Think a Museum of Brand, Packaging and Advertising, London, England

In one of the back streets of Notting Hill in London, not far from the popular tourist attraction of Portobello Market, is the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising.

The museum was created in 2005 using as the base a collection of many thousands of items of packaging, posters toys, magazines, technology, travel, souvenirs, fashion and design by Robert Opie. A collection that he started when he was just 16.

Over the years he had built up a vast collection of British memorabilia and materials that tells the story of how brands and packaging have evolved. The Museum continues to look at what is influencing and changing in packaging and design.

The collection used to be in the Gloucester based Museum of Advertising and Packaging before the move to this home in London. Various large companies, many of who are featured in the museum, sponsor it with the main ones being: Kellogg’s, Cadbury, Twinings, Vodafone, McVities and Diago.

The museum is in a mews road, and is spread across the ground floor of a large modern building. Once inside you journey through a series of rooms that have very crammed and very packed cabinets (as the photos below will show).

They call this a “time tunnel”, which is a great description of what it is. Each of the rooms in the journey are a sensory overload. Every nook and every possible space in the cabinets that line each of the rooms are packed full with a vast array of items from the decade. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).