Issue 10 – Pasta
Because apparently Mob Wives are having a moment...and they eat pasta
Unbox Inbox is a weekly newsletter packed with packaging inspiration and observations
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A Pasta Deep Dive
Ciao, welcome to Pasta Week! I feel like I need to get this out of the way right away–I’m not a big pasta person. But a slightly warm hunk of bread swiped through the leftover sauce on the plate? That’s what I like about pasta (a server at Tosca Cafe once taught me that’s called “scarpetta”). I’m also not remotely Italian, but I did consult an Italian friend to make sure I didn’t offend anyone in the writing of this issue. Because pasta is a huge category when it comes to packaging, I chose to focus on a few things: printed boxes/bags over clear plastic bags, dry over fresh, and designs I like (there’s simply too much to include sub-par design). All to say, this is by no means an exhaustive exploration of pasta as a whole, but I do think you will find some quality visual inspiration to accompany the influx of mob wife aesthetic content overwhelming your feed and inbox.
1. Pasta for the person whose Nonna taught them right
As if I could go down this rabbit hole and not include the likes of Barilla, De Cecco and Voiello (shoutout
, that Italian friend I mentioned, for her expertise here). If you’ve ever stood in the pasta aisle in your average grocery store in America, you’ve seen that the shelf is simply dominated by Barilla and De Cecco. Their packaging could be terrible and it probably wouldn’t make a difference in sales or brand loyalty, but I love to see that giants like Barilla are doing their part in packaging sustainability (say farewell to the plastic window if you’re outside of the US, Canada, and Russia). I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve sat in a meeting debating the merits of having a window on pack vs. not, and I admire a brand that feels confident enough in their product and has cultivated enough trust in consumers to forgo it entirely. If I have one critique of Barilla in particular, it’s that they’ve gone a little bland. There’s nearly 150 years of brand IP to pull from, and it feels like a bit of a miss not to capitalize on that (see some oldies here and here. What I love about the rest of the brands in this category is that they have that magic, timeless cool thing going on that I keep talking about.
2. Pasta for the person who knows who Paul Rand is
I’m not saying this pasta packaging looks like it was designed by Paul Rand, but I’d all but guarantee the people who designed it know his work. I’d be proud to say I designed any of these systems. The fun windows on the side of the Luciano packages that look like abstracted “A”s? Love. The fact that they’re on the side of the box? Double love. Same for the super graphic illos on Etrusco and BUON. No notes on Vallillo either. I would buy any of these brands based on the packaging alone, and l might never open them because they’re too pretty (and also I don’t cook pasta very often).
3. Pasta for the person who if on a first-name basis with vendors at their local farmers market
If you exist in the same food-enthusiast bubble as me, you know that grains have been having a moment in the food world for a minute now. And by that I mean chefs and food brands prioritizing high-quality, local, whole grains of all varieties over your standard bleached white flour. Even Barilla is on board with their Al Bronzo collection. Whether all of these brands source the highest quality flour for their pasta or not, their packaging makes me feel like they do. Shoutout Community Grains who I used to work with and taught me so much of what I know about this subject.
4. Pasta for the person who cleans as they go while cooking pasta
All of these packs utilize white space, clean lines, and for the most part, sans serif fonts. Geometric shapes are utilized for design elements and windows, but in a restrained way that conveys simple elegance. Pasta ultimately is just flour and water, and I like that these brands don’t try to complicate a straightforward product on the outside either.
5. Pasta for the person who spends a lot of time on Pinterest
I’d be surprised if you haven’t seen Geenomic’s Good Hair Day Pasta (at least if you are also a designer of packaging who has spent many hours on Pinterest looking for inspiration). The first time I saw it, it stopped me dead in my scroll and I couldn’t believe how clever it was. Now I’m a jaded designer who has seen it too many times, and I don’t have the same reverence for it. Avoiding this very specific form of design fatigue is part of why I wanted to start this newsletter, and my reaction to this brand’s packaging design says a lot more about my relationship with inspiration on the internet than it does about the packaging itself. Ok rant over. I don’t actually *love* a lot of these, but I do appreciate the luxe simplicity of that Tirenna box–and everything their brand is about.
Chatterbox
Please welcome Sarah Wood to the letter this week! Sarah is the immensely talented writer behind
, and you can find more of her writing in places like The New York Times, The Cut, Refinery29, Insider, Architectural Digest, and Apartment Therapy. I first discovered her writing in the aforementioned piece in The Cut which articulated all of my feelings associated with not drinking better than I could myself. These days she’s based in Edinburgh, where she’s regularly bringing new people together in beautiful and inspiring spaces, and making me want to add more tartan to my wardrobe and patterned textiles to my home. If the idea of having a bespoke bachelorette party or company offsite in a castle in Scotland (!) sounds as magical to you as it does to me, she can help you with that and other event planning needs too.
What are 3-5 items that are always stocked in your home?
La Roche-Posay 50+ SPF sunscreen, PAN arepa flour, peanut butter Perfect Bars (they don’t sell them in the UK so I hoard them and bring them back from the US), and Muji .05mm pens.
Why are you loyal to those brands or products?
These products are extremely functional. For sunscreen, I can’t be messing around with my Michigan pale skin and trust La Roche Posay with my life (also
, a skincare expert who I also trust a lot recommended it.) PAN arepa flour is the corn flour that my fiancé Gustavo grew up using, so it has 31 years of brand loyalty built in. Perfect Bars are the only protein bars that fill me up and I think they taste truly delicious–if they are not healthy, I do not want to hear about it. Finally, I have a lifetime supply of Muji .05mm pens because they are the only pens I like to write with.What was the last thing you bought because it stood out to you on the shelf?
The Deliciously Ella basil pesto which is now a household staple. I really like Deliciously Ella (she seems like a kind person!!!) so I’ve always had a warm feeling towards her and picked her pesto over the other pestos on the shelf.
What was the last thing you bought because someone you know recommended it?
I was on a hair care journey after realizing that 8 years of dyeing my naturally brown hair to platinum blonde did not do myself any favors. After asking my personal oracle of advice (my group chat with my two close friends Danielle Mantich and Alexis Teixiera), I am now the proud owner of the Crown Affair comb, Oribe shampoo and conditioner, and an Amazon brand scalp scrubber.
What was the last thing you bought because of an algorithm?
I just bought the most recent “The Escapist'' issue of Monocle, because several of the cool people in Scotland that I follow on Instagram (Bard, The Free Company, La Fetiche, among others) were featured and I cannot seem to resist travel recommendations and round-ups. This is also why I cannot resist subscribing to
Substack.Favorite place to shop irl?
I am obsessed with perusing the charity shops in my neighborhood in Edinburgh because I love the experience of treasure hunting. I’m not a big shopper, so if I go into a shop I want it to feel like an epic journey, a pilgrimage of sorts. Recently, I flew to New York and went to Happy Isles, a vintage designer wedding store, with my mom which was an incredible retail experience in that it’s tucked away in an assuming office building in Soho and you get two dedicated staff members to help you try on as many stunning dresses as you can in your hour and a half slot. It’s intimate, delightful, and memorable–fulfilling every single one of my childhood dress-up dreams.
Favorite place to shop online?
In the same treasure hunting vein, I buy most things second-hand, so I’m often on an epic hunt for a few specific items, so I scroll through Vinted, The Real Real, Shrimpton Couture, and Vestaire Collective looking for gems.
Someone is visiting where you live for a day, what are 3 musts?
We’re going to go to Gleneagles Townhouse to revel in the stunning maximalist interior design and drink coffee by the roaring marble fireplace. Then we’re going to the unassuming Dean Tennis Club, our neighborhood tennis club, to join a round of social tennis, playing doubles tennis with partners from eight to eighty-years-old. After tennis, we’re swinging by Lannan Bakery, the buzzy new bakery in town, and if the line is around the block, we’re going to the Swedish cafe, Söderberg’s, for cardamom buns.
Thank you Sarah!
Packing Peanuts
(Those loose leftover pieces at the bottom of the box)
If you’re 30% potato chip like I am, perhaps you’ll like these pasta chips. Striped pasta with cute branding. A vintage cookbook to add to your collection. Pasta packaging that thinks outside the box. My latest YouTube rabbit hole is studying abroad in Copenhagen vicariously through Eva Meloche, where I learned this place has great pasta. A $1,237 vintage Razzia poster. A Milton Glaser poster designed for Heller as an introduction to his line of plastic, pasta-shaped pillows (where can I buy one of those pillows?). The same friend who told me Voiello does the coolest art collabs around the holidays also sells this raviolo magnet and this pasta sticker pack (I like to use them to adorn gifts to the pasta people in my life). If you also were fixated on the fact that Coco Gauff had a Barilla logo on her top while winning the US Open last year. A pasta pasta bowl for your next dinner party. This croissant-shaped gnocchi feels like the rainbow bagel of pasta. Someone who works at Chopped needs to put this chocolate infused pasta in a basket. Butter Noodles hair clips if you’re a picky eater, or a farfalle hair claw if you can’t relate.
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
The Italian Friend loves this issue!!
You are so brilliant!!!!