Spot it
Find an interesting gallon or smaller family variant in the wild, ideally with a clear view of its cap and label.
Why jugs?
Packaging is a language we learn without noticing.
In high school, I worked at a grocery store that carried two brands of milk: Swiss and Guers. I was always fascinated that the two companies seemed to fall in line with some standard that suggested whole milk design ought to be red and the skim milk ought to be pink; they deviated slightly on their chosen colors for 2% and 1%.
It stuck with me ever since and I've always wanted to chronicle this unwritten rule across brands. The Gallon Archive documents the color systems printed on labels and snapped onto caps. Small design choices that help shoppers recognize what they need at a glance.
Record it
Capture the brand, beverage type, package size, date, location, material, and the color doing the visual work.
Send it
Send me a the information and I'll upload it to this database for posterity!
A living collection
Built to get more useful with every jug.
This is an informal visual archive, not a definitive packaging standard. Designs change, stores carry regional variants, and the same product can appear in multiple sizes or materials. Those differences are the point.
Explore the collection