For this month’s “Wild Design” submission, I wanted to discuss a piece of design that literally stopped me in my tracks the other day.

I know – it’s a cardboard box. Rather, a broken down or flattened cardboard box. And it stopped me in my tracks because it was right in front of me on my way to school. The box is a part of product packaging from Trophy Brewing, a local beer producer that now has three locations between NCSU’s university and the center of downtown Raleigh. Their beer is pretty good, but their pizza is amazing.

I think what made me pause and give it a second look was the geometry of the design and the surprisingly preserved nature of what could otherwise just be garbage that missed the bin. The logo is too small to really perceive in passing, but I could see how someone handling this while full of product (in this case, beer) would easily recognize this as merchandise from Trophy Brewing.

What I really like about this object is that Trophy Brewing didn’t miss an opportunity to brand what could have just been a plain cardboard box or milk crate. This box is only meant to hold beer, and they only deliver to stores within Raleigh. I don’t even think anyone would have judged them for delivering their product in something more simple or unmarked- as someone who works in the food and beverage industry, I can verify that the profit margin is king and superfluous spending is the enemy- but they went the extra mile to design and produce packaging just for local deliveries. That kind of attention to detail gets a round of applause from me.