Currently bituminous mixtures of different types are designed following the Fuller-Thompson approach. Such approaches work well for cementitious composites where the fractions of aggregates are limited. In contrast, bituminous mixtures have a wide range of aggregates in addition to an evolving nature of the internal structure. The binder used in the bituminous mixtures also ages with exposure to traffic and environmental conditions. This paper presents an overview of the attempts to relook at the whole framework of mixture design and provides details of some recent investigations using particle-packing approaches for designing aggregate gradations. Such an approach presents a paradigm shift in terms of constructability to material characterization to distress measurement. Some of the challenges related to such an approach are also presented here. The placement features and the mechanical characteristics of two mixtures in which one is based on conventional dense gradation and the other with a particle packing approach are compared. It is noted that though the compactability and modulus of the two mixtures are almost identical, the rutting and fatigue performance are closely following the packing characteristics of the mixtures.