The ability of some objects to be highly designed without signaling the fact of their design is their allure, their interest, and their beauty.

Harpman and Specht have been collecting since 1984 and have the largest collection of independently-patented drink-through plastic cup lids in the United States. They note that the collection "..has no monetary value, but rather operates as some modest form of intellectual capital." It is certainly interesting to think about the countless hours that packaging designers have put into these lids, and the fact that many of the designs may have even been considered quite novel at least to a specialist (though when presented all in a row, I can't help but think how much we like to overdesign things).

A fascinating write-up of the lid collection lives at Cabinet.

Consider the design of a package for a single piece of food. Is this practice wasteful or does this reduce waste?

Your moment of Zen for the day:

Clockwise from top-left: One banana, one plum, an ear of corn, a single egg.

I see your clever juicebox, Paul, and I raise you a cheeky juicebox.

Via