At the risk of sounding like a total Starbucks fan girl, I’m going to show you all another one of Starbucks’ successful attempts at package design. The attention to detail in their designs just makes me squeal in delight. I do this often but Starbucks really deserves the squeals.

Detail one: Embossing the outside of the box - design for my fingers to enjoy.

Detail two: Patterns everywhere! Love it.

Detail three: Crazy 3-d box design. Whoever came up with how the inside of this box would be constructed deserves a medal for awesomeness. I wonder how long you have to sit there with some paper to figure that out.

Detail four: Taking the time to really design the stamp that goes on the chocolate. Sure, you can just throw your name on it and be done but where’s the fun in that? Where’s the need for me to pull out my camera and forever remember what your chocolate looked like?

So kudos to Starbucks for designing and not just throwing your chocolates into a crappy box. It makes the experience a little more memorable. Or maybe I just think that because I’m a designer and notice these things.

I love a small, family-owned coffee shop as much as the next person but there is something about Starbucks that I just can’t keep away from. Maybe they add more sugar to their Frappuccinos than is fathomable or maybe they train every barista for months on end on the art of making a great cappuccinos. Whatever it is, I love my drinks from Starbucks.

So when I saw a great website from Starbucks offering free samples, I was delighted!

The website, Starbucks Coffee at Home is an all-Flash site. On my connection at home, it loads pretty slowly.

The chalk artwork on the whole site is well worth the wait. Check out the Barista Gallery if you visit the site. I never had the patience to draw more than a little cup of soup on Crisper’s chalkboard, I don’t know how these guys did what they did.

I love how each page you go to is erased but you can still see it behind the new page, something about that is so unique but so “duh”-simple. Why didn’t I think of that? I can’t imagine what kind of Actionscript probably goes into this site. There are a lot of small touches to the site that just made me smile, like the chalk dust.

As much as I usually hate sound on a website, I do like the ambient background “music”. When I got to clicking around a lot, the chalk sounds did get annoying.

I took the “Find my Perfect Coffee” test at the bottom and got a free sample of the House Blend delivered to work. Can’t wait to try it! :9 Mmm mmm.

The packaging it came in was great. I was expecting a regular brown box and honestly, a smaller sample. The box the sample came in was computer software-style, same basic shape, smaller size with a flap in the front with more information. I absolutely love the art. That little rooster is so cute.

So thanks Starbucks for the eye and taste bud candy!