I cannot speak or read French. It may be that La Compagnie de Provence’s typo-centric packaging had an even stronger impact on me for that reason. (Undistracted by the meaning of the words, I’m left just to ponder the way it looks: typography as pattern and color.) Another example of the sort of “typographic packaging” —(similar to the Waitrose Cook packaging shown on the dieline last week)— that uses verbiage as its main graphic feature. Seen all together, as they were at Gift Fair, these products make quite an impression.

The first product packaging for La Compagnie de Provence (founded in 1990 by French fashion designers, Philippe Boigeol and Pascal Bourelly) was traditional “Marseille soap” packaged in wrapping paper, tied with hemp rope and with a small wax seal.