A lot of so-called "premium brands" are just products wrapped in fancy packaging.

I often see founders mention "building a brand" when they really mean: nice packaging, a clean Shopify site, and attractive ads on Instagram. That doesn’t automatically equal a brand. Many of these companies feel interchangeable once you take away the art direction. Same fonts. Same muted colors. Same vague "thoughtful" writing. Same cinematic videos of someone opening a box in soft lighting, as if they just found enlightenment through hand cream. Honestly, I believe design Twitter and LinkedIn have confuse