GOOD HAIRDAY PASTA

Are haircare products now being misshelved with the noodles? While they may look like they belong in a high-class salon, Moscow designer Nikita Konkin’s elegant packaging displays pasta.  

Are haircare products now being misshelved with the noodles? While they may look like they belong in a high-class salon, the various hairstyles on Moscow designer Nikita Konkin’s elegant packaging display pasta. The different types of noodles are visible through the hair-shaped transparent cut-outs: cavatappi fill out the curly, Rasta head, spaghetti creates a long, sleek look and fettuccine gives the 70s hairstyle just the right hold. The most obvious pasta variety, angel hair, has not made it into the fun boxes yet. Maybe Konkin had his girlfriend’s hair in mind when he came up with the project, having just fallen in love at the time. “I was in love when I made this packaging and perhaps this influenced me, though it could be just a coincidence.” Still, Italian food and amore really seem like a match made in heaven.

So are these pasta boxes just a playful design or are they something more? Perhaps just a bit of both: in these days of sustainable design the focus is often on functional and recyclable packaging. Konkin’s idea comes across as a light-hearted eye-catcher, unusual packing to attract the customer’s attention as they pass the shelves of pasta. “The packaging highlights the high-quality, all-natural pasta. And, of course, it is designed to put people with good taste into a good mood,” Konkin says. Appropriately named Good Hairday Pasta, all the noodles are certified organic. The Russian art director and designer also caught the eye of A’Design Award jurors, and he took home the 2016-17 award for Packaging Design.