New packaging design worldwide

And there are definitely parallels in the two appearances: McDonald's also relies on a retro look, a minimalist flat design and reduces itself to the essentials. The design agency responsible is Pearlfisher in London.

More than 60 million people come into contact with Big Mac, Filet-o-Fish, McFlurry and Co. every day - when the restaurants are not limited to the drive-in in lockdown times. But before consumers bite into the iconic McDonald's products, they first encounter the packaging, which has always played a major role in the brand history of the fast food giant. After all, a well-designed wrapper only whets the appetite for the contents. Together with Pearlfisher, the group has revamped its global packaging design after a development process lasting several years.

According to the agency, the main aim of the new look was to convey joy and lightness - and to do so by means of large and simple graphic illustrations that reduce the respective product to its main feature. Thus, the easy-to-understand illustr ations always show at first glance which product is hidden behind the packaging: Blue waves identify the Filet-o-Fish, melting cheese the Cheeseburger or a yellow circle on white packaging the Egg McMuffin.

This playful focus on illustrations also means a departure from the old packaging look, which was heavily focused on McDonald's logo and lettering. The disadvantage of this packaging design is obvious: the individual products were hardly distinguishable from each other on the basis of the packaging. This is now changing fundamentally, which should not only be more fun for consumers but also make work easier for the employees in McDonald's restaurants and make the products easier to find. After all, the universally used design makes Big Mac and Co quickly recognizable to all customers around the globe.

The new packaging will be rolled out in all McDonald's stores worldwide in the coming weeks.

This text first appeared on www.horizont.net.