a great mid-sixties look, fun and young and new. The 2018 one looks more centered, more meaningful, because of the letters (and the "est. 1966," like it's a family business rather than a Coke product).

I think the new look probably started with artisan companies, outfits who started up in old warehouses or manufacturing plants (or wanted to act like they did), designing logos to look industrial but independent. Look at Jones Soda and TOMS and Mrs. Meyer's, for example. Snarky but earnest. Now the look has spread up the line -- it will be thought of as the Look of the 2010s one day.

So the time has come. It's up to us to be confident, meaningful, solid. Now we have to live up to our soap, to our soda.

We can do this! Who's with me?