An introduction to packaging design
The term ‘brand’ originates from the days when farmers used to brand their cattle to register ownership of their herd. Before long the brand began to represent not just the owner but their values and quality of their product; it became a mark of security and trust. Packaging has always had a fundamental role to play in the way brands communicate these values.
From these relatively humble beginnings packaging design in the modern age has become one of the most sophisticated, holistic and powerful examples of the designer’s craft. The full life cycle of packaging now touches on all of the key issues facing business today and it is important to understand its impact from cradle to grave. From where the original product is sourced and the cost of materials used, to the transportation costs to store and the legacy issues surrounding its reuse or disposal designers today must consider the full impact of a pack’s design.
Packaging design can be viewed in four different ways:
- a means of protecting the contents of a package
- a contributor to the cost of the end product
- a sales canvas on which to promote the product's attributes and benefits
- a part of the product experience itself
Packaging plays many functional roles from protecting contents to helping the user employ the product but perhaps its main job is still seen as one to help sell the product at the point of purchase. Most products are meaningless (or at least undifferentiated) without their packaging - just take a look at any shampoo fixture and think about how you’d chose one from another. So, once functional considerations are completed the most important design consideration is how best to create and tell a story that stands out from the crowd.
In the 80s and 90s it could be argued that packaging designers concerned themselves mostly with how their craft could help add value in terms of improving aesthetic appeal, to then improve sales. The use of foil bags, embossed and etched bottles, textured papers and wax seals, latest print techniques and new materials were options endlessly considered as designers tried to enhance product perception and standout.
More recently there has been a marked shift in focus towards environmental issues and the role of packaging. Design pundits often quote the egg carton as being a design classic. It is somewhat ironic therefore that this simple eco–friendly, yet beautifully functional design is perhaps also a contemporary benchmark for environmentally sustainable packaging. While the repackaging of many grocery items in foil wrap may still be wholly appropriate in many instances to improve shelf life and product perception, the rise of the 'savvy shopper' in the last few years has forced packaging professionals to look at alternatives. The growth of retailer 'basics' brands and a growing awareness of the impact on the environment of excessive packaging have driven a desire for packs to be wholly recyclable.
But ‘green’ packaging isn’t just about recycling. We now also live in the world of food miles where we measure the distance a product has to travel from source to point of purchase. Therefore truly green packaging needs to consider more issues than recyclability. We need to consider palette maximisation too. In other words how can we design our packs to minimise the amount of air that is shipped during transportation.
Companies like Tesco, Wal-Mart and Ikea can make savings of millions of pounds on fast moving consumer goods by maximising the number of products they can ship per palette and thus saving greenhouse emissions too. So, in the modern day we need packaging to drive top line sales and drive down waste and bottom line cost.
A well designed pack must also address the needs of its life cycle. This life cycle runs from the moment it is used to wrap its product (whether this is by hand or in a factory), to the point of sale, to the point of use, and finally - with current tough environmental laws - to its after-use.
In more depth
Interested in sustainable design? Read more in our
sustainability article by expert Beatrice Otto
With around 40,000 different packs to choose from in the average supermarket, across food and non-food items, the challenge is to stand out from the crowd. Over 70% of purchase decisions are made at point of purchase. There are thousands of products competing for shoppers' attention in store and, according to various research findings, a pack on a supermarket shelf has less than three seconds to grab that attention. This doesn't mean that packaging necessarily needs to be loud or simple - but it must be clear to the audience for which it is intended.
In order for a pack to engage with a consumer and stand out in its category it really helps to have a great story that the consumer can buy into. For example Aesop, an Australian pharmaceutical company have created standout by crafting a great story for their brand that is all about the naural ingredients they use to create their unique cleansing products. This story is then told through their packaging which references the jars and bottles seen in traditional apothecaries. An example a little closer to home is Burt’s Chips from Devon. Their packs tell you who made your potato chips, a simple touch which reinforces the idea of them being hand made in a way no amount of fresh food photography could do.
One technique to ensure standout is known as block merchandising. It works by creating a visual illusion that the individual pack is bigger than the reality by having multiple facings which create a bigger picture like a jigsaw. This is a difficult concept to get across in print, but next time you're in a supermarket take a look at a display of Oxo packs and it will become clear.
Another key factor in aiding standout is having recognisable, simple icons - things that stand out even without looking directly at them. These icons can be called 'visual equities'. There are a number of tools you can use to create visual equity and thereby improve standout:
- Shape: e.g. the Perrier bottle (designed to echo a droplet of water), an iPod or a bottle of Chanel no. 5
- Colour: e.g. Levi's Red thread, Kodak yellow or the black and cream of Guinness
- Illustration: e.g. the Fox's glacier mints polar bear, the Nike Swoosh or the Kellogg's cockerel
- Name: e.g. 'I can't believe it's not butter'.
Once you have attracted the consumers attention the pack then has to stand closer scrutiny. At this level it is important to consider the hierarchy and digestibility of information.
- Firstly, and most importantly, does the pack communicate its key benefit quickly - be it price (i.e. this is the cheapest on display), appetite appeal (i.e. this will taste great), or functional benefits such as size?
- Beyond this, the designer needs to consider the order of secondary information, such as performance criteria or foodstuff ingredients. Getting this hierarchy right is key to creating user-friendly packaging.
- Lastly, you need to consider how the packs themselves work as part of the product proposition. Perhaps one of the best early examples of this is the wine box.
All these points are largely about how the pack works on a rational level, however today’s consumer also requires products to have an emotional dimension. Therefore thought also needs to be given to aspects of the product’s social responsibility and how this standpoint can be communicated in a relevant way.
Today the after-use is a main consideration for all packaged goods. For instance, meat packaging that changes colour if the product has been exposed to temperatures likely to lead to contamination, packaging for sunglasses that can be used for storage, new toothpaste dispensers that ensure all the toothpaste can be used, re-sealable bags for peanuts and rice, widgets in beer cans, and so on.
This is just a basic overview. The focus here is largely on examples from the food retailing sector. This is where competition is at its most fierce and therefore also where innovation is often most valuable. The principles, however, are sound whatever the sector.