I, along with most designers, have always loved the Tazo Tea identity, packaging and campaign.

The other day, on my way to a meeting, I ran into some Starbucks salespeople in Washington Square Park giving away free, cold Starbucks drinks (double-shots of espresso in each!), as well as $5 gift cards and packages of Tazo tea. They were trying to attract NYU students with the disposable income associated with inflated prices (hey, as long as it’s sustainable, I don’t mind), but were happy to give me their free samples too.

The packaging is just beautiful. I admit, I wasn’t the strongest at designing packaging in school and, though I’m a fan of Massimo Vignelli, other students and designers were quite better (this designer, whom I met recently, really has a good sense for packaging design). Of course, my ineptitude (or ignorance) for packaging design just makes me so much more attracted to the industry. Humble as I am, my design for Brooklyn Wine Company’s Feliz Labels were just featured in the “Behind the Design” column of HOW Magazine (whose spam policies i disagree with). And one day, I hope, my wonderful clients will take a chance on me and I’ll hone my packaging skills more.