My one constant liquid addiction in this world is easily recognized by anyone close to me. The effervescent enabler, my carbonated courtesan, sparkling water. With the exception of when I’m abroad, I’m often found with a glass of Ramlösa nearby. The brand Ramlösa has gone through several changes during the past years. Moving from a simpler, more refined look towards a more detailed, inviting look. Take their citrus flavored water for example. Five years ago, the citrus flavor was represented by a yellow circle (lemon) and a light green circle (lime) overlapping each other creating a venn-diagram.
Old design (left), new design (right).
The simplicity in the old design was striking. Representing the two well known fruits with just two circles and using white-space in order to create the illusion of a paper label. The new design is much richer in graphic presentation, but not as elaborate nor as clean.
I’m torn between these two designs, which in my mind kind of represents the two different styles in interface design today. Either you do a well thought out, clean and classic interface like Windows 8 and Windows Phone’s Metro. Or you do a rich interface with a lot of polish and graphical excellence like Apple or Samsung. If you just put in the time to make sure what you do is the best it can be, it will be beautiful.
I can’t decide right now which I like the most, just like I can’t decide which of the two interface-styles appeals the most to me. I know this though, I love Ramlösa, and I’ll continue to drink it as long as they keep making it.
Fragile Development 