Issue 06 – Eggs
Last one to read this issue is a rotten egg!
Unbox Inbox is a weekly newsletter packed with packaging inspiration and observations
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An Egg Deep Dive
Well hello! Welcome to egg week. If you’re a returning reader, I appreciate you. And if this is your first time tuning into this newsletter, I’m happy you’re here! And I hope you like eggs.
Does anyone else go in and out of food phases? I’m one of those people who will eat the same thing everyday for lunch for six months straight, and then out of the blue jump to something new for the next six. Up until recently my go-to lunch was to take two pieces of toast, smear them with avocado, plop on some Hawthorne Valley sauerkraut (the best), and drizzle it with a generous pour of tahini and some sort of flavorful seedy mix (strange all around, I know). It took me a while to realize that tahini alone is not a sufficient source of protein–even when you consume mass amounts like me–so now I’m back in another egg phase. All to say, I’ve been buying a lot of them recently and similar to butter last week, I have zero brand loyalty because that shit is kinda expen$ive these days.
Below you’ll find an assortment of egg cartons from all over the map. Most of them are actual brands, and some might not be (if you’ve spent any time perusing packaging design on the internet, you know that redesigning the classic egg carton is a favorite amongst design students). The form and substrate is pretty consistent amongst all of these, aside from Consider Pastures which stopped me in my tracks when I saw it on shelf at Whole Foods a few years ago. Funnily enough, when I went to link their Instagram I realized they are no more, and the page drives you to their parent company Pete and Gerry’s. Perhaps that elegant and original carton was too expensive.
1. Eggs for the Vital Farms stan
As a person living in America, I feel like the first widely available egg brand to do cute shit on their carton was Vital Farms. They scrapped the rolling green hills imagery we were used to seeing on the Organic Valleys of the world, and elevated it through the use of detailed, artful illustrations and pattern play. Some of the below do one of those things, and some do both. I’d say all are pretty successful at it–they’d all catch my eye at shelf.
2. Eggs for the person who doesn’t like change
If you’ve read this newsletter even once before, you won’t be surprised that this is my favorite category. I never tire of package design that looks decade/trend agnostic. Have these carton designs not changed since the mid 1900s, or are they inspired by those times? Who cares! I even respect Eggland’s Best, despite the fact that I roll my eyes whenever I hear their tagline in a commercial: “the world's leading healthy egg brand.” Says who? And define “healthy.” I digress.
3. Eggs for the person who likes to imagine where the chickens hung out before they laid the eggs
I’m not going to get into the whole cage-free vs. free-range vs. pasture-raised thing. You probably know by now which is best (it’s pasture-raised). Now that I’m writing this, it actually makes me a little mad that some of these free-range brands get away with showing large pastures with chickens roaming around, even if they are illustrations. All “free-range” means is that they have been “allowed access to the outside,” but they don’t have to specify the size of the outside range, or how long they had access to it. So I guess I am getting into it after all. This is an excellent resource if you too would like to get fired up.
4. Eggs for the person who eats eggs to feel happy
Or who wants to eat the eggs of happy chickens. I wonder if the saturation of an egg yolk has any correlation to how happy the chicken is. Probably not, but in my experience pasture-raised yolks are always a much deeper orange.
5. Eggs for the person who is drawn to words over imagery
Or maybe they’re a type geek. What’s special about all of these cartons is they rely less on the imagery of chickens and pastures like the above, and go all in on brand awareness or RTBs (“restore our soil, pasture, small farms, big hearts, fresh, barn, outdoor, better,” you get the gist). Unlike some of the other rabbit holes I’ve gone down for this newsletter, this very design-forward category doesn’t skew too trendy in a way that they’ll feel *very 2023* in a couple years.
6. Eggs for the person who simply cannot cook their own eggs
Listen, I find the concept of packaged, pre-cooked eggs a bit ridiculous and slightly depressing. I’m not in the phase of life where I’m scooting around a bunch of kids while also trying to have a career, social life, and alone time, but I think we can all find 6-12 minutes to boil some eggs! This whole trend reminds me of the orange-gate of 2016. Rant aside, I think all of these package designs are great.
Time Travel Time
The best thing I discovered in this egg rabbit hole is that humans once tried to make square eggs happen. Or rather, we continue to try and make square eggs happen. Aside from that, I got really inspired by all of the vintage egg cartons I came across on Etsy and ebay.
Chatterbox
This week we had the joy of asking Emily Schildt a few questions about what she buys and why. As the founder of Pop Up Grocer, an online and irl discovery destination, Emily is better suited than most to be on top of the latest trends in cpg, branding and package design. As her friend and occasional collaborator (she let me do the branding for the 1.0 version of PUG back in the day), I know she’s an incredibly thoughtful human. Unsurprisingly, her consuming habits are very thoughtful too.
PS, if you’re stumped on a holiday gift for someone on your list, The Pop Up Grocer Box is a no-brainer. Each box contains a surprise assortment of 6-8 items valued at a minimum of $45, and you can order one here! Now let’s see what she had to say…
What are 3-5 items that are always stocked in your home?
Pixi Glow Tonic; Fage 2% Yogurt; La Gritona Tequila; Koeze Cream-Nut Peanut Butter; Aesop Reverence Hand Soap
Why are you loyal to those brands or products?
Brand loyalty is, generally speaking, not an attribute of mine—I'm far too curious. But, I think looking at the products that I am loyal to, it's those that are in the background of my regular—almost daily—routine. Thus, I'd say I look for reliability, stability—I need them to always be around, be easily available, be priced as I expect. These aren't the products I buy irregularly for pleasure, excitement, and enjoyment.
What was the last thing you bought because it stood out to you on the shelf?
The shelves that line the line at Sephora always get me. My basket quickly goes from $25 to $75. I bought a Westman Atelier stick because the minimal branding drew me in (has the pendulum swung again?). I've yet to use it...
What was the last thing you bought because someone you know recommended it?
I bought a pair of Eliou earrings after asking around about where all the girlies are getting their chunky silver earrings.
What was the last thing you bought because of an algorithm?
Do drinks @ Tigre count? It seemed every early adopter I follow was flocking there, so the algorithm got me. (They were good!)
Favorite place to shop irl?
The farmer's market at Union Square! I moved to Gramercy this year and I love having it close by. And as it's the holiday season, I'd say John Derian in the East Village, too. Before TikTok got to it, anyway.
Favorite place to shop online?
1st Dibs. I'm not sure if it's as much 'shopping' as it is 'shopping for inspiration,' most of the time, but it's a great place to go to fantasize.
Someone is visiting where you live for a day, what are 3 musts?
Cafe Panna (affogato!), Union Square Cafe (burger!), Veronika/Fotografiska Museum (you can purchase a drink ticket and tour the exhibition with a glass of wine, or grab a pre-visit cocktail at the beautiful bar).
Thank you Emily!
Packing Peanuts
(Those loose leftover pieces at the bottom of the box)
Sunny Side Up, a portable lamp, or “little café in my hand that switches on vibes.” Egg packaging from the Netherlands inspired by postage stamps. The underside of this egg carton wrap is giving back of the cereal box. I love potato chips and I love eggs, so maybe I’d love these chips. Has anyone tried? I despise wraps (sorry, bread is always better), but maybe you’d be into these wraps made out of egg whites. On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: a limited edition egg carton. More on that whole young designers trying to improve upon the classic egg carton thing (I’d love to see some of these be commercialized). What a fun eggy brand. A little deep dive on the history of the egg carton, first patented in 1918. If you hang out in the same corner of the internet as me, you’ve probably come across these hard boiled egg faces by artist Urs Fischer. If you’re in the mood to visibly display your love of eggs: an art print by Gabriel Alcala, a ceramic tea light candle holder by Collin Garrity, a Katie Kimmel tee, a mug by Osso Ceramics, this cute vintage ashtray/egg cup that I own and brings me great joy. My favorite crispy crunchy topping and hot sauce for eggs. I’d fly to Paris to taste this marinated yolk. And completely unrelated to eggs, I’m recommending this book to anyone who gets the winter blues or could use some help Feeling Good. A favorite takeaway so far from the chapter on perfection: “You can either try to be perfect and end up miserable, or you can aim to be human and imperfect and feel enhanced. Which do you choose?”
If you made it this far, thanks for reading, I love you. If you’re feeling generous or inspired, please forward this newsletter to a friend and encourage them to subscribe too <3
adding this bit of egg paraphernalia that i own into the mix! https://bignightbk.com/products/egg-dishes-reva-preven