What’s Up with Taco Bell’s New Packaging?

New look, same tacos.

Packaging is an iconic aspect to any brand’s product, but for the last eight years, our’s has remained the same. So, we decided it was time to switch things up and give our packaging a facelift.

We turned to the quirky creatives of Taco Bell Design (a.k.a TBD) to walk us through this packaging makeover. Our award-winning, in-house creative agency consists of 40 artists, designers, copywriters and account managers. They’re in charge of dreaming up the vision for our product packaging, menu boards, restaurant artwork, and more — yeah, they’re pretty busy. For this project, TBD’s Senior Art Director, Arcy Valencia, spearheaded the design and strategy behind our new packaging system.

“We noticed other brands were all kind of doing the same thing design-wise with their packaging, so we wanted to make ours truly differentiated and iconic,” Valencia explains. “Ultimately, we pushed to design the packaging in a way that was fresh for customers, but could also feel like a piece of art.” TBD wanted each piece of packaging to feel rebelliously abstract, embodying the sound of the bell through the design.

Valencia went on to explain that our packaging actually has a name - it’s called Kinetic. Traditionally, a logo is static, but being Taco Bell, naturally we had to break the rules a little. The images on our packaging now feel like they’re in motion and full of electrifying energy.

TBD also added a bit of meaning behind the packaging designs. For example, the breakfast to-go bags feature our iconic bell that looks like an early morning sun rising from the ocean—really bringing it back to our Southern California roots. If you take a look at the logo on our coffee cups, the design is meant to mimic a coffee cup stain. Can you spot any more hidden meanings?

If you’re diggin’ our new packaging, show it off on social media and tag us using @TacoBell.