Black packaging designs are usually synonymous with elegance. This color can serve as a sign of class and premium design, a symbol of many mysteries, power and various levels of sophistication. It can also elicit different emotions, while the black typography is easily legible.
The power of black-in-color psychology is limitless (learn more about how color choices affect the customers’ collective psyche), making it all the more attractive to design agencies worldwide.
It also co-aligns perfectly with gold, silver, white and many other colors, virtually removing the creative borders, which is why it’s so frequently used across the board in design.
In this article, we’ll present you with some of the best black packaging designs that portray the ubiquitous power of the color:
Table of Contents
1. Panama Kambera by Methodyca
Standout Features:
- Sans-serif typography across the board
- Pastel visuals on an elegant all-black design
- Authentic quality assurance certificate
Panama Kambera is a Slovenian coffee brand with a beautiful premium packaging design created by Methodyca.
The sleek pitch-black packaging is decorated with the soothing orange logo design of a small mill and white sans-serif typography on the front, making the contrast classy and stylish. The back features extensive nutritional information, and a vast map is presented in a pale shade of red, indicating where the coffee originates.
The limited pastel visuals contribute to the elegance of the packaging design, with shades that are pleasant for the eye.
The packaging design is practical and easy to open, with perforated ends near the top. Above the logo is a unique quality assurance certificate resembling an old postage stamp. The seal extends to the back side, adding a domestic, cozy charm to the modern packaging design.
2. The Reagan by This is EME
Standout Features:
- Grotesque and grim art
- Artistically pleasing and industry-related symbolism
- Dark, hand-drawn illustrations
The Reagan is not your usual cocktail bar. It is the home to many music and eclectic style enthusiasts occupying or visiting El Paso. This is EME exploited this distinctive character of The Reagan to develop incredibly artistic packaging designs.
The art encompasses dark, hand-drawn illustrations either lacking colors completely or relying on strong colors associated with grim aesthetics. These designs complement the venue's atmosphere but also preserve their powerful aesthetics on their own.
Grotesque and vile, the packaging visuals are a treat for the macabre-loving audience. The illustrations are mystical and esoteric, while they maintain the beverage symbolisms (indicating the nature of the venue).
Let's take their coffee cup as a perfect example – the design portrays a personalized sun-like figure cut in half, with coffee beans "falling out" of it. The colorless sun is embraced by thin white lines symbolizing its rays. The sun appears bruised through excellent tattoo-like shadowing effects. It is personalized with a dull, tired facial expression.
3. Black Magic by Catherine Polak
Standout Features:
- A tribute to alchemy
- Esoteric, cabbalistic motifs
- Maintaining consistency through the color palette
They say a bottle of good wine is essential to making your night magical. Catherine Polak, who designed the label for the Black Magic Wine, did an incredible job by staying loyal to the branding behind the name and further elevating it.
The label’s story is fundamentally presented as a tribute to alchemy. The narrative is built around two symbolic features – the logo and the black-and-gold flow below the emblem. The simple label design comes in two versions: black and white - as the typography’s color contrasts with the background color.
The homage to alchemy can be seen in both elements. The logo design is embossed in the center to add to its depth. The font choice is mystical and gothic-like, and the positioning symbolizes alchemy symbols.
As for the artwork, while it’s not a secret that the liquid-like motion represents the product’s flow, the color combination is meant to further extend the depiction of these ancient practices. Alchemists were known for their ability to turn lead into gold – just as the Black Magic Wine turns grapes into liquid gold for your palace. If you’re a wine and design lover, check out these wine packaging designs that each wine enthusiast will enjoy.
4. Bath Kit by Will Farr Design
Standout Features:
- Menacing medieval artwork
- A bloody red logotype
- Texturized label
Blood Bath is not your typical bath kit. Will Farr Design extended the play on words through a gruesome and "cruel" packaging design for this brand.
The grim, dark ages artwork is the central element on the packaging, with different bleak imagery on soap boxes and shampoo bottles. The visuals establish a gloomy atmosphere that's emphasized with a glossy red foil spelling out the "Blood Bath" in an old book gothic font style, a perfect choice for this theme (You can learn more about the perfect typography for your brand here).
The theme expands even further with the addition of medieval woodcuts (invoking the topics of vampires and witches) as texturized label extensions on either side of the visuals.
The severe and grim representations of medieval times are "locked" behind a polished yet rusty black box with more woodwork-inspired elements.
5. Les Chocolats by Pulp & Pixel
Standout Features:
- Horror-themed
- Playful and fun
- Irreverent take on death and mythology
Les Chocolats needed a Halloween edition of their delicious treats. Pulp & Pixel developed a packaging design that reflects the brand's needs and complies with the necessary creative and fun aspects associated with the holiday.
The horror-themed designs entail a Dracula-like chocolate pack and a Cyclops-inspired candy. The designs alleviate the notorious, fear-mongering elements of the surreal myths, turning them into a playful and fun notion.
The two-piece chocolate pack is placed in a black-and-white coffin diluted with a warm shade of pink. The coffin is decorated both externally and internally, with two white skulls on the sides and a black cat and spider on the pink interior.
The Cyclop's eye candy (pun intended) packaging design encompasses two depictions of a purple, witty mythical creature doing random things like smiling with his teeth or tongue out while having fun. His bloody eye goes from grim to cute and friendly, and the clever typography enhances the easy-going atmosphere.
6. Luxy by Superfluido
Standout Features:
- Minimalistic and elegant
- Color palette alludes to the luxurious quality
- Classy typography
Luxy is a premium extra virgin olive oil with an adequately high-end elegant packaging design created by Superfluido.
The ultra-minimal visual appearance relies on the hardcover with a pleasant texture, with gold stamping as a central feature of the design and a classy red logotype.
With severely limited visuals, this packaging leans on the color palette to invoke the customers’ curiosity.
While the black makes this box mysterious and makes you wonder about its contents, the red in the logo inspires action and provides the needed assertiveness. The shiny gold exemplifies the brand’s high-quality standards, with the visuals presenting an even more minimal brand logo iteration.
7. Bulbash Potato by Armbrand
Standout Features:
- A seal of assurance
- A typographic blend
- Intriguing foliage pattern
Bulbash Potato is a high-end vodka proud of its cultural origins. Armbrand ensured that these virtues were portrayed in their solution for the brand’s packaging design.
When combined with copper, black provides a sleek and elegant visual appeal to the bottle. The bottle is placed inside a gift package tube of a peculiar oval shape, fitting the subtle industrial aesthetics.
The label leads with a copper circle with the logo design and a typographical blend decorated with traditional, local-culture-inspired patterns with varying opacity. We can see a combination of script, headline italic and standard sans-serif styles that elevate the label design further.
The lower part of the label features an illustration of a man posing with his thumb up as a customized “seal of quality assurance”. The neck is decorated with an embossed copper pattern that enhances the label’s appeal.
