Forget about what’s on the inside – it’s the packaging that counts. Here are a few outer accoutrements that caught both our eyes and yours.

Clorets

Okay, you may be thinking, where’s the flash, where’s the glitz and really, what’s so great about this packaging? It’s all about the dramatic simplicity. This gum has to duke it out in the confection row, where the packaging noise is, well, loud. So the solid colours against the rainbow of colours – it’s bold, it stands out, it’s brilliant.

This global redesign resembling a visual speed bump was the result of a team effort at Mississauga-based Davis.

iv cosmeceuticals

One hundred units of whole blood – Stat! No wait – that’s not blood, that’s hair conditioner. Huh? Well it certainly looks like the Burnaby, B.C.-based iv cosmeceuticals’ new hair products could be shot intravenously thanks to this clever first-aid care packaging that’s hit North America (Vegas in July and Canada in October).

Vancouver-based dossiercreative team Eena Kim (design), Donald Cleland (industrial design) and Dhania Kumara (implementation design) take top honours for their walk on the medical side.

Simpsons’ Homer Cola

Why super-size when you can Homer size? That’s right, Cott Canada and Wal-Mart Canada paired up in June to deliver this whopper of a cola nationally. It’s 473 ml of all the good stuff you can only find in soft drinks.

Toronto-based Watt International’s Janet McBurney (CD) and Debbie Marks (senior designer) get the plaudits for marrying manufacturer and retailer while using this hot ‘intellectual’ property to sell some pop.

1 Litre Water Company

It’s sleek, it’s sexy, it’s sophisticated and it oozes high falutin’ purity. But don’t go looking for this bottle of water at your local 7-Eleven ’cause you’ll be in for a heap of disappointment.

Led by partner Cameron Whitworth, the folks at Toronto-based Perennial went looking to tap into the exclusive five-star destinations market with this upscale bottle of Northumberland, Ont., spring water. If you have an Indigo in the neighbourhood you can check it out there; otherwise you’ll have to travel to the Bellagio in Vegas.

Fruits & Passions

After spying this Human Fusion Foaming Bath packaging, which oozes the feeling of a calm and natural oasis, it was hard to resist our Zen-like urges of running to the nearest Buddha and giving his belly a good rub, or better yet, getting that ch’i of ours cleansed. Marc Serre and the team at Montreal-based Kuizin Studio are responsible for the full global meal deal – product name, packaging and literature.