Design Differences

A Dannon Redesign

One always wonders about identity redesigns, and this one I'm not convinced is for the better. Though it was driven by changes at the parent corporation whose logo for their 'dairy' division also encompasses the new smile. But is this a really happy change?

Above is the old Dannon packaging. And below is the new 'yogurt' package, next to the old one which had more blue and less brightness.

While it may be hard to judge here, I honestly believe the original packaging was stronger on the shelf. I find the packaging with more white seems to get lost, hard to find, even if I know exactly where to look.

Now with any identity change, it's really difficult to critique accurately without the creative brief. I've got no idea what research, if any, drove these changes. And in some ways, while I prefer a smily face to a overdone swoosh, this smile comes with questions. And it's positioning with the white space above it is a bit visually disconcerting. And I'm not even sure the new type treatment is much better than the old. But maybe it's just that smiles are becoming the next design trend and we should all keep an eye out.