12/05/2026
Turns out branding and packaging isn’t just about “making it look nice”.
Japanese snack giant Calbee has had to temporarily switch some of its packaging to black and white because global conflict has disrupted supplies of materials used in coloured inks.
Which is a pretty wild reminder that design decisions sit much closer to real-world business, manufacturing and supply chains than people sometimes realise.
Also… fair play to whoever designed the emergency black and white packets because honestly? They still look pretty cool!
Good design still works when you strip things right back.
(And yes, somewhere a minimalist designer is absolutely thriving right now.)
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has severely disrupted global supplies of energy and petrochemicals.
