5 Principles: A Twist on Candy Packaging

Anton Shlyonkin's Award-Winning Design Fuses Pop Culture and Confectionery

The "5 Principles" series is a collection of candy jars, each dedicated to a different personality or character type. From thinkers and lovers to the lazy and muscle-bound, each jar features a simple character and a series of short, humorous or inspirational quotes related to that character. The design's strength lies in its simplicity and relatability, with many quotes containing pop culture references.

Shlyonkin's design is not only visually appealing but also practical and cost-effective. Made from a standard plastic container wrapped in corrugated cardboard and topped with a wine paper sticker, the packaging is inexpensive to produce but doesn't look cheap to the consumer. The central plastic cup ensures stability during transportation and keeps the candy fresh.

The design process began in October 2015, with the series expanding every few months. The project was born out of an extensive research phase, which involved studying social media trends and narrowing down information on personality types. The research led to the creation of eight initial character types, which have since grown to more than 15.

One of the main challenges faced during the design process was creating a product that was cheap to produce and affordable for the customer, yet visually interesting. By using pre-made parts, Shlyonkin was able to create a product that was both cost-effective and aesthetically pleasing.

The "5 Principles" series has been recognized for its innovative approach to packaging design, winning the Golden A' Packaging Design Award in 2017. This prestigious award is granted to outstanding and trendsetting creations that advance art, science, design, and technology.

With its blend of pop culture references, relatable characters, and affordable production, Anton Shlyonkin's "5 Principles" candy packaging series offers a unique and engaging twist on traditional confectionery packaging.