Package design may not sound too glamorous, but we suspect everyone’s been wowed once or twice in their life by an unusual and cool way to present a fairly unremarkable product. Here are some of our most recent finds in the world of package design for 2013. We found that it’s important to tell a story through well-designed characters or somehow awaken people’s collector’s streak through well-designed, quality elements of pop culture. We hope they’ll inspire your present (and future) design endeavors.

Print ads need to make an impact in order to be effective. Companies spend extraordinary amounts of money on an advertising campaign, to ensure that their product or service is appropriately represented, and that the campaign is memorable. The best print ads will be memorable because they are clever, funny or interesting. Here is a round-up of some of the best advertisements this year, and what makes them special.