On Monday, February 07, Henkel announced interactive packaging design contest aimed at finding the best packaging ideas for its adhesive products. It also introduced a new hub at www.packdesign-contest.com where users may register to join the contest and present their design ideas. Unlike other crowdsourcing industry contests, the users will be able to share their opinion and vote for the suggested designs.

Are we on the cusp of a new design aesthetic driven by the need to get fit yet get noticed in the current hyper combative post-recession climate? If so, this climate may be turning architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s mantra ‘less is more’ ever so slightly on its head as the budgets of governments, business and people demand ‘more for less’. But what form might this new aesthetic take over the coming years?

London-based creative agency JKR, which for the second year round has been running the blog for branding & marketing industry people—Design Gazette—has recently published its second Anthology called “The Blue Lady’s New Look and Other Curiosities”. It rounds up all the core trends and observations previously appreared online on the blog and adds a lot more new thinking on top.