Design Evaluation

Pure Leaf tea VS Argo Tea

Being a customer and consumer of both these products I've experienced first hand the good and bad design that comes from these two different ways of packaging. First, I believe Pure Leaf to be bad design and Argo Tea to be good execution of design. The first thing that I notice is the bottle shape. With choosing a green tea it's not contextually desirable to have a bottle that's shaped like a soda bottle. That's what I see when I look at Pure Leaf packaging. It doesn't set itself apart being a tea rather than soda. On the other hand, Argo Tea has a nice sleek unique bottle shape that it noticeably different than your typical soda bottle shape. The bottle cap on Pure Leaf is your typical ridged edge screw top. Argo's bottle cap is bigger than average making it easy to screw open and it comes with a nice, clean matte finish.

With Pure Leaf's logo and label design, it feels very muddy with too much black and it's relying on imagery that can take away from their logo. There are many separated boxes that add too much contrast resulting in the label not being quick and easy to read. Pure Leaf is relying on an actual picture of the leaf and water, when Argo plays on the idea of closure with their logo and simplicity with the small outline of a leaf. With Argo's label you can clearly see the logo and the ingredients that are in this specific drink. The design is light, with simplistic color that does not distract from being able to read each individual part of the design using only 1-2 colors.

Pure Leaf's logo lack's interest for me. The font seems generic and when actually shopping through the drink isle, it get's lost among other drinks. Argo's logo has good contrast with the thick, bright white text, and simple pictures of the main ingredients in the drink. Argo's bottle is glass, contrary to Pure Leaf's being plastic. It adds a sense of quality even though both of these drinks are within cents of each other's price range.