What Makes a Good Package Design Even Better?
Answer: A good package design with a depiction of that same package on the package!
Thanks to Halloween, I was recently exposed to a lot more candy imagery than usual, and something jumped out at me that I hadn’t noticed before: The Smarties wrapper features a depiction of a Smarties wrapper (as shown above).
There’s something amusing about a self-referential package design, almost like it’s saying, “Yes, this product is this product.” But the Smarties wrapper design doesn’t quite have the courage of its convictions, because it has only one degree of separation. If they really wanted to do it right, the wrapper design would show a wrapper on a wrapper on a wrapper on a wrapper, ad confectionitum. This hall-of-mirrors design style is known as a recursive image, or an infinite regression.
My favorite recursive package design is for Royal Baking Powder. For over a century, its can design has featured a can on a can on a can:
Recursive imagery is also sometimes known as the Droste Effect. That term refers to the original 1904 package design for Droste Cocoa, which shows a nurse carrying a tray with a tin of Droste, which in turn shows a nurse carrying a tray with a tin of Droste, and so on:
Over the years, several other products have used this type of self-referential package design. Here are some examples: