Happy Wednesday!
Today I want to talk about packaging because we are in the middle of a pretty massive shift in what makes a brand look “cool”.
For years, the formula was simple. Make the packaging minimal, use a clean sans serif font, pick a muted color palette, and make sure everything looked perfect on Instagram.
And it worked. Some of the biggest millennial brands were built around that exact aesthetic.
But now walk through Sephora, Erewhon, Target, or scroll through TikTok and everything looks different. The packaging is brighter, fonts are weirderr, and every brand has crazy illustrations everywhere. Brands are less afraid of looking a little chaotic.
Gen Z is screaming life into brands again.
And I don’t think this is just another design trend. Packaging reflects the customer you’re trying to reach, and Gen Z has a very different idea of what makes a brand feel interesting.
So let’s talk about how Gen Z killed millennial minimalism.
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WTF Was Millennial Packaging?
Before we talk about where packaging is going, we have to talk about what came before it.
Millennial packaging was minimalist, clean, aspirational, and extremely Instagram friendly.
Think Glossier, Away, Warby Parker, or Outdoor Voices.
The aesthetic was easy to recognize. Clean fonts, muted colors, lots of negative space, simple logos, centered layouts, and perfectly art directed photography.
At the time, it felt completely different from the loud, overly branded products millennials had grown up with. Stripping everything back made brands feel modern, elevated, and premium.
It also happened alongside the rise of Instagram, when products needed to look good in carefully curated feeds. And it worked incredibly well. Almost every brand wanted to copy the Glossier playbook at the time.
But once every new brand adopted the same visual language, what once felt different started making every brand look the same.
Gen Z grew up surrounded by millennial minimalism, so naturally, the next generation of brands is rebelling against it.
Now Gen Z packaging can be colorful, weird, nostalgic, handmade, feminine, chaotic, or incredibly simple. What connects the brands doing it well is that they actually feel like they have a point of view.
So here are the shifts I am noticing and my favorite examples.
Stop Making Wellness Look So Serious
For a long time, better for you products almost had to look healthy.
Muted colors, minimal labels, lots of white space, and branding that immediately told you this was the responsible option.
But why does have to look boring?
OLIPOP is a great example of how that’s changing.
The brand made its packaging brighter and bolder, enlarged the flavor illustrations, and moved toward playful lowercase typography that gives each flavor more personality.
Why it works
If your packaging constantly reminds customers they’re choosing the “healthy alternative,” you’re reinforcing the idea that they’re making a compromise.
OLIPOP visually competes with soda by actually looking fun.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
Does your packaging communicate the benefit so heavily that you’ve forgotten to make the product desirable?
Could your category afford to take itself a little less seriously?
Make Packaging Full Of Personality
This is probably one of the clearest differences between millennial and Gen Z branding.
Millennial packaging often tried to remove anything unnecessary. Gen Z packaging is much more comfortable adding it back.
Fishwife is one of my favorite examples.
Canned fish historically wasn’t exactly a category known for packaging people wanted to display. Fishwife completely changed that.
Its tins are colorful, illustrative, maximalist, and filled with personality. They almost feel more like little pieces of art than something you’d find in the canned seafood aisle.
Why it works
Fishwife didn’t need to reinvent canned fish. It needed to make canned fish feel relevant to a new customer.
The packaging makes an ordinary grocery product interesting enough to display, photograph, gift, and talk about.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
If someone covered your logo, would your packaging still feel recognizable?
What could your packaging communicate about the personality of the person buying it?
Make Imperfection Part Of The Brand
Brands used to spend a lot of money making sure everything looked perfectly polished.
Gen Z seems much more comfortable with things that feel handmade, slightly weird, or intentionally imperfect.
Coconut Cult does this really well.
The glass jars, chunky typography, bright colors, and hand drawn illustrations make the product feel like something you discovered at a local market instead of a highly polished wellness brand.
Why it works
When an entire category starts using the same polished design language, imperfection becomes differentiation.
Coconut Cult’s packaging feels human and slightly weird, which makes the brand harder to confuse with everything else on shelf.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
Is your brand so polished that you’ve removed some of its personality?
What could feel more handmade, unexpected, or human?
Design Products Worth Leaving Out
Packaging is not just competing for attention on a retail shelf anymore. It is also competing for a permanent spot on someone’s counter.
Graza is a perfect example of this.
Traditional olive oil bottles were designed to live in the pantry. Graza turned olive oil into a bright green squeeze bottle that feels more like a design object than a kitchen staple.
Why it works
When a product earns a permanent place on someone’s counter, the packaging keeps marketing the brand long after the purchase.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
Would your customer want to leave your product out after they use it?
Could your packaging become part of their space instead of something they hide away?
Make The Problem Feel Fun
Another shift I find really interesting is how Gen Z brands approach categories traditionally built around insecurity. We’re seeing this happen in skincare, specifically acne products.
Traditional acne products tend to look clinical because the category is built around the idea that acne is a problem you need to fix and hide.
Starface went in the complete opposite direction.
Bright yellow packaging, bubbly typography, colorful collectible cases, and little stars customers intentionally put on their faces.
Why it works
Starface changed the emotional experience of the category.
Instead of making customers feel like they need to hide the fact that they’re treating a breakout, the brand makes the experience playful enough to show off.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
What emotion has your category traditionally made customers feel?
Could your packaging completely change that emotion?
Turn A Boring Product Into An Accessory
Some of the biggest packaging opportunities are hiding in the most boring categories.
When nobody expects a product to look good, good design can completely change its perceived value.
Touchland changed this for hand sanitizer.
Before Touchland, most hand sanitizer came in a basic plastic bottle that you threw into your bag and forgot about.
Touchland redesigned it as a slim, flat, colorful spray that feels much closer to a beauty accessory.
Why it works
Touchland didn’t just redesign hand sanitizer packaging. It changed the role the product could play in someone’s life. They turned a commodity became an accessory.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
What does everyone in your category accept as boring because “that’s how it’s always looked”?
Could better packaging turn your functional product into something customers actually want to carry?
Final Thoughts
I don’t think Gen Z killed minimalism. I think they killed sameness.
Millennial minimalism worked because it once felt different. Then every brand started looking the same.
Gen Z brands are breaking those rules in completely different ways, but once that aesthetic starts feeling overdone too, we may see the pendulum swing back again.
There isn’t one Gen Z aesthetic to copy. The shift is from packaging designed to look perfect to packaging designed to have a personality.
Now definitely respond to this with your thoughts on all of this.
Have a great rest of your week!
-Brooke
Before The Hype
A section for my favorite products & product launches that you should know about before they become “hype worthy”:
Just Ingredients Protein Powder: I have been on a weight loss journey this year and the thing that has helped the most is adding this protein powder into my routine. I asked them for a coupon code so I could share with you all, use code BLUEPRINT for 10% off your order.
POV Skincare For Makeup Prep: My favorite skincare brand is launching into Sephora next week. These products will actually hydrate your skin and make your makeup easily blend in.
Korean Haircare Brand Unove: My friends and I are now obsessed with this Korean hair care brand and it’s the perfect time to shop it during the Sephora Sale. I have been using all the products, but my favorites are the shampoo and the hair mask.
Reale Actives Makeup Remover: I have been using this makeup remover for over a week and it has changed my life. It removes my makeup the best and doesn’t irritate my eyes.
Homecourt’s Exfoliating Handwash: Courteney Cox raised $8M to take down Aesop and this is one of their new launches to do that.
Abercrombie Activewear: I can’t believe I am saying this, but Abercrombie has some of the best affordable activewear right now.
Odd Muse Dresses: These are the most flattering work, wedding, and going out dresses. They’re investment pieces that will last forever.
Summer Fridays Eye Patches: These are the best eye patches.
as a millennial, i’m glad that we’re seeing more packaging with personality
My millennial is showing bc I will always find the minimalist hybrid lol.
I love ollipop because it’s minimalist-ish but with the pop of fun hahaha