Product design patterns

R.BIRD has a fascinating series of reports on product design patterns. The energy drinks report captures some of that category's more subtle design influences:

Intentional or not, there are distinct similarities between energy drinks and auto shop products.

Response: When borrowing the design vernacular from a different category, don’t forget that people ultimately have to want to drink the product. Elements Energy drink... does a nice job of towing the line between a high performance “fuel additive” approach and flavor appeal.

The coffee report is good as well, especially for how the use of colour can influence perceptions about the product (e.g. decaf is green, darker colours == darker roast). I didn't realize the ubiquity of some of design themes, like the "sip-sniff," until I saw the products together.