There’s nothing better than finding a new design tool that will make your life a million times easier.

After all, we all want to get our work done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and if there’s a tool for that, then I want it.

And I did find some tools that I absolutely love that come in handy, and that’s why I want to share my life of new favorite design tools.

5 Design Tools You Have to Try

Once you try these tools, there’s no going back.

Let me tell you all about them.

1. Opensource Builders

I want to start this list off strongly, so let’s hit it off with Opensource Builders.

Have you ever found an app that you absolutely love but your budget doesn’t allow you to purchase?

Or maybe you’re just a cheapo(aka, maximizer) like me, and try to get the most bang for your buck.

Opensource Builder will help you find open-source alternatives for your favorite apps!

Just type in the name of the app you’re looking for, and you’ll find a ton of alternatives for it.

Compare the cons and pros, prices, and more to find the ideal app for your project.

2. Unscreen

Next up, we have Unscreen.

Have you ever tried to remove the background of a video? It’s not that easy.

Unscreen will automatically remove the background of any video 100% automatically, and for free.

We love a double-whammy.

This means you can record any video, upload the clip into Unscreen, use their tool to scrub the background of your video, and then you can add any background element of your own!

All of this, for free.

Soon enough, they’ll have a pro version as well. I’m excited to see what else they will come up with when they already have such an amazing free design tool.

3. Neumorphism.io

Neumorphism seems like it’s everywhere nowadays, and I know an app that can help you integrate that into your CSS code.

Neumorphism.io is a generator that will create the CSS for this soft UI style that we’ve been seeing everywhere. This makes your job a lot easier and you can experiment quickly to see what you like for your website.

4. Glitch Art Generator

We have another generator on our list!

Glitch Art Generator will help you achieve the perfect glitch background for your project.

You can easily adjust all the colors, the amount of glitching, the space from the center, gradient, etc! You can adjust basically anything.

Once you like what you see, you can just download the file and integrate it right into your project.

5. Vangogh

Finally, and arguably the most aesthetically pleasing app of all, is Vangogh.

If you are ever looking for the perfect color palette, look no further.

All you have to do is type in a keyword, it could be an object or an actual color, and it’ll generate a few variations of the perfect color palette for you.

I can literally just sit here and type in a bunch of random words and get lost for hours in these beautiful colors.

I highly recommend you use this app in your next project!

Wrapping things up

I hope you found this list of my favorite design tools at the moment useful!

Let me know which apps were your favorite and what other design tools that you use daily that I missed.

Stay safe, everyone.

And as always,

Stay creative!

You’re here because you’re looking for amazing packaging ideas for 2020.

Well, you’re in luck, because I’m showing you 6 ideas for you to implement this year into your packaging designs.

Well, what are we waiting for?

Let’s just jump right in!

Sustainable Packaging

Sustainability. It’s at the forefront of all of our minds nowadays.

As it should be!

It’s so important that we take care of our world because it’s the only one we’ve got.

And what better way for you as a designer to contribute to this world, than to create your own sustainable packaging ideas for yourself and for your clients?

So here are various sustainable packaging design ideas for you to draw inspiration from!

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Minimalism

Next up, we have minimalism.

Minimalism was all over the globe last year and we don’t expect anything less this year.

On the contrary, we expect to see minimalism rise up even more and overtake many packaging designs.

Imagine the combo of minimalism and sustainability.

That just warms my designer soul.

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Bold Typography

Boldness.

You need packaging that is as bold as the product.

Sometimes the best way to display the boldness of your packaging is by simplicity.

By using bold text, you can have an intricate yet simple design that speaks louder than loads of 3D design factors could.

Here are some examples of what I mean.

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Flat Design

Flat design was another trend that took over all of 2019 but that we only expect it to continue growing in 2020.

Flat design is also a type of minimal design, which is the undertone of the ultimate trend of 2019, which in my opinion was minimal design.

Check some of these designs out!

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Metallic & Holographic Material

Alright you guys, it’s time to get to the 2 packaging designs that I’m most excited about this year.

And that is metallic and holographic material.

There’s just something so luxurious and eye-catching about this flashy material that will draw the eye of anyone onto your product.

I love the way it looks and the way each designer used it differently.

Here are some examples of what I mean.

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Summing Things Up

I hope you found these packaging ideas inspiring!

Soon we’ll have an entire guide dedicated to sustainable packaging, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Til next time,

Stay creative, folks!

With Christmas coming up very soon, you might be swamped with Christmas-themed designs.

Everyone wants to get their job done as efficiently and quickly as possible. 

That’s why I collected loads of free Christmas design resources for you.

Everything from free Christmas icons to free Christmas PNGs, vectors and images, I’ve got you covered. 

You’ll be “sleigh-in’” it this winter season with all these free Christmas design resources, let’s get right into it.

Free Christmas Icons

Last week I wrote The Ultimate Collection of Design Resources that you should definitely check out for your day to day use. 

But today, we’re talking all about free Christmas design resources.

Having some free Christmas icons will surely save you lots of time, so you don’t have to start from scratch. 

3Here is my pick of free Christmas icons that you can use. 

Flaticon

Flaticon has lots of free Christmas icons for you to use for any of your Christmas projects that are coming up.

 It’ll save you lots of time, and the fact that hundreds of these icons are free will help you save a buck as well! 

Upgrade to premium in order to get thousands of icons! 

Freepik

Freepik will help you spread tons of Christmas cheer with their hundreds of free Christmas elements. 

They have flat designs and 3D designs alike in their Christmas icons. You don’t want to miss out! 

Vecteezy

Vecteezy has lots of color and happy icons for you to use for free. 

Just choose the ones you like, download, and use to your liking! 

Free Christmas PNGs

Make your clients happy with the best Christmas PNGs out there. 

Here are my top favorite free PNG websites that will certainly help you out this season. 

Pngtree

Pngtree is great for everyday use but especially has some great Christmas PNGs. 

Their quality has never once disappointed me.

The only downside to their site, in my opinion, is that you only get 2 free PNGs a day.

So choose wisely, or consider upgrading to a premium account! 

Pngfly

Pngfly has over 20,000 free resources for you to use this Christmas. That’s definitely not an offer you want to miss out on.

Pngmart

Pngmart has tens of pages for you to browse through when looking for the perfect free Christmas PNGs. 

Check em out!

Free Christmas Vectors

Vectors are a huge part of graphic design, so it’s only right that we go over the best websites with the best free Christmas vectors that the internet has to offer.

Let’s do it.

Vexels

Vexels has some of the best vectors I’ve laid my eyes on. Colorful, cheerful, perfect for Christmas. 

If you’re looking for great free Christmas vectors, then you definitely need to check them out!

Vectorstock

But wait—there’s “myrrh”. Vectorstock has over 13,000 free Christmas vectors for you to use!

Vector4free

Vector4free is a great choice for using in your everyday designs, but not only.

They have lots of Christmas vectors for you to choose from, so I recommend you get to it! 

Free Christmas Images

Christmas images will give a warm, homey feel to any project. 

If you don’t have a camera or time to take any Christmas pictures, definitely give these free Christmas stock images websites for your work! 

Pexels

Pexels is definitely one of my personal favorite stock images websites. 

They have lots of high-quality images from great individual photographers.

 And if you want to, you can support the artist, by donating to them! 

Pixabay

Pixabay has loads of photo choices for you to choose from.

With over 20,00 free images solely dedicated to Christmas time, you’re bound to find the photo you’re looking for.

Unsplash

And finally, we have Unsplash. 

Unsplash has tons of Christmas photos for you to choose from, that are extremely festive.

Check out their site and find all your Christmas photo needs there! 

“Wrapping” up

Well, you guys snow the drill. This is the end of our time together.

I hope you found these design resources helpful! 

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

Your product could be the most amazing and useful product in the world, but if your packaging is not on point, then your entire business could be in some major trouble.

Imagine this scenario: You’ve designed the best product in your field, invested all of your funds into creating the product, and put packaging design on the back burner. You get on a free mock-up website, make something in an hour, call it day, and show it to your investors. 

Terrible idea. 

In my personal opinion, you should put just as much effort into the packaging design of your product as you put into the product itself.

According to science, it only takes a person 1/10th of a second to create or form an opinion about someone or something. That gives you literally not even one second to give someone a great first impression. 

The first thing your potential customer is going to see is your packaging. And you better hope to goodness that you’ve aced your first impression and wowed your target audience with your packaging design.

Best Packaging Design Ideas for 2019

I’ve rounded up 20 of my favorite packaging designs for you to be inspired by for your next design project.

Let’s check em out!

1. Mint

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This face wash for men is so simplistic in its design that it’s easy and enjoyable for the eye to look at. The black color of the face wash gives off tones of luxury and the pastel colors on the box, combined with flat design, simply works for this packaging. 

2. Care Market

Continuing on with the pastel trend, we have Care Market packaging design. The palette they chose here is lovely, as pastels have been all over the place this year. The consistency in font usage is just perfect, using only two different fonts and using dividing lines between each new phrase. 

This packaging design shows us that you don’t need elaborate graphic designs to exude elegance and professionalism. All you need is a great color palette, and nice, coinciding fonts. 

3. Botany

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Less is more, as the saying goes, and botany nailed it. Minimalist, flat design is the key here and with three different color schemes that all complement each other, I can wholeheartedly say, I believe this design will catch the eye of anyone who is looking for a high-quality serum. 

4. Roji

When someone is looking for a healthy drink, they’re going to be looking for sleek, professional fonts that look organic. My favorite part of this packaging design is that the designer thought through the choice of font colors. 

Since the bottle is made of glass, you’ll be able to see its contents and the yellow font matches the beverage inside the bottle. The yellow-colored font perfectly complements the contents of the bottle. A simple, well-thought-out packaging design overall.

5. Sophia’s Tea

Stepping out a little bit from the pastel color palettes and into something a little bolder, we have Sophia’s Tea packaging design. Flat design really has taken the lead in 2019. We see it all over the place. And luckily for us designers, it makes our job a little easier. 

What I appreciate about this design is that the name of each drink matches the design of each recipient. The color scheme on each bottle matches each other, making a buyer recognize the brand, if they were to see each bottle on a shelf in a store. 

6. Juice.

Since we’re on a drink roll, check out this summery packaging design for juice. Again, we’re hit with flat design and beautiful colors. The font sticks out perfectly on the foreground of the design. Juice. Simple, clean, clear, and to the point. 

7. Brightland

I’ve never seen an olive oil packaged quite like this. At first glance, you would wonder what this beautiful bottle is doing in the oil section. 

You’re inclined to pick it up, you read that it’s olive oil, you’re shook, you compare prices between this and another oil, you realize it’s the same price, and naturally you buy the more beautiful packaging design of the two products. Hit people with original, innovative designs and you’re sales will skyrocket. 

8. Mayberry Spirit Co.

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This bottle makes me want to have a nice, classy night at home with all my friends. The vintage font works beautifully with the design of the bottle, and I love that the color schemes match the rich color of the whiskey itself. 

9. Gatorade

Here are some rebranding sketches for Gatorade. Simple design that gets across, yet still embraces the originality of the Gatorade logo. You won’t lose any brand recognizability, and it looks more modern.

10. The Restored 

The packaging design for these vitamins is everything. The manly, muted earth tones will remind a person of organic produce, making them trust your brand even more. Color association is very important when it comes to designing your packaging and establishing your brand, so choose wisely! 

11. The Restored

Here’s a second version to Restored vitamins. This packaging design is a touch more feminine, using a more pastel green, and creating more dimension in the background by using two different colors. The pop of orange in the corner brings the eyes to the directions.

12. American Crew Fragrance

This simplistic design is one way on the box and reversed on the bottle. By using one font, they really had to play with the scaling and spacing of letters and words to make it interesting and captivating. Again, packaging design can be simple and just as engaging as a super complicated design.  

13. Roys Morning Serum

Roys morning serum has two beautiful colors: a muted pink and a relaxing gold. Color association is everything. If you can convince your customers that your product is what they need and you really sell your product by having a luxurious packaging, you’ll have clients talking about you for days. 

14. Zinus

You can recognize an eco-friendly package design from a mile away, and most people are becoming very concerned and aware of their consumerism and trash contribution to the world. Using a bio-degradable packaging or using recycled material will help you loads when it comes to sales. And you’ll be helping the world. It’s a win-win.

15. Mapuche Maqui

Sometimes, making healthy choices isn’t the easiest or most fun, so presenting a fun looking health product can be key in your sales. This berry powder packaging design looks fun and friendly, used flat design, a beautiful color palette, and bold font. With all these elements combined, surely it’ll catch the eye of a customer. 

16. Botanical Coffee Co

This coffee design is so relaxing to look at. The intricate design on the sides, the simplicity on the front, and the choice of font combinations are just lovely. Again, going with flat design and pastels. See the pattern? 

17. Publix Cereal Line

Did you know that the color red increases your appetite significantly? The designer here for kids cereal certainly knew what they were doing. By combining real-life elements and flat design, kids will surely be intrigued by this design and be inclined to beg their parents for the cereal. 

18. Coffee

This coffee packaging is so bright and captivating, yet still has colors that are easy on the eyes. When choosing your color palette, you need to be sure that you’re choosing colors that soothe and colors that people want to look at. And of course, brand colors that represent you and that your audience will enjoy. 

19. Tesco Fish

Check out these “fishy” illustrations! What I really enjoyed about this packaging design was the fish. I love the very finely defined, cut-off design of the fish, and then the can and text. Each fish is design to represent its kind, and I find this design very creative, colorful, and appetizing. 

20. Moon 

And finally, we have Moon Night Cream. Notice how to colors and graphic designs represent the night. So simple, clean, and fresh-looking that you actually can’t wait to use this cream tonight before bed.

Wrapping things up 

As we all know, packaging is everything when it comes down to actually selling your product. Make sure your design represents you, your brand, and your product, and is creative and makes people feel like they need what you have to offer, in their lives. 

I hope you found this article inspiring and you’re more than ready to jump into your next design project.

Until next time,

Stay creative! 

For a lot of people, the first thing they think of when they hear the names of big companies is their logo. In truth, the logo is probably the biggest marketing decision you can make. It might sound simple, but there are quite a few things you need to keep in mind when designing a logo of your own. So without further ado, let’s talk about the basics behind designing your own logo.

Why do you need a logo?

Ideally, you’ll want to hire a professional to create your logo, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bring some ideas of your own to the table. In fact, it’s best that you have a pretty good idea of what you want before the big design meeting. 

But let’s say that you want to go through most, if not all of this process by yourself. Where do you even begin? You need to start this journey off by understanding why you need the logo.

Your logo is an extension of your brand. It’s important that it represents you. That can be hard to do in a single picture, but that’s why this takes time. 

Pick something that scales as a favicon

A favicon is that little image that sits in the address bar when a tab is opened. It’s a small detail, but it’s very crucial.

The reason it’s so crucial is because those big, fancy, and incredibly detailed images will look absolutely terrible as a favicon. This is something that a lot of people don’t think about because they generally regard a big and fancy logo as perfect. 

One of my favorite examples of a favicon is that of Mailchimp.

This logo is simple, yes, but it still manages to capture the brand perfectly. Now, if you pay attention, you’ll notice that the main focus of the logo (the chimp) is its own entity. That makes it very easy to scale as a favicon. Just like this:

This is the Mailchimp favicon. They definitely couldn’t have put the entire logo in the address tab, and they knew that. So, they went into the logo design process with that in mind, and came out with this.

Test multiple colors

Speaking of being scalable, you want to make sure the logo looks good on multiple backgrounds in multiple colors. If you don’t you could end up having to redo this entire process when something as simple as a WordPress theme change comes up.

A good example of this would be Slack

As unusual and controversial as the Slack logo has been here lately, we all have to admit that  it works well with multiple colors. Of course, the logo itself has a variety of colors in it, but that really only helps it.

The Slack logo can be seen around the world with all sorts of background and font colors. It’s an iconic logo, so it was important that they got all the design elements right.

Be consistent with the brand

A logo means nothing if it doesn’t embody the brand. This is especially important for startups that are looking to get their name out there. 

I don’t think I need to go into this too much, but we definitely need to mention it here. Every tiny little detail is crucial. They have to match the brand’s story, their tone of voice, and their mission.

So, for example, the choice of font is a big one. If you run a SaaS company, you probably don’t want to use a script font. Something like that makes much for sense for a small town candle shop.

Something like this classy lemonade stand logo is perfect. It’s simple, it will scale well as a favicon, and it’s on brand. The colors work well and the font stands out, but it’s not over the top.

Make your logo easy to incorporate into your brand

This point sort of goes along to the one above, but it deserves its own mention. That being said, even if your logo is on brand, it doesn’t mean that it will be easy to incorporate into the rest of your brand.

What do I mean by that? Well, looks aren’t always everything. Even if you logo looks great and embodies your brand, it might not be easy to use. Yes, there is such a thing as a logo that is too detailed to use.

A logo should not be so complicated that it takes more than a few seconds for someone to recognize what it is. If it’s simple and straightforward, it will be easy to incorporate into your brand anywhere.

Other tips to follow

There are tons of tips to take into consideration here. But, whether you’re designing it yourself or paying someone else to do it, there are some that are pretty fundamental. So, in addition to the ones above, here are some quick tips that you should consider:

• Pick a style and stick to it

Just like a good party, a logo has a theme. This is a combination of all the elements. From the typography to the colors, everything should be perfectly thought out and implemented with a purpose. Each element needs to pay respect to the others.

• Keep constant communication with the designer

If you choose to hire someone, you have to keep constant communication with them. In the design world, you build off of your own ideas. So if the designer gets one tiny detail wrong, then the entire logo can be off in the end.

• Stay inspired

You are designing the face of your company. If you lack inspiration in the project, you should stop and brainstorm a bit. Or, if you really can’t handle it anymore, step away for a bit. Nothing is worse than rushed work in design, so don’t make your logo suffer.

• Get a lot of opinions

You’re not designing this logo for your own personal use. This logo will be seen by a lot of people, so get a lot of opinions. Show it off to colleagues, friends, family, or even random strangers. The more input you can get, the better your logo will come out.

Be yourself

This is probably the most important rule in design, so we’ll end here. Being yourself is what got you to the place where you can design your own logo in the first place. Don’t fall into the norms of the industry that you’re in. Be unique!

It’s no secret anymore that a good social media presence can bring anyone some sweet cash. It’s also no secret that in order to start making money online and become an “influencer,” you have to put a lot of work into your online activity and image. From personalized messages, engaging videos, spontaneous stories, charming photos, to matching backgrounds and fonts, they are all contributing keys to an attractive and followable account. But nothing would matter if the style, the theme, and the design you choose doesn’t match YOU.

If color, glow, bold typography, radical shapes, and retro aesthetics define you, you have to show it to your audience in the purerest forms. How? Let me introduce you to the ultimate social media kits with a retro vibe. Start being your true self online and the followers with flow.

Let’s get started.

1. OMG80s Background Image Pack

The combination of bright colors and radical shapes has always been the ace up the sleeve of many big companies when it came to marketing. Why not use this trend to your own benefit? OMG80s Image Pack not only features eye-catching colors, but the images also come in a square shape, ready for Instagram or Facebook!

2. 80s Synthwave Square Art Pack

Words and images go hand-in-hand when transmitting a message. But words need to have their own personality, too, which can simply be achieved if you use the right font. What looks more like the 80s and sounds more like the 80s than Synthwave? The music genre transcribed into this font masterpiece will wow your followers and fans. Now, the message is just as important. Whether you are the girly, all pink type or the high-fashion guy that prefers quality over anything, use this versatile Art Pack. It will do the job well. Moreover, the files are highly editable and the guide will teach you how to use them.

3. BOLD Social Media Brand Templates

Do you plan on creating your own brand or do you already own a brand? Get your campaign going the right, retro way! Inspired by the Swiss design, this pack of Bold Social Media Brand Templates features bold fonts and overlaying images that create a visual impact. With only a few clicks you can design perfect, captivating Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest posts. The 90 PSD File Design will make your account on any of the mentioned platforms popular in no time.

4. Celebgram Instagram Fashion Pack

Everybody can sell clothes online, but not everybody can do it with style. This particular pack screams glam-retro, and it’s perfect for anyone going for that vibe. The kit comes with 10 Photoshop/Illustrator files, and the templates are optimized for Instagram. You can customize pretty much every aspect of these templates, so let your inner retro-glam shine.

5. Retro 80’s Social Media Template Pack

One of the biggest fashion trends from the 80s and 90s were the colors! Pastels, pinks, blues, and many more lit up the design world back then, and it’s definitely something that needs to be incorporated into any retro-themed social media kit. This particular kit comes with 9 templates in 5 different colors. All of which can be edited in Photoshop.

6. Flat Memphis style Instagram Stories Collection

The 80s were wild, weren’t they? Any time you look back on old pictures, or see movies from that time, they had the strangest patterns on their clothes, in their carpets, and painted on their walls. These abstract patterns are definitely signature 80s retro, and they’re differently the perfect fit for any retro-inspired design. The Flat Memphis Style Instagram Stories Collection takes everything we remember and loved about the 80s and crammed it into 9 templates. Each template has similar style, but they all most cool colors and wild patterns that is unmistakably retro 80s.

7. NEORD Social Media Brand Templates

As we’ve stated before, bold is the theme for the 80s and 90s. At least, what is considered bold to us now. The NEORD kit has lots of bold lines, sharp patterns, and interesting color choices, making it perfect for a retro vibe. Everything is easily editable, and it includes 30 files for Insta, Facebook, and Pinterest. It’s worth the purchase for the uniqueness alone.

8. Stream 10 Duotone Instagram Posts

Some of the best designs out there take inspiration from previous trends, and put a modern twist on it. The Stream 10 Duotone Instagram Posts are a perfect example of reimagined design. These10 Photoshop files take all the vibrant colors from the 80s and 90s and turns them into unique gradients that are sure to light up anyone’s Instagram feed. But, as cool as the colors are, you can certainly edit them if you want to in Photoshop.

9. Colorful Summer Party

Hosting a party soon? Want to shout it out on Instagram? Then you’ve found the perfect retro-inspired stories template to do it. This social media kit comes with 9 vibrant templates that are perfect to share your upcoming house party. Or, maybe you have other ideas for how to use this. No worries. Simply drop it into Photoshop, and change any aspect you’d like.

Start posting
These are just a few of our favorite retro inspired social media kits out there right now. That being said, there are plenty more on the market you can choose from. There is a very clear theme present throughout all of them, but the uniqueness of each one is why they made this list

The key to nailing any retro-themed design is clearly the right choice of colors and imagery. Often times, as we saw in a few examples above, it really only takes a few shapes to pull of the 80s vibe.

We hope you enjoyed this fun little list. If you have any other suggestions and want to share, feel free to let us know in the comments below. Not every occasion allows you to rock a retro design on social media, so make sure you find the perfect one to fit the mood. But, most importantly, have some fun!

Grey Goose has revamped their visual identity and we love it. The redesign was done by London, UK-based Ragged Edge.

“We needed a bold statement. So we started by redrawing the logotype from scratch – the biggest change to the brand’s identity since its launch in 1997. [The] bespoke type is more contemporary, with just a hint of swagger. The perfect complement to the iconic lone goose symbol.”

When it comes to the goose logo, I have some reservations regarding just how distinctive the goose will actually be.
Although I love the movement towards a more minimalistic icon, the 3D texturing that the logo previously had gave it character and a more luxurious identity.
Ragged Edge has successfully made the brand feel more accessible in their attempt to, as they said it, “build a flexible identity full of optimism”

From a marketing perspective, the shorter tagline that spells just “Vodka” now instead of “World’s best tasting Vodka” makes a lot of sense. Most people shop for alcohol based on the label. In recent years, more and more consumers will go for a more minimal tag. This is a trend we’ve seen in wine bottles as well.

However, having a splash of color on your label does help a lot as this study proves. This is why the new Grey Goose packaging will definitely draw your attention in a duty free store. The new subtle patters and their dynamic with the other visuals are definitely my favorite part of the redesign. 
Now back to you. What do you think about the Grey Goose Vodka redesign? What do you like and what do you dislike about it?
Let us know in the comments bellow.