Our Thinking
The World Through our Lens
Kaleidoscope is a CPG packaging design and prototyping agency headquartered in Chicago. We’re makers, thinkers, and opinionated observers of everything packaging. Here’s what’s on our minds — from design trends and sustainability to the forces reshaping consumer goods. For a deeper look at our capabilities, visit: strategy, packaging design, and prototyping.
Latest Perspectives
June 23, 2026
CPG innovation has never moved this fast, and for most teams, the process still hasn’t caught up. Here’s why speed is the defining factor in modern product development, and what it takes to actually move at the pace the market demands.
Hot Trends and a Celebration at the 2015 Housewares Show
By: Audra Bielskus and Jennifer Bae Grab Your Oven Mitt – Here are the Hot Trends Colors were dazzling and products ran the gamut from fun new twists on traditional kitchenware to DIY kits for wine and beer drinkers. The array was beyond big, but here are some of the...
Top 6 Signs It’s Time to Update Packaging
CPG Trends TOP 6 SIGNS IT'S TIME TO UPDATE YOUR PACKAGING Fred Richards, CMO & PartnerMarch 26, 2019 Packaging, sadly, is one of the last things considered when it comes to the marketing mix. Advertising, PR events, stunts, social media and other “glamorous”...
Top 6 Tips for Private Label: Trends and Consumers
Private Label Trends TOP 6 TIPS FOR PRIVATE LABEL: TRENDS AND CONSUMERS Alexandra Goff, Account Director March 1, 2016 From February 25 – 27, Chicago hosted the 2015 StoreBrands Innovation & Marketing Summit. We boiled it all down to the top six tips for private...
If Packaging Were Your Only Marketing Spend
Imagine launching a new consumer product with no marketing budget—just the product design and packaging as your brand proposition. It’s a compelling hypothetical. And it was part of the discussion at January’s Package Design Matters Conference. Kaleidoscope’s...
The Power of Cross-Industry Innovation in Product Design
Each Kaleidoscope project begins with a client proposal and a promise to deliver innovation. How we achieve the big “Ah Ha” is the nerve-wracking part. But I know from experience, if you’re not nervous; if you don’t have an explorer’s zeal for discovery and a...
LiveGFree, Packaging Design by Kaleidoscope, Awarded New Product Line of the Year
StoreBrands released the winners of its fifth annual Innovation Awards program, which recognizes brands that excel via store brand differentiation. Winners were profiled in the November issue of StoreBrands and were honored with a special cocktail reception and dinner...
11 Tips for New Design Grads: Getting the Right Job and Keeping It
It seems like just yesterday I was graduating from college, crying that it was over, filling my Volkswagen Beetle to the brim and hugging my friends goodbye. But I was also ecstatic to imagine finally having a paycheck in my bank account and the chance to nail my...
3D Printing 101
Although 3D printing is becoming more and more popular, many individuals still do not understand how it works or the possibilities for use. We’re providing some of the basics here. What is 3D Printing? 3D printing is a process of creating solid three-dimensional...
Where's My Pickaxe?!
Product and Service Innovation to Support the Next Big Thing In the days of the California Gold Rush, many people believed they were going to grab a pickaxe and with one swing break into fortune. Unfortunately for most of them, their efforts were in vain, as few...
Inspiring Purposeful Design
From 2006 through 2013 Fred Richards every month wrote an article with observations on the marketing, design and graphic world around us. These articles were published in national and international design and marketing publications. In a return to these monthly...
Kaleidoscope Named One of Chicago’s “Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®”
Chicago, IL. – June 12, 2014 – Kaleidoscope, an integrated design and realization agency has been named one of Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR), an organization that stresses the importance...
Prototyping – Does It Really Make a Difference in Packaging Development?!
Structural Prototyping PROTOTYPING: DOES IT REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? Trish Galvez-Tuel, Sr. Business Development Manager, Realization June 5, 2014 Have you ever walked down the aisle of a grocery store, looked at all of the packages sitting on the shelf, and think...