I wrote about therise of vibe-based flavor naming a few months back. Specifically about how brands were drifting away from literal descriptors like “lemon” toward something more emotional. Calling lemon “Sunshine,” for example. The focus shifted from what something is to how it feels.

What’s happening now, though, is a natural extension of that idea, but in a different direction. Instead of asking consumers to interpret a feeling through language, brands are starting to visualize it directly, with more photography-led packaging systems emerging that feature designs where the image does most of the communicative work up front.