Magnificent Mural

It’s not unusual for art and commerce to collide. But it’s certainly not always as awe-inspiring as this arresting piece from Vienna, Austria-based package designer and artist Gerlinde Gruber. Priding herself in creating “specialized packaging designs highly inspired by their contents”, Gruber is more intimately familiar with the intricacies of product packages than the average person. So it’s fitting that one of the world’s largest manufacturers of folding cartons, Mayr-Melnhof Packaging, commissioned Gruber to create a larger than life mural. Composed of more than 1,700 packages, this pseudo aerial view of a colorful cityscape is an exercise in color and form. Gruber also draws surprising parallels between packages and movies: “This model of an modern large city reminds us of the highly detailed city mock-ups which were made for such science fiction monster-movies, to be destroyed dramatically afterwards. Movies and packagings have many parallels. They pack contents to discover it to the maximum effect. Both are subject to trends, but always striking new paths to set trends by themselves. Brands and their products are showcased like movies and provoke customers emotions and reactions. The packaging is actor and stage at the same time. These cardboard boxes tell stories about the packaged product, such as houses talk about their residents.”

Via Behance