Backbone Branding's unHide packs discovery into a magnifier — Pentawards 2024 Platinum

unHide is a concept project by Armenian packaging agency Backbone Branding: a magnifying glass product whose packaging is itself an act of discovery. The project began, in the agency's telling, with a magnifying glass left on a table; from that small object the team built a meditation on the beauty of nature that daily life overlooks.

The design uses dramatic minimalism. On each box a single tiny subject — a ladybug, a feather, a butterfly — rests on a pure-color field, almost hidden. Lifting the lid lets the user examine the object through the magnifying lens, where the ladybug's shell pattern turns sharp and star-like; a white box with a green-leaf background evokes daytime quiet, while a black one suggests night observation. Sans-serif type and corner-set information keep the eye on the subject.

Agency member Liana Mazmanyan authored and realized the concept. Backbone Branding presented unHide as a functional yet artistic project that moves beyond the boundaries of client work, treating packaging as part of the product experience — the wrapper is what teaches you what the lens does.

unHide won the 2024 Pentawards Professional Concepts Platinum, awarded to forward-looking speculative packaging. In its interview with Pentawards, Backbone described the project as proof that design can shift perception: opening the box is the first observation the product invites.