'The following generic-brand line of goods was observed in Real Canadian Superstore. It deserves credit for the clever and minimalist look of its products. (In Canada, products are labeled in both English and French.) Take a look:
The name of the company? No Name. And what No Name has done is brilliantly played with the concept of generic-brand products by designing goods with absolutely no branding on their labels. Other than the name of the product, there is no information on the container. No "value!" or "savings!" No advice to compare this product to the name brand. No smiling multi-ethnic group of friends.
Still, No Name manages to forge a distinct identity. Bold Helvetica on a bright yellow background will do that. Helvetica has a long-standing reputation as a modern, classy and attention-grabbing typeface, and is routinely named the greatest typeface of all time. The school-bus-yellow backgrounds allow the product to stand out on the shelves, so much that they're often the only thing you see while walking down the grocery aisles.
And then there's the company's name. No Name. The company took the stigma associated with generic-brand products and wore it as a badge of honor. This confidence is reflected in the packaging: they don't need to give more information about the product. That bright yellow box is all the information you need.
At first it sounds like something out of Repo Man, the '80s movie that mocked consumerism by having characters eat out of cans that said "food" and drink from cans of "drink." But No Name is no joke. With a stripped-down design guaranteed to steal the attention of shoppers, No Name challenges consumers' preconceptions of the generic label and gives its more expensive, name-brand competitors a run for their money.
No Name products are sold at several retailers throughout Canada.
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