Vanilla extract has long been sold in small glass bottles, with amber glass commonly used to protect the extract from light. Criterium’s tiny 60 ml format, however, is a familiar starting point for something much less expected. But rather than reaching for vanilla pods, orchids, or gourmet gold details, the studio packs the label with typography inspired by old Quebec signage, maritime graphics, and coin engravings, a reference with real roots in the region’s printed history.

The mirrored front-and-back labels make all that copy part of the design, twice over, while simple black ink and textured uncoated paper show that premium pantry packaging doesn’t need metallic finishes or elaborate production tricks. It lands right in the current fascination with archival typography and information-rich layouts, but its precision gives vanilla extract a distinctive new place on the pantry shelf. And now I want a bottle. 

Maxime Rheault, co-founder and creative director at Criterium, shares more about how the design came to be below.